Tops Friendly Markets Takes Its Gift Card Program Online

PLEASANTON, Calif., Feb. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hot on the heels of a holiday shopping season that saw more than an 80% increase in digital gift card (eGift) sales and a nearly 40% increase in online gift card sales¹, Tops Friendly Markets now sells its company-branded physical and digital gift cards on its website. Powered by global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network, Tops' online gift card program provides shoppers with a seamless ecommerce experience that delivers individual or bulk orders of Tops-branded gift cards right to peoples' doors or inboxes.

"The pandemic significantly changed how people shop and pay for groceries and we wanted a partner that could help us launch our online gift card program quickly to meet these rapidly emerging shopping preferences," said Diane Colgan, senior vice president at Tops. "Blackhawk's powerful, end-to-end solutions helped us create smooth, omnichannel gifting options for our guests since the cards can be bought online wherever people are shopping and redeemed in-store or online at their recipients' convenience. Online gift cards can also be used to give back to those in need in the community throughout the year by gifting a Tops gift card to your local food bank or food pantry, a cause that Tops supports with its Neighbors Helping Neighbors mission."

2020 holiday sales data from Blackhawk Network's partners revealed that gift cards sold directly from a merchant's website were up 70% over 2019². Blackhawk's technology allows flexible, tailored experiences that include distribution, automated marketing promotions and fraud mitigation at a time when optimized ecommerce gift card programs are more popular than ever.

"The widespread demand for digital gifting options and gift card ecommerce programs has become glaringly evident over the last year and especially the recent holiday shopping season," said Jennifer Philo, GVP, U.S. digital commerce and loyalty, Blackhawk Network. "Empowering shoppers with multiple paths to purchase can help merchants like Tops tap into new buyer segments, open opportunities for cross- and up-selling, drive brand awareness, create customized promotions and encourage customer loyalty. Online gift card programs complement in-store gift card malls and provide added opportunities for consumers to buy company-branded gift cards—a must-have for 2021 marketing mixes."

For more information about Blackhawk's capabilities, visit www.blackhawknetwork.com.

To learn more about Tops' online gift card program, visit https://www.topsmarkets.com/GiftCards/.

About Blackhawk Network
Blackhawk Network delivers branded payment solutions through the prepaid products, technologies and network that connects brands and people. We collaborate with our partners to innovate, translating market trends in branded payments to increase reach, loyalty and revenue. Serving 28 countries, we reliably execute security-minded solutions worldwide. Join us as we shape the future of global branded payments. Visit www.blackhawknetwork.com.

About Tops Friendly Markets 
Tops Markets, LLC is headquartered in Williamsville, NY and operates 157 full-service supermarkets with five additional franchise stores and is the largest private, for-profit employer in Western New York. As a leading grocery retailer in New York, northern Pennsylvania, and western Vermont, and with the support of 15,000 associates, our core mission is to help our communities flourish. We support programs that seek to eradicate hunger and disease; promote the education of our youth; and to ensure we reduce environmental waste and energy consumption while providing our customers with sustainably sourced, high quality products. For more information, visit www.topsmarkets.com.

¹ The "2020 BrandedPay™ Post-Holiday Shopping" report is based on the findings of an internet-based survey conducted by Survey Monkey on behalf of Blackhawk Network between December 27–29, 2020. The sample size included mover 2,000 respondents ages 18+. Gift card growth findings are based on 2019 and 2020 sales data from Blackhawk Network from over 50,000 merchant locations across the U.S.
² Gift card growth findings are based on 2019 and 2020 sales data from Blackhawk Network.

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SOURCE Blackhawk Network