03 Mar California Retirement Community Employs Latest Technology to Market Gift Cards Online
Sun City Lincoln Hills taps GiftCardGreatness.com to enable residents and customers to send e-gift cards and reload existing gift cards from the Sun City Lincoln Hills website.
March 3, 2011 – Sun City Lincoln Hills, an active-adult retirement community in Lincoln, California, has created a new source of revenue by selling both physical and virtual, e-gift cards online using GiftCardGreatness.com (GCG). GCG, a unique e-commerce service from Smart Transaction Systems, helps businesses to sell gift cards from their websites without installing e-commerce software. It is a simple, yet powerful, solution that allows retirement communities and businesses to increase revenue while creating a better consumer experience.
Sun City Lincoln Hills is a community of over 11,000 residents and 6,783 homes. In addition to using credit cards or cash, residents’ gift cards are a great option to pay for goods and services at facilities within the community, such as events, trips, classes, restaurants, and the spa.
“Residents love the gift cards because they are convenient. The gift cards are an accurate, simple way to track resident spending within the community– for both our accounting staff, and the residents,” said Jeannine Balcombe, Senior Director of Lifestyle & Communications.
Prior to GCG implementation, residents could only purchase or reload their gift cards at certain locations within the community. By adding online functionality to the gift card program, Sun City residents and their families are able to more easily purchase and reload cards by going to their website at www.suncity-lincolnhills.org.
“GiftCardGreatness.com addressed our needs exactly. It allowed our residents and their families to purchase gift cards in a way that is most convenient to them,” explained Balcombe. “Before GCG, out-of-state family members weren’t able to easily purchase gift cards for their parents living at Sun City Lincoln Hills. Not only can they send physical cards now, they can also send e-gift cards instantly and reload existing cards.”
Sun City’s Spa at Kilaga Springs is a popular destination for community residents and people from the surrounding city of Lincoln, so management is also using GCG to sell gift cards for the spa at KilagaSpringsSpa.com. E-gift cards for the spa are instantly emailed, making them popular with last-minute holiday gift givers. The ability to sell gift cards online creates a valuable revenue stream for the spa and allows it to reach customers outside of the community.
Merchants looking to expand the reach of their gift card program can learn more at GiftCardGreatness.com or by calling 888-494-9760.
About Sun City Lincoln Hills
Sun City Lincoln Hills Community Association is a mutual-benefit corporation governed by the Sun City Lincoln Hills homeowners. The Del Webb active adult community opened for sales in 1999 and consists of more than 6,700 homes. The Association includes two recreation centers with over 100,000 square feet of amenities including two fitness centers, an indoor walking and jogging track, four swimming pools, and numerous activity and craft rooms. The Spa at Kilaga Springs, Meridians Bar and Grill and the Kilaga Springs Cafe and lounges are open to the public. Outdoor amenities include more than eight miles of maintained walking and bicycle trails, tennis and bocce courts, a catch-and-release fishing pond, sports pavilion, tot lot, and a senior softball complex serving as home field to more than 14 senior softball teams. Approximately 40 percent of Sun City Lincoln Hills’ 3,000 acres have been preserved as open space.
For more information on Sun City Lincoln Hills, visit: www.suncity-lincolnhills.org or phone 916.625.4020.