Total Retail Tech Insights
Total Retail Tech Insights was created as a resource for executives in the retail industry who seek information and solutions for their technology wants and needs. Through brief but in-depth interviews with subject matter experts and industry thought leaders, listeners take away actionable information and practical advice to help drive their technology road maps. From idea to implementation, Total Retail Tech Insights is the content retail executives need to optimize their use of technology throughout their organizations.
Strategies to Build A Stronger Direct Digital Gift Card Program

In this episode of Total Retail Tech Insights, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Sarah Kositzke, global insights director at Blackhawk Network (BHN), the world’s largest network of gift cards and branded payment solutions. Listen in as Kositzke provides an overview of BHN and her role (1:15), current gift card market trends (3:10), and the recently released 2026 Best Direct Digital Gift Card Programs report, produced by BHN and NAPCO Research (6:15). She discusses the complex methodology behind the report (10:00), evolving the evaluation criteria year-over-year to reflect today's market (14:30), and key learnings from this year's top-ranking U.S. and Canadian retailers (16:46).

In addition, Kositzke shares best practices for an effective direct digital gift card program (21:00), why retailers should treat gift cards as a strategic product rather than an afterthought (24:00), and common challenges among lower-ranking brands and retailers in the report (25:40). She discusses how AI is impacting gift card programs (28:30), the investments driving the highest ROI for digital gift card programs (31:00), and surprising finds from the report (33:30). Lastly, Kositzke shares a few key takeaways for retailers and brands to build stronger direct digital gift card programs (36:20).

Sarah Kositzke, Director, Global Insights at Blackhawk Network (BHN), has more than 20 years of market research experience across a variety of industries, including automotive, retail, beauty, insurance, travel and building products. Sarah has been leading global consumer and B2B research at BHN for nearly five years. The global insights resulting from her work have helped position the company as a thought leader in gift cards, payments, and incentives.

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