Average Gift Card & Voucher Email Benchmarks
Gift card and voucher emails include e-gift card delivery, balance reminders, promotional gift card offers, and corporate gifting communications. Gift card delivery emails are transactional and eagerly anticipated by recipients, resulting in exceptionally high engagement. Promotional gift card campaigns offer strong conversion incentives. The challenge for marketers is balancing the promotional value of gift cards with margin protection.
| Metric | Average | Above Average | Excellent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Rate | 30-50% | 55%+ | 65%+ |
| Click-Through Rate | 10-25% | 28%+ | 40%+ |
| Click-to-Open Rate | 30-48% | 50%+ | 62%+ |
| Conversion Rate (Redeem/Purchase) | 15-30% | 35%+ | 50%+ |
| Bounce Rate | 0.5-1% | Below 0.3% | Below 0.15% |
| Unsubscribe Rate | 0.08% | Below 0.04% | Below 0.02% |
| Spam Complaint Rate | 0.015% | Below 0.008% | Below 0.004% |
Key Findings
- E-gift card delivery emails achieve open rates of 50-70%, as recipients actively expect and look for these emails containing their gift.
- Gift card balance reminder emails achieve open rates of 35-45% and drive 15-25% of unused gift card redemption.
- Promotional gift card offers ("Buy a £50 gift card, get a £10 bonus") achieve CTR of 8-15% and are among the highest-converting promotional offers.
- Corporate gifting emails (B2B gift card purchases) achieve higher average order values at 2-5x consumer gift card purchases.
- Personalised gift card recommendations (occasion-based, amount-based) achieve 20-30% higher conversion than generic gift card promotional emails.
Open Rate Benchmarks
Gift card emails achieve open rates of 30-50%. E-gift card delivery emails achieve 50-70%. Gift card balance and expiry reminder emails achieve 35-45%. Promotional gift card offer emails achieve 22-30%. Corporate gifting programme emails achieve 25-35%. Subject lines that include the gift card value or the sender's name in delivery emails outperform generic subject lines by 25-40%.
Click-Through Rate Benchmarks
CTR for gift card emails averages 10-25%. E-gift card redemption links achieve 20-35% CTR. Gift card balance check links achieve 8-12%. Promotional gift card purchase CTAs achieve 8-15%. Gift card recommendation links achieve 6-10%. The most effective CTAs include "Redeem Your Gift Card", "Check Your Balance", "Buy a Gift Card", and "Send an E-Gift".
Best Practices
- Deliver gift cards instantly: E-gift card delivery emails should arrive within seconds of purchase. Delayed delivery significantly reduces recipient satisfaction and can lead to customer service enquiries.
- Make redemption frictionless: Include a direct redemption link that applies the gift card automatically. Each additional step between email and checkout reduces redemption by 10-15%.
- Send balance reminders for unused cards: 15-25% of gift card value goes unredeemed. Sending balance reminders at 30, 60, and 90 days drives 15-25% of total gift card redemption.
- Offer promotional gift card bonuses: "Buy a £50 card, get a £10 bonus card" incentives are highly effective. Promotional gift card campaigns achieve 2-3x the revenue of equivalent discount promotions.
- Personalise gift card recommendations: For gift card purchase emails, recommend amounts based on past purchase behaviour or the recipient's occasion. Personalised recommendations increase purchase value by 15-25%.
- Design for mobile redemption: Over 65% of gift card emails are opened on mobile. Ensure redemption works seamlessly on mobile devices with one-tap claim links and wallet integration.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The average open rate for gift card emails is 30-50%. E-gift card delivery emails achieve 50-70%, balance reminders achieve 35-45%, and promotional gift card offers achieve 22-30%.
A good CTR for gift card emails is 10-25%. Redemption links achieve 20-35% CTR, promotional purchase CTAs achieve 8-15%, and balance check links achieve 8-12%.
By making redemption frictionless with direct links, sending balance reminders at regular intervals, offering bonus value for redemption on specific products, and designing mobile-optimised redemption flows.
Promotional gift cards ("Buy £50, get £10 free") often outperform equivalent percentage discounts because the bonus gift card drives repeat visits. They also protect full-price perception better than direct percentage discounts.
Balance reminders are most effective during gift-giving seasons (November-December), before major holidays (Valentine's Day, Mother's Day), and at 30, 60, and 90 days after the gift card was issued.