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The Shift to eGift Cards

Recently, I gifted porridge to a sick friend. It took less than a minute to buy and send the porridge via my phone, thanks to a Gifticon. Gifticon is the Korean term for eGift cards. In Korea, gifting and using Gifticons has become second nature. The fact that the leading brand in the Gifticon industry has amassed a transaction volume of 15 trillion won($11.2 billion USD) over seven years, and the emergence of a secondary market for Gifticon transactions, underscores its significant impact. Korea's advanced internet infrastructure and mobile industry have facilitated the rapid development of Gifticons.

Transition from Traditional Gift Cards to eGift Cards

eGift card image

Not only in Korea but globally, there's a swift shift from offline to online, and with just a smartphone, everything is at our fingertips. This evolution has led to the rapid replacement of traditional gift cards with e-gift cards.

According to PayNXT360, a provider of insights into the digital payment market, the loaded value of e-gift cards in the US is projected to reach $87 billion USD by 2025, with e-gift cards expected to account for over 60% of the gift card retail market.

Retail Consumer Digital Gift Card Market Size and Forecast by Load Value (US$ Million) and Digital Gift Card Penetration

Advantages of eGift Cards

As the market size and influence of eGift cards grow, let's explore the advantages they hold over traditional physical gift cards. The shift from offline to online has brought changes in all aspects.

Convenience in Giving and Receiving:
eGift cards can be exchanged without constraints on time, place, or method. Existing as links/images, they can be sent through email, messenger, etc., allowing the recipient to use them whenever desired.

Cost-effective:
The time and monetary costs associated with delivering a gift card in person are reduced. eGift cards can be delivered instantly, anywhere, anytime.

Environmentally Friendly:

Sending and receiving gift cards reduce the output of environmental waste such as paper and plastic.

	Traditional Gift Cards	eGift Cards
Purchase Method	Bought in-person at stores like supermarkets	Purchased online
Delivery Method	Physically handed over by a person	Sent via messenger, email without time or space constraints
Time Cost	Time spent buying the gift card in-store and delivering it to the recipient	Only a few minutes needed from purchase to delivery online
Monetary Cost	Incurs additional costs for delivering the gift card to the recipient	No additional costs for delivering to the recipient
Environmental Cost	Uses resources like plastic and paper	No physical resources used

The ability to gift cards without time or space constraints has introduced changes that were previously impossible. For instance, it has become easy and fast to send gifts across borders. Whether it's a friend or family member studying or immigrating abroad, or the reverse situation where you're overseas needing to send a gift to another country, eGift cards eliminate the worry about delivery methods, shipping costs, and time differences. Especially with SodaGift, you can now gift eGift cards to over seven countries worldwide, including the USA, Canada, and Korea. Overcome the constraints that once made expressing your feelings challenging, with SodaGift.

Explore SodaGift: https://sodagift.com/en

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Reference

Cho Byung-wook. "Kakao 'Gift' 7-Year Sales Reach 15 Trillion Won... Refund Amount Exceeds 1.5 Trillion Won, but Fees Remain at 10%," Segye Ilbo, https://www.segye.com/newsView/20231006505748.