ezeprepaid has compared digital and physical rewards for incentive programmes, focusing on delivery, flexibility and tracking. Its January 2023 guide uses electronic gift cards and digital payments as examples of rewards that can be distributed without packaging and shipping a physical item.

The guide identifies fulfilment as one of the main operational differences. Electronic delivery can shorten the route from awarding an incentive to making it available to the recipient, while avoiding the storage and handling involved in physical distribution. This can be relevant when a programme serves recipients in several locations.

Reward selection can also be adjusted within a digital programme. ezeprepaid describes offering a choice of gift card brands and varying reward amounts according to a customer's purchase history. These are examples of tailoring the incentive to a programme's rules and audience rather than using one fixed physical reward for everyone.

A central system can record reward activity and help programme operators examine redemption rates and participant preferences. The guide presents that information as an input to later decisions about the reward range and campaign design.

Digital delivery also avoids shipping a physical reward for those transactions. The article promotes that as an environmental consideration, but it does not quantify an emissions saving or compare the full environmental footprint of different reward types.

For buyers evaluating incentive fulfilment, the guide's practical comparison is between the work required to store and distribute physical items and the systems needed to deliver, offer choice and track digital rewards. The choice of format remains tied to the particular programme and the reward products offered.