Why Retailers Need to Modernize How They Think of Stored Value

Retailers spend years and millions building loyalty programs, reward ecosystems and promotional engines. But what happens when that value sits unused — forgotten in an app, buried in an inbox, expired before it was ever spent? The problem isn't consumer apathy. It's a system that was never designed for how people actually manage their money. Persistent inflation, tighter credit access, and higher interest rates have created a three-fold threat to household budgets. Rising household debt levels are squeezing finances even more.

As a result, people are paying closer attention to where every dollar goes and are more deliberate about how they purchase.

This hyperconscious approach is driving significant growth in people paying with stored value like points, rewards, gift cards, store credit and appeasements. It’s time for retailers to rethink and upgrade their stored value strategy.

Spending Stored Value is Now a Go-To Budgeting Tactic

Stored value is being treated as real purchasing power for consumers. A popular strategy amongst consumers is specifically earning or buying different types of stored value to stay within a set budget or for future use. Research found that 59 percent of respondents planned to purchase gift cards for their own use last year, and 31 percent shared that it helps them manage and control their spending.

However, there is a challenge with this methodology. While consumers may want to use stored value more intentionally, there's no single place to manage it all.

Fragmented Value is Undermining Spending Intent

Most shoppers have stored value sitting idle. Some of it lives in apps. Some sits in email. Some is in a physical wallet. Tracking how much is available, where it can be used, and when it expires is difficult. The result is missed savings, overlooked spending power, and constant frustration trying to piece together disparate payment options at checkout.

This fragmentation creates friction on the retail side as well. Brands want to engage customers frequently and build lasting relationships. Dormant points and credits don’t drive behavior or connection and as a result, many retailers aren't fully capitalizing on the stored value already in their ecosystems.

Retailers’ Own Digital Properties Can Provide Comprehensive Solutions

Brands invest sizeable resources into their online and in-app shopping channels. But there’s room and opportunity for maturation.

Rather than requiring customers to leave your app or website, cobble together their stored value and then return to check out, retailers can incorporate API technology to embed stored value repositories. With aggregated stored value all in one place, customers stay in their preferred shopping channel and within retailers’ own ecosystems. No switching apps or digging through inboxes required.

That real-time access to total spending power makes budgeting easier and increases the likelihood that value will be used.

Retailers Can Benefit Significantly From This Approach — Not Just Through Sales

Stored value tools can reveal rich insights specific to a single individual, helping improve personalization and long-term engagement.

For example, data tied to stored value can help brands track which promotions customers participate in, which incentives they favor based on redemption rate and speed, whether they actually use an appeasement or store credit, how often they redeem points, and whether they save stored value for big-ticket items or use it more frequently in smaller amounts.

Robust digital capabilities offer operational benefits, too. These stored value repositories can reduce refund processing costs, avoid certain interchange fees, and create opportunities with existing customers. Over time, a more cohesive stored value strategy can simplify internal processes by reducing the need to manage separate systems with different rules and limitations.

Smarter Spending is Here to Stay

Strategic spending is now part of an everyday, year-round routine. For retailers, the focus needs to be on how to organize stored value in ways that align with shifting consumer preferences. By bringing fragmented balances into their own digital ecosystems, brands can build better relationships with customers who are trying to spend thoughtfully.

Brett Narlinger is chief revenue officer at Blackhawk Network (BHN), a global branded payments provider.