ItsOnMe Releases Plug-And-Play Gift Card Tech

In many ways, the gift card area in retail is one of the most resistant to the digital disruption affecting so many other facets of the industry. Establishing a gift card program is still costly for retailers, and purchasing and giving them to others is far from ideal for the modern smartphone-centric consumer.

Fortunately, digital gift card startup ItsOnMe has a low-risk, low-energy solution for struggling brands. The startup announced Monday (Dec. 1) that it had released its Enterprise API to make selling, buying and transferring gift cards as seamless as possible. David Leibner, CEO of ItsOnMe, explained that the gift card industry is in need of serious rejuvenation, though some retailers that excel in eCommerce still can’t manage to figure out how to sell digital gift cards that consumers want to buy.

“Some of the biggest brands in the world are some of the biggest offenders when it comes to antiquated gift card systems,” Leibner said in a statement. “At the same time, they have the most to gain by implementing new mobile gifting strategies and solutions, like ours … By using older systems, brands are missing out on multiple new revenue opportunities that our technology provides, including real-time gifting, micro-gifting, data collection, strategic marketing opportunities created by the ability to communicate with gift card recipients and purchasers, as well as digital shelf space.”

ItsOnMe’s API works by slapping dedicated gift card buttons onto participating retailers’ websites. When shoppers purchase a credit through the buttons, the recipient is notified and can then spend those funds online or at any brick-and-mortar location thanks to its adaptive API, which is already in use by brands like Outback Steakhouse, Marriott and Golden Entertainment. In fact, Ross Gdovin, vice president of marketing at Golden Entertainment, explained that the restaurant industry could see a major boost from SaaS solutions like ItsOnMe.

“Integration into the ItsOnMe platform from our recently launched mobile application encourages our guests to become advocates of the brand like never before, by delivering the ‘gift of beer’ to friends and family at the push of a button,” Gdovin explained in a statement.