Amazon gift cards are many companies’ go-to gifts. After all, giving someone the ability to pick whatever they want from a site that sells just about everything certainly takes the guesswork out of reward giving.
The trouble is that even though Amazon operates in many countries, there’s no true Amazon international gift card. Gift recipients can use their Amazon gift card only on the one country-specific site where it was purchased. That means that an Amazon.com gift card cannot be used on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.ca or Amazon.co.jp.
The only way for a recipient in another country to use an Amazon.com gift card would be to find a product on the U.S. site that can be shipped internationally. And that typically includes high shipping costs that eat up much of the card’s value.
Until Amazon figures out how to offer an Amazon international gift card, here are two global rewarding options to consider instead.
READ MORE: The Appeal of Virtual Prepaid Cards as Incentives Is as Simple as ABC
A virtual prepaid card such as Visa or Mastercard can be used in more than 150 countries. It’s the next best thing to giving an Amazon international gift card because recipients can use it on their country’s own Amazon site — or anywhere else that accepts Visa or Mastercard.
These one-size-fits-all digital gift cards are convenient because no matter what currency they’re purchased in, the card issuer does the currency conversion automatically, if necessary, and deducts the correct amount from the card at the time of purchase. It’s seamless.
For example, if you want to send $50 USD Visa cards to customers in Spain, Wales, and Canada, the gift recipients would be able to use the card to make local purchases in euros, British pounds, and Canadian dollars, with an automatic conversion.
That said, you’ll need to keep in mind the following when going this route. Visa and Mastercard prepaid cards:
These days, you might not even know where your recipients may be, so it’s even more important that the rewards you send are redeemable wherever they are. Whether you’re rewarding employees, survey takers, or customers, consider taking advantage of automated solutions that let you “fix it and forget it.”
You can save your team countless hours and headaches by using a rewards platform designed to populate country-specific gift cards for your recipients, so you no longer have to take the time to send those separately.
BHN Rewards’ Smart Global Choice feature, for example, can detect a recipient’s location and seamlessly curate the list of available rewards for them, whether you chose to offer virtual Visa or Mastercard prepaid cards, other e-gift cards available in their country, e-donations, or a combination. It even offers a workaround for an Amazon international gift card, because the recipient will see only the reward for their country-specific site, where available. The solution also converts the reward value to the appropriate currency for you.
It takes just a few simple steps to set up this automation and curation.
During the campaign setup, indicate that you have recipients in multiple countries, then choose the reward amount. You’ll also assign a Reward Collection, where you can choose which options to include and exclude.
Then you’ll continue through the rest of the campaign setup to select your delivery method, add your recipient list, customize your reward email and redemption page, and designate your funding source.
On the other side, once the recipient gets their reward email, they’ll be directed to a page to confirm their location and then choose their desired reward.
Research consistently shows that rewards recipients expect choices and convenience. Choosing the right rewards solution — one that takes the grunt work out of managing a rewards program — will delight them AND your team.
Looking to simplify your international rewarding program? Request a demo today!
BHN Rewards puts the power of digital rewards to work for marketers, researchers, and HR managers. Don't forget to check out all the great content in our Resources section!
BHN Rewards puts the power of digital rewards to work for marketers, researchers, and HR managers. Don't forget to check out all the great content in our Resources section!
