Why Give a Local Multi-Business Gift Card to Your Employees?

Employers wear a lot of hats. As a business owner, you want your company to have a great reputation and attract the best customers and talent. As a boss, you’d like to recognize and retain that talent you’ve attracted with your reputation. And like the rest of us, you’re a consumer and a vital, participating member of your neighborhood and business community. 

Multi-business gift cards, like the new West Denver Marketplace Gift Card, are an innovative way to support all of those roles with one easy, thoughtful and impactful gift. Through this new program, hundreds of diverse restaurants and retailers offer a unique cultural experience — and they’re growing in popularity! Here’s why you should incorporate them into your employee incentive strategy.

They’re versatile

Much like the businesses participating in the West Denver Marketplace Gift Card, your employees are a diverse and unique group. It can be tricky to decide whether to offer generic yet repeatable rewards or personalized yet time-consuming packages. Rather than focusing on one kind of business or product, multi-business gift cards offer a variety of options for all interests and ensure the cards will be both appreciated and used. 

In a 2022 Downtown Gift Cards research study from GCVA, multi-business gift cards were preferred by both recipients and purchasers 2-1 over single-business gift cards, and this seems to suggest that versatility can be a gift in itself. They make great gifts for any occasion or time of year and are easy to purchase in bulk to keep on hand for raffles, new hires, thank-you gifts or “just because.” Don’t forget your vendors, contractors and clients!

They support small businesses

A business community is just that: a community. Businesses — especially smaller ones — often work together to support one another and create a rich, neighborhood feel for visitors, employees and residents. 

Shopping locally with a neighborhood gift card encourages relationship building and shows your commitment to investing in and strengthening your business’s local community. Try gifting a local, multi-business gift card to encourage department meetings, lunches or happy hours to be taken just around the corner. Or, employees can use them at the smaller artisan shop down the street for that impromptu purchase.

They’re heartfelt

When you think of the typical gift cards most receive from their employers, what comes to mind? It’s likely you think of big national brands like Amazon, Starbucks and Target. But who do those purchases really support? When your employees redeem those gift cards, are they receiving something unique from a mother who has poured her heart and soul into a heritage craft passed down through generations? Will they see genuine appreciation in a neighbor’s eyes for stepping off the beaten path and trying a family restaurant’s traditional, signature dish? 

Now imagine how your team members will feel receiving a gift card that comes with intention and purpose, rather than something picked up last minute in the chain supermarket check-out line. In neighborhoods like West Denver, known for its culturally rich, immigrant- and BIPOC-owned small businesses, a gift card can offer a rewarding experience worth much more than a cup of Starbucks coffee. 

They’re easy to use

Even though these cards are accepted at a variety of businesses, they are just as easy to use as the single-business gift cards your employees are accustomed to. The West Denver Marketplace Gift Card, for example, is used just like a debit card. Purchases can easily be split between gift cards and other forms of payment, there are no activation or maintenance fees and balances can easily be checked online. 

They’re a win-win-win

It’s not that you’re keeping score, but go ahead and mark multi-business gift cards as a “win” for your business, your employees and your community

• Your business wins. Being known as an avid supporter of local business is a powerful branding and recruitment tool. 
• Your employees win. Your employees will feel appreciated and recognized with a gift that’s both unique and useful.
• Your local community wins. Local businesses will appreciate being recognized for their important cultural and economic contributions to their community.

If this all seems too optimistic and you’re still having some doubts, the research is out there: According to 2022 Downtown Gift Cards research, “…over 90% of employees said that supporting local businesses is important, 53.8% of employees would prefer a Gift Card from their workplace, higher than cash (33.1%) and social events (9.4%) and 73.1% of employees wanted a multi-business Gift Card, with just 26.9% preferring a single retailer Gift Card.” 

So where do you get started?  Visit West Denver Marketplaces for details on their Gift Card, to order cards online or to learn about events where their gift cards will be available in person. 

This article is Sponsored Content.

West Denver Marketplaces showcases a wide variety of dining, shopping, service, and entertainment offerings in the culturally-diverse neighborhoods of West Denver. Through Denver’s first (and only!) collective gift card experience, shoppers can explore local businesses and help keep these communities vibrant.