If you receive a gift card this holiday season, the odds are that it was handled by Archway
ROGERS, MINN. (Dec. 8, 2008) – Archway (www.archway.com), a leader in marketing operations management and the largest distributor of gift cards in North America, announced today the company will ship approximately 450 million cards during 2008. The majority of cards will be distributed in the fourth quarter to support holiday sales.
The volume of gift cards handled by the company is 10 million more than predicted earlier in the year and double the volume handled in 2007. In fact, for the second year in a row, the volume of gift cards handled by the company has doubled — 220 million in 2007 and 110 million in 2006.
“Most likely, if you have a gift card in your wallet or your purse it came through one of our distribution centers,” said Mike Moroz, president at Archway. “We ship 250 retail-and restaurant-branded cards through multiple channels including popular gift card malls and online shopping sites.”
In addition to brand specific loaded and non-loaded cards for retailers and restaurants, Archway also distributes the increasingly popular secure financial cards such as VISA, MasterCard, Discover and American Express — which are universally accepted.
According to Kathleen Carter, vice president of business development at Archway, the continuing growth in the gift card business can be directly attributed to trends in consumer use of cards as well as new gift card clients and the expanded channels they are utilizing for cards.
“Gift cards aren’t just for giving gifts anymore,” Carter said. “We’re seeing an increase in the use of gift cards by both consumers and businesses. An increasing number of consumers are using prepaid cards to manage budgets at home and for travel. Businesses are utilizing gift cards to support channels like customer care and business-to-business and business-to-consumer Web sites.”
Archway is an end-to-end solution provider, offering procurement, fulfillment services, and inventory management, as well as serial number tracking, forecasting, automatic replenishment and online reporting for gift, prepaid and financial card programs. The company's technology infrastructure combined with its serial number and lot tracking expertise, were used to develop a radio frequency (RF) tracking system and card fulfillment e-tools that streamline inventory management to get cards in the consumer's hands faster.
About Archway:
Archway, a leader in marketing operations management, provides fulfillment services, print solutions management, business intelligence and decision support tools to leading brands and Fortune 1000 clients. Archway offers fulfillment and marketing operations solutions designed around the way clients go to market; whether it is through a distributed sales force, channel partners, retailers, franchises, branches, dealerships or e-commerce sites. These solutions reduce marketing operations costs, improve marketing execution processes, leverage emerging technologies and most importantly help improve the brand experience for client’s employees and customers at every touch point of their marketing campaigns. For more information about Archway, visit www.archway.com