Gift cards or gifts you decide

Argos for Business’ managing director Danny Clenaghan explains how deciding between gift cards or tangible gifts can work for your business

At Argos for Business, we provide businesses with access to Argos merchandise and gift cards and believe that both methods have their place as a form of reward. The way to decipher which option will work best for your business is to begin by looking at what you want to achieve.

There are five key factors that an employer should take into account:
Staff: Think about your employees and their needs and aspirations. The chosen reward should stimulate all recipients regardless of age, gender, personality, personal circumstances or interests.
Goals: It is important to set out your key objectives; do you want to boost morale, increase sales, improve productivity or is staff retention, absence or time keeping the issue?
Time: Do you need to take a short or long-term approach? Offering small, frequent rewards can help to drive sales and boost morale, but when looking to change behaviour, it may be more effective to give your employee something to work towards by building up to a bigger reward over time.
Fulfilment: Thought also needs to be given to whether or not you can hold stock. If not, then gift cards may be preferable. Argos for Business developed Collection Code where providing a product is still desirable – employees are given a code and can use it to pick their reward up at their own convenience from any Argos store.
Budget: It is important to consider the type of reward you can afford to give and the length of time that you can commit to.

Tangible gifts can be an effective method of reward, although it may be more time selecting gifts, the employee can enjoy their reward straight away and receive a more personalised gift from their employer.
Argos for Business provides businesses with direct access to Argos’ huge range with 29,000 products available in-store and online, including electricals, jewellery and watches, technology, sporting goods, home furnishings and toys. Gift cards also tend to work well because of the flexibility they afford – they come in a range of denominations, which makes them easier to distribute whether allocating a high or low level of spend. Argos Gift Cards can be redeemed at any one of 735 Argos stores nationwide. The ability to top-up a reloadable gift card is also appealing where a change in behaviour is desirable as staff can be rewarded for performance and dedication over several months. Both gift cards and merchandise can be effective when used correctly in line with the individual aims of the business. Knowing your aims from the outset, as well as what will best suit your employees will go a long way to helping you choose what works for your workforce.
For more information, visit www.argosforbusiness.co.uk