Here's the retailer with the best digital gift card program

Beauty giant Sephora scores the highest when it comes to online gifting. 

 

That’s according to RSR Research’s sixth annual digital gifting benchmarking report.  Sephora came out on top, scoring 55 points out of a possible 66 points, followed by Starbucks (50.5) and The Home Depot (46.5). Rounding out the top five: Dunkin’ Donuts (44.5) and Amazon (43). (The top 25 retailers in the study are listed at the end of article.)

   

Sephora achieved top marks this year due primarily to consistently excelling across the study’s three major categories of criteria: discoverability, purchase experience and recipient experience. RSR Research updates the criteria used for for evaluation every year to highlight differentiating capabilities, rather than the features that have become industry standards.

   

Of the 100 merchants evaluated in the study, “Digital Gift Cards In 2016: Where Omni-Channel Strategy Meets Customer Expectations,” 81 offered digital gift cards. In addition to focusing on the importance of mobile, this year’s report includes new evaluation criteria like omnichannel payment, bulk buying and the ability to purchase cards with credit card loyalty program points. 

 

“Consumers are increasingly engaging with retailers through digital channels first, creating a demand for the retailer to be where the customer is,” said Nikki Baird, managing partner at RSR Research. “Retailers need the capabilities to handle all the things a customer wants from them when they are online and on mobile, and that includes gift cards. We’ve learned over the years just how complex digital gifting is on the desktop. This year leaders excelled at mobile. However, too many of those evaluated are continuing to struggle with mobile optimization of their programs.”

 

Here are the rankings for the top 25 retailers in the study: