Buying gift cards in bulk can save you hassle (and even money) compared to going to a store to pick them up yourself.
If you regularly use gift cards for things like employee rewards, marketing promos, or research participant incentives, then you have a few different options for buying batches of them. You can buy directly from retailers or through third-party distributors, but the easiest way to buy gift cards in bulk is through a specialized platform like Tremendous.
6 simple steps for buying bulk gift cards
If you’re just getting started using gift cards as incentives, follow these six steps to set up your bulk gift card program and start sending out rewards.
1. Define your use case and plan your budget
Before you place an order, get clear on why you're buying gift cards and how much you’re able to spend.
For example, if you run your company’s employee recognition program, define specific moments when you’ll award gift cards. This could include work anniversaries, birthdays, or performance milestones.
Use these planned payout moments, along with the number of employees you have, to figure out how much you can afford to spend per reward. Our research shows that at least $25 is ideal for employee recognition incentives.
Other use cases for gift card incentives include customer appreciation, survey incentives, referral rewards, and research participant payouts. If you already have an established budget for your program then how many cards you’ll need becomes a matter of simple math.
2. Research and compare bulk gift card providers
If you opt to buy bulk gift cards through a third-party vendor, look for trusted companies that offer the cards you want. You can also buy through a specific retailer, like Amazon, but it will limit your recipients’ reward options and might make it difficult to send incentives to people outside the U.S. Plus, third party vendors typically charge fees, which will increase the overall cost of each gift card.
As you research vendor and platform options, look for key features, including:
Multiple gift card options available. Does the solution offer both digital gift cards as well as physical? Digital delivery is faster, easier to scale, and ideal for remote teams or customers. Physical cards may work better for in-person events.
Reward variety and flexibility. Can recipients choose their own gift cards, or do you have to select the reward for them? Can you send cards internationally if needed? Recipients love having the ability to choose.
Delivery methods. Does the platform support email, SMS, downloadable links, or mail? Digital delivery is the most important here because it offers instant rewards. Physical cards can be useful sometimes, but they take much longer to arrive.
Custom branding. Can you add your company’s logo or a custom message?
Security and compliance. Does the platform follow all relevant privacy regulations and current U.S. state laws? Does it offer fraud prevention tools and secure redemption processes (e.g., one-time links or identity verification).
If you’re planning to mostly send digital gift cards, choose a provider that makes it easy to upload recipients and automate delivery, either through a dashboard or an API.
Need a good starting point? Here’s an overview of how the top bulk gift card providers line up.
| Provider | # of available rewards | Digital/physical | Delivery methods | Custom branding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tremendous | 2,000+ | Digital & physical | Email, SMS, links, physical cards via mail, API | Yes |
| Giftbit | 100+ | Digital & physical | Email, SMS, links, physical cards via mail, API | Yes |
| Tango | 1,500+ | Digital & physical | Email, API, physical cards via mail | Yes |
| American Express | American Express only | Digital & physical | Email, physical cards via mail | Yes |
3. Choose card types
Decide whether you want to send digital or physical cards (or both) and whether to use prepaid Visas/Mastercards or specific retailer-branded cards.
If you're rewarding recipients in multiple countries, make sure your gift card provider supports local currencies. This helps avoid confusion and ensures that every recipient can use the reward they receive.
4. Understand the tax implications
When you’re buying bulk gift cards for employees, there’s a major tax consideration to keep in mind. In the United States, the IRS considers gift cards given to employees by employers as a form of compensation.
No matter how small the amount, these gift cards are subject to income and employment taxes.
If you’re sending bulk gift cards to non-employees, like customers, partners, or research participants, the amounts may fall under 1099-MISC reporting. But generally, this is true only if the total value given to one person in a calendar year is at least $600.
A good bulk gift card provider should offer reporting features that help with tracking payouts and collecting tax information as needed.
5. Place your order and plan distribution
Once you’ve picked a bulk gift card provider and figured out which cards to send, it’s time to place an order.
Most platforms, including Tremendous, offer a self-serve option where you can upload a CSV with recipient details to send gift cards in bulk. For larger or ongoing programs, you can use an API to automate reward delivery directly from your internal systems.
If you order bulk gift cards directly through a retailer, the order and delivery process will involve more manual methods, such as spreadsheets and shipping. Delivery methods are also more restricted compared to full-service platforms, which frequently offer multiple delivery options like text message, link, email, and physical delivery.
