Buyatab reported in June 2017 that adding occasion-based gift card artwork changed which design customers selected. In its comparison, 90% of buyers at brands offering only generic artwork retained the preselected design. When generic and occasion-based designs were available together, buyers were three times as likely to choose an alternative to the default. [S01]

The decision being measured

The outcome was design selection. It was not purchase conversion, average order value or the likelihood of returning to the brand. Buyatab described a random sample comparing brands, but did not disclose its size, collection period or an assignment procedure. [S01]

That leaves an important distinction between an observation and an experiment. Customers shopping at different brands can have different intentions before they see any artwork. Without comparable groups and a defined research design, the reported difference cannot be attributed solely to the presence of a birthday or other occasion image.

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The decision being measured

Question

What the published comparison establishes

Did buyers keep the default design?

Buyatab reported a 90% share where only generic designs were offered

Did occasion artwork affect the selection pattern?

The company reported more non-default selections in the comparison group

Did more people complete a purchase?

No purchase-conversion result was reported

Does the finding represent all gift card buyers?

The sample and observation period were not disclosed

A useful question for the buying journey

Artwork is part of how a giver explains the purpose of a gift. A design can provide a quick way to signal a birthday, a thank-you or another occasion without changing the underlying stored value. That makes the selection step worth examining in its own right.

A retailer assessing that step would need to distinguish browsing a design, selecting it and completing the order. A change at one stage may have no effect at another. A larger range might help some buyers express their intention while adding decisions for others; the published comparison does not settle that trade-off.

An early observation, with defined limits

The June 1, 2017 article offers a specific observation from Buyatab’s business. Its narrow conclusion is that design choice differed across the brand groups it examined. [S01] The finding can inform a retailer’s own investigation of the gift card purchase journey, but it is not a measured promise that adding occasion artwork will increase sales.