As an employer, you wouldn't imagine straightaway that sending simple gifts (or thank you notes) to your employees makes it 12x more likely you'll achieve your business goals, would you?

Yet, that is precisely what an adequate and ongoing employee recognition and appreciation program does. This is in addition to reaping all the other widely-known benefits of employee appreciation.

There are many employee rewards solutions available that enable you to set up a regular employee recognition and appreciation program. A popular platform is Giftbit. 

Here's our Giftbit review outlining the platform's features, pros, cons, and everything in between to help you decide if it's a good fit for your company and employees.

What Is Giftbit?

Giftbit is a loyalty, incentives, and rewards software that simplifies buying, sending, and tracking gift cards. The platform makes it easy for employers to fulfill and manage employee recognition programs, incentivize clients, or engage research participants. 

It also makes it easy for recipients to redeem their gifts. You send the gift card via email, SMS, or through your delivery system. Then, your recipients use it online or in-store at merchants that accept digital cards. 

There's also an in-app gift card redemption marketplace with a few retailers your recipients can use to redeem their digital gift cards directly from within your app.

The Main Features Of Giftbit

Besides its ease of use once you get it set up and running, Giftbit offers the following main features:

Bulk Sending 

Giftbit's bulk-sending feature lets you send multiple digital gift cards to several recipients at a go. This saves time, especially if you are an enterprise-level company with hundreds or thousands of employees. 

You can customize your cards with your company's branding and personalized messages to improve reception and ensure recipients redeem their cards. 

However, if some rewards go unclaimed, the platform keeps 50% of the gift card's worth, and you get 50% of your money back.

Integration

With Giftbit, you can use API integration or Zapier to trigger reward delivery through the HR system you already use. You don't have to go through several apps to get the employee info you need to send rewards. 

Reports & Analytics

For reports and analytics, Giftbit lets you track key metrics to understand the impact of your rewards program in driving company success. You can tell how engaged your employees are with the program and whether it improves their workplace experience and company culture as a whole. 

The reports and analytics feature also offers insight you can use to improve your HR processes

Team Accounts 

The team accounts feature makes running your rewards program a collaborative effort instead of a management-only responsibility. It allows you to assign roles to various team members, letting them perform different functions without compromising your organization's security. In doing so, it fosters a collaborative work environment. 

Multiple Brands

Giftbit offers a wide selection of well-known brands where recipients can redeem their cards. Most of these are retailers and eateries within the U.S. and Canada. 

Security And Support

The platform provides a range of security features, like encrypted data processors and multi-factor authentication. This serves to protect your company info and safeguard recipients' data.

The platform’s support team is also responsive and always available via phone or email.

Giftbit Pricing

Signing up for the platform is free – no subscription fee or minimum amount is required to get started. You only pay the face value amount for the gift cards you send. 

However, additional charges may apply depending on the payment method you select to pay for the cards' value. You'll pay a 3.5% fee for credit card payments. Plus, an extra $4.95 per card fee if you choose the physical visa incentive cards option.

Pros And Cons Of Giftbit

✅ Pros

✅ Embedded in-app gift redemption marketplace: In-app gift redemption makes fulfilling your rewards program seamless. Employees can receive their gift card, view it, and select their preferred brand to redeem their card without leaving your app.

✅ Bulk sending: Bulk sending offers convenience when sending gift cards to several recipients.

✅ Enhanced team collaboration through the platform's team accounts feature.

✅ Reliable customer support makes handling issues a breeze.

❌ Cons

❌ A wide selection of brands but less interest variation: Recipients can redeem their gift cards in popular outlets, but almost all are retail giants and restaurants. The platform doesn't consider varied human interests to include more versatile options like gym memberships and wellness retreats.

❌ Geographic limitation: Giftbit works best in specific countries, including the U.S., Canada, and Australia. 

❌ It requires some effort to set up, especially the API integration feature.

❌ Reporting and analytics can be overwhelming: The platform presents reports in general Excel files, which might be confusing and challenging to analyze.

❌ You don’t get all your money back on unclaimed rewards: Giftbit keeps 50% of the gift card value when the reward is unclaimed by the recipient. 

Who Is Giftbit Best For?

Giftbit is ideal for small, mid-size, and large enterprises looking to reward their employees or incentivize their clients. 

The platform best serves businesses in the U.S., Canada, and Australia because its catalog of gift card options focuses on brands that almost exclusively serve these markets. Companies outside these countries have limited, if any, gift options for their employees or clients.

Key Takeaways

Undoubtedly, Giftbit offers the basic features and functions needed to run a regular employee recognition program. But is it enough? Are the platform's features and functions what you need to run a successful rewards program long-term so you can achieve strong business outcomes and thrive? 

Giftbit lets you automate sending gifts in bulk within minutes, but not without some effort from your end. Unless you have Zapier (another paid-for app, meaning extra costs), you may have to prepare and upload your contacts to Giftbit following a specific format. This can be tedious, especially when working with large lists of contacts. You also risk leaving out some employees, making your rewards program less inclusive. 

When it comes to customization, Giftbit is quite limited compared to several other platforms. The platform allows you to send personalized messages, but that's just about it. Other platforms like PerkUp let you add fun GIFs and themes to spice up your employees' experience. 

With PerkUp, you can also customize and send premium swag packages to recipients in over 130 countries. Or offer the platform's well-thought-out and versatile reward options, including flexible gift cards and cash rewards. 

The platform seamlessly integrates with your HRIS platforms and syncs your employee information every 24 hours. This way, your employee directory stays up-to-date. You can also set up and send automatic rewards for your employees' life experiences like birthdays and work anniversaries. This way, you never forget a special occasion and your employees always feel valued on their big days!

If you're looking to create a community of highly motivated employees who care about meeting company goals as much as you do, try PerkUp. Book a free demo today to see how it works.