Why Email Gift Cards Are the Best Rewards for Your Employees

One sure-shot way to keep your employees engaged and motivated for the long haul is by appreciating the work they do. This increases employee productivity, makes them feel content, and cultivates a sense of loyalty.

While workplace appreciation through a monetary reward system can get expensive quickly, it might be worth looking at email gift cards to boost employee satisfaction.  

From work anniversaries and birthdays to spot recognition and quarterly awards — such gift cards for employees work wonders — regardless of the occasion. Email gift cards can be a part of your employee incentive program. To appreciate the value your employees bring to your business, email gift cards are a hassle-free corporate gifting idea. 

 What are Email gift cards? 

E-gift cards are a very convenient and secure payment method that can be used as a cash substitute to pay for a variety of products or services. Email gift cards are digital gift cards delivered via email instead of being issued as physical cards.

They function just like traditional gift cards but offer greater convenience, allowing recipients to redeem them online or in stores without the need for a physical copy.  

These digital cards typically contain a unique code or barcode, which can be entered at checkout for online purchases or scanned at participating retail locations.  

Email gift cards can be purchased from brand websites, online marketplaces like Amazon, gift card platforms such as Xoxoday Plum, as well as banks and retail stores that offer digital gifting options. They are widely used for personal gifting, corporate rewards, and promotional incentives, making them a flexible and efficient way to show appreciation. 

Reasons for giving employees’ eGift cards 

Here is a list of reasons to give gift cards to employees: 

Cost-effectiveness 

Without a doubt — email gift cards are cheaper. If you are wondering how, let us assume your company sends out 2,000 gift cards as a part of the best holiday gifts for employees, which takes about 400 hours of manual labour. You have to physically select and buy the gift cards, put them into envelopes or gift-wrap and put individual employee addresses on them before mailing them. 

That is a lot of work. Fortunately, when it comes to digital gift cards, you only have to spend time selecting suitable gifts and emailing them, which should not take you more than 100 hours. That way, you can cut operational costs by 75%. 

Minimum human error 

The process of sending email gift cards is scalable, be it for sending one employee gift or 100. With the help of a digital system, you can send hundreds of thousands of gift cards by email in a matter of minutes. Human errors are minimized because recipient data is electronically imported and managed. 

Branded delivery experience 

Send digital gift cards from your email address to give a personal touch. You can design the email in a specific way to ensure the company branding is on point. Also, add the employee’s photo and write a custom note in the email, even when sending experiential gifts. Custom gift cards are also a good option to choose from. 

Because you are mass-emailing gift cards to your employees, don’t limit your creativity when it comes to messaging. You can even place interactive elements within the email, such as a ceremonial bowtie to “unwrap” the gift. 

Easy tracking 

Keeping track of directly mailed couriers can be pretty tricky and time-consuming for the company or the HR department. However, it is possible to manage digital gift cards sent via email in a centralized location using any incentives management system. 

Not only will it let you know when your digital gifts are claimed, but it also allows you to send your employees a follow-up email for continued engagement. This is not possible at all when sending physical gift cards to your employees. 

Time-saving and hassle-free 

Sending digital gift cards only requires the email address of your employees — which is easy. But direct-mailing physical gifts need you to have their updated billing addresses, which can be a hassle because not everyone has a permanent address. 

This not only makes the gift-sending activity prone to human error but also requires you to spend much time collecting and updating the home addresses of your employees. That takes the fun out of this activity! Gift-giving should always be a breeze. 

Eco-friendliness 

One of the major concerns for any company is to ensure they are interested in broader social and environmental issues rather than just those directly impacting the bottom line. Therefore, to make sure your company does its bit, use email gift cards. 

You see, physical cards are incredibly wasteful, and there is no need to cut down valuable trees for making wrapping paper. Moreover, physical couriering gifts also add to pollution levels. Emailing gift cards is harmless from an environmental perspective. Plus, you do your bit to keep planet Earth safe and green. 

Perfect for remote workers 

Given that majority of companies across domains are still working remotely, it makes sense to send gifts via email so that your employees feel recognized and appreciated for their efforts at work during these uncertain times. Some work from home gift ideas includes perks and benefits on fashion, automobiles, beauty and wellness, e-subscriptions, grocery, insurance, travel and experiences. 

Easier international giving 

Sending a digital e-gift card through email simplifies the process of double-checking postal addresses in other countries, since the format can vary so much. Plus, with a global rewarding solution like Plum, you can automatically offer the e-gift cards available in each recipient’s country, taking away administrative headaches for your team. 

Instant delivery 

Want to give some on-the-spot recognition to an employee or need to incentivize survey responses? Recipients don’t have to wait to receive a digital reward — helping you keep pace with today’s expectations for instant gratification. 

Ways to implement an eGift card program 

Here is how you can send email gift cards in a jiffy- 

1. Use gift cards from different industries 

Do not purchase email gift cards from just one brand or domain; instead, try gifting a range of experiences to your employees in such as lifestyle stores, experiences, health and fitness, travel or tourism. 

You can gift your employees high-end, luxury experiences by giving away digital gift cards from spas and furniture companies. If your employees know your reward and recognition program is versatile and offers gift cards with different budgets, they are bound to be more engaged with you. Also, the range of experiences allows the employee to choose a redemption option that is more relevant to them. 

2. Create a calendar and budget 

Email gift cards are cheaper, but you will end up bleeding money if you do not budget them properly. That is why setting a budget for each type of digital gift card sent via email is essential.  

Put tentative dates on which you distribute the gifts and the number of people receiving them. Plan your gift card program properly. 

3. Choose an integrated reward distribution platform 

Using gift card solution providers such as Plum, you can create a reward campaign, curate the catalog of gifts, fix reward budgets, select recipients, and schedule emails so that you never miss them.  

You can even link reward campaigns with business KPIs and optimize using analytics. Plum also gives you access to a global catalog with 20,000+ gift cards, merchandise, subscriptions, and more. 

Discover endless gifting possibilities with Plum 

If you’re looking for a hassle-free way to send email gift cards, Plum by Xoxoday makes it refreshingly simple. It connects you to a global catalog of 22,000+ digital gift cards, experiences, prepaid cards, and more spread across 75+ countries and 30+ categories. Whether you're sending a birthday treat, a festive surprise, or a quick thank-you, Plum ensures your gift lands instantly in their inbox and brings a smile. 

No shipping delays. No guesswork. Just the freedom to choose. 

Your recipients can pick exactly what they want—from coffee to clothing, flights to food, or even wellness and entertainment subscriptions. And if you’re a business? Plum lets you send bulk email gift cards in minutes, automate the whole process, and even personalize them with your branding. 

Final thoughts 

Sending email gift cards are convenient and secure payment method that can be used as a cash substitute to pay for a variety of products or services.  It doesn’t matter if you’re shopping online or renewing your monthly subscription – often it’s possible to use a gift card to cover the cost.  

Gift cards also make for a perfect present if you don’t have better ideas in mind, as they ensure that the recipient will spend their freshly acquired funds on something they’ll actually enjoy.  

The email gift cards for remote employees and on-site team members can be sent once a quarter to celebrate a milestone or can be a part of the incentive program. This is an opportunity to include perk benefits for your remote team as a part of the employee incentive program. 

The benefit of email gift card ideas being it is a perfect gift for peers, employees and coworkers who are helping you build positive workplace relationships. Lastly, don’t forget to call them and check once you have sent the email gift card. 

With Plum, email gift cards come with the freedom of choice, where the employees can choose their gifts. 
 

Want to know more? Talk to us now!