PLEASANTON, Calif., US — Blackhawk Network, a global payments provider, has partnered with The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf brand, one of the world’s leading roasters and retailers of specialty coffee and tea, to advance its B2B gift card program. As part of the integrated program, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf now offers physical and digital gift cards available via Blackhawk’s vast network of B2B channels, including employee rewards, consumer incentives, and fundraising.
While physical gift cards remain popular, the use of digital gift cards is increasing, particularly due to the pandemic. The new The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® B2B gift card program makes it easy for consumers to purchase gift cards in bulk of more than $250 at a time through an online portal. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® gift cards are redeemable year-round at all locations across North America, never expire, and are available quickly.
“The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® gift card program has always been a successful sales driver for us, and our online gift card sales have grown significantly over the past year, especially within the B2B sector,” said Christy Smith, marketing director, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® brand. “We see this growth continuing as businesses more frequently use gift cards to either thank employees for their extra efforts during COVID, for teams meeting certain sales goals, or for people redeeming credit card points. We have now made it seamless for companies to buy and distribute our gift cards.”
The gift, reward, and corporate incentive cards markets are expected to gain significant growth over the next few years. According to a recent report from Research and Markets1, online purchases of gift cards more than doubled in 2020 and outperformed the YOY growth that was recorded in 2019.
“According to Mercator, the B2B gift card market in the U.S. is estimated to be $29.7 billion, or nearly a quarter of the overall gift card market, and the last year has only made it more crucial for organizations to reward and recognize their workforce,” said Jennifer Philo, GVP, U.S. digital commerce and loyalty, Blackhawk Network. “The success that The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® has seen with its gift card program is indicative of the tremendous revenue opportunity the B2B gift card market presents when merchants expand the targeting for their omnichannel gift card programs to include B2B customers.”
To learn more about Blackhawk’s capabilities, visit www.blackhawknetwork.com.
For more information and to register for The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® gift card program, please visit store.coffeebean.com/pages/gift-cards.
