Kay’s Steak & Lobster, a casual steakhouse just outside of Kuala Lumpur, quickly realized that fewer dine-in customers—due to the COVID-19 health crisis—meant that they needed to find new ways to earn revenue and improve cash flow.

Kay’s Steak & Lobster decided to sell gift cards online through UMAI’s platform. It only took them 15 minutes to create an account, set up the gift cards in a widget link, define the Terms and Conditions, and make it LIVE.

The benefits of using gift cards to fight against the lockdown were clear:

• It is great for the cash flow of restaurants, as they receive income now.

• 10% to 19% of gift card balances remain unredeemed and around 6% of gift cards are never used, which means great margins for restaurants.

• Customers who have bought gift cards spend more money: a study from First Data concluded that 80% of consumers with a Fine Dining or Fast Casual Restaurant gift card spend more than the value of their card. On average, customers spend 20% more when using a gift card.

• Gift cards give loyal customers an easy and quick way to support businesses.

“It has been the best thing we’ve done to combat the slow down in our dine-in traffic and improve our cash flow.” — Aizuddin, Director of Kay’s Steak & Lobster

Getting the word out about their gift cards was the key to Kay’s Steak & Lobster’s success. They messaged their database of customers and made several Instagram & Facebook posts. This led to 30,800 MYR (7,300 USD) in 9 days, which equates to around 29.5% of what they normally make in average dine-in sales.

Are you interested in selling gift cards as a new source of revenue at the lowest possible cost to you? Request a free, personalized demo through our website below!‍

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