💡 Self-Used Gift Cards: How Ogloba Measures Real Impact with ALