A New Type of Gift Card Incentive:

When we hear about gift card incentives in the news these days, it usually has to deal with a specific company. 

It might be a department store offering a gift card for pre-ordering a video game or a car company enticing would-be buyers into the drivers seat with a gift card for taking a test drive.

It isn’t often that we hear about a city or town making gift card offers.  In this case, though, a town is doing just that.  Tracy, CA, a city just outside the Bay Area, has recently approved a gift card incentive program of its own.

Tracy made a significant investment in the Tracy Auto Mall in the mid 90’s and is now doing all they can to keep the auto industry thriving.  The city is putting up a half a million dollars to keep the industry running.

They plan on spending around $100,000 on a marketing plan and another $400,000 on gift cards.  The gift cards will be giving to people who make car purchases and will be redeemable at a number of retail establishments throughout Tracy, CA.

The city will make back some of it’s investment through sales tax generated during car sales as well as through revenue created when the gift cards are used at local retailers.

No one can predict what sort of impact this gift card program will have on auto sales and on the Tracy Auto Mall.  Hopefully the program will be beneficial for both the town and local businesses.  Whatever the outcome, though, it is always great when something as simple as gift cards can play a role in an economic recovery.