6. Track delivery and usage
After you’ve sent out your gift cards, there’s a bit more work to do. With your chosen platform, you should be able to monitor key steps of the gift card redemption process. You want a platform that lets you track key metrics:
Your spend activity over time
Which redemption options recipients have chosen
Redemptions by recipient location.
Over time, you’ll start to see patterns in which reward amounts perform the best, which delivery methods get the highest open rates, and which redemption options recipients like most.
Use cases for buying gift cards in bulk
Bulk gift cards work well for any team or company that regularly needs to send rewards and incentives to multiple recipients.
Human resources departments
HR teams frequently use gift cards. They're perfect for employee recognition programs. Birthdays, work anniversaries, and performance milestones all warrant celebration, and what’s better than a gift card?
Bulk gift cards make it easy to reward employees consistently. They're a versatile solution for all sorts of HR initiatives.
Take employee recognition, for example, which is crucial for retention. One study found that employees who feel appropriately recognized are 45% less likely to have turned over two years later.
And, while 65% of employees prefer money over other types of rewards, cash lacks the personalized touch of more specific gifts.
Gift cards offer the best of both worlds. As shown in one study, employees can view gift cards as "fun money," which encourages people to treat themselves rather than buying mundane things like groceries.
Marketing teams
Marketers use gift cards to promote lead generation, customer acquisition, and brand loyalty programs. And bulk purchasing makes sense for large-scale promotional campaigns.
Rebates and cashback programs that offer gift cards can be powerful marketing tools. Plus, gift cards are an obvious redemption option for loyalty programs, which impact revenue. Effective loyalty programs can boost revenue gained from active program members by 15% to 25% annually.
Referral programs powered by gift card rewards can also be highly effective. Referred customers are 200% more likely to spend than non-referred customers. They also have a 4x higher lifetime value and convert 5x faster than customers acquired through other means.
Research professionals
Research operations managers need gift cards to incentivize participation. Gift cards are a core incentive type for market research, UX studies, academic research, and medical studies.
For research initiatives, material incentives can boost the odds of a participant responding by 19%. Offering gift card incentives can also make it easier to recruit participants in the first place, and they improve retention and response quality.
When analyzing the impact of incentives on research outcomes, one study found that rewards help attract more diverse participant pools and increase completion rates.
Ultimately, bulk gift cards offer research professionals a powerful tool to enhance their studies. They provide a flexible, efficient, and participant-friendly way to incentivize participation across various fields.
Class action administrators
Class action administrators handle complex payment distributions. They need reliable, scalable solutions for sending legal disbursements. Bulk gift cards provide an efficient way to handle these payments.
Bulk gift card purchases help class action administrators:
Distribute payments quickly and securely
Reduce operational errors
Save on administrative costs
Provide a smooth recipient experience
Security is also paramount in legal disbursements. Modern digital gift card systems can incorporate fraud prevention measures while ensuring efficient distribution.
3 benefits of buying in bulk
Bulk gift card purchases offer several strategic advantages for companies looking to streamline their reward and incentive programs.
1. Cost savings
Buying gift cards in bulk often comes with discounts. Vendors may offer lower prices for large orders. This can result in significant savings, especially for ongoing programs.
Bulk purchases also reduce per-unit costs. Shipping and handling fees are spread across more items. This leads to better overall value.
Some providers may offer tiered pricing structures, where the per-unit cost decreases as the order size increases.
2. Less administrative work
Bulk ordering streamlines the procurement process. Instead of multiple small orders, you handle one large transaction. This reduces paperwork and administrative overhead.
Bulk gift cards also simplify budgeting and forecasting. You can plan for gift card needs in advance, leading to more efficient financial management.
3. Easier planning
Bulk purchasing supports smarter long-term planning. You can align gift card inventory with annual initiatives. This ensures you're prepared for recurring events or campaigns.
It also allows for more strategic use of rewards. You can plan larger, more impactful programs knowing you have the necessary resources.
How buying bulk gift cards works with Tremendous
Tremendous simplifies the process of bulk gift card purchases, from ordering to distribution. You can choose which gift cards you want to offer, send as many as you need, and easily manage distribution without resorting to manual spreadsheets and shipping. Tremendous also lets you track spend, redemption options, and other analytics.
Plus, with Tremendous, you get:
2,000+ rewards options, including charitable donations and monetary payouts
A free-to-use platform
International reward options in 200+ countries
Customized reward messages and branding
Built-in tax compliance tools
Integration capabilities
Buying gift cards in bulk for employees, customers, and research participants doesn't have to be complicated. With Tremendous, it's a simple, efficient process.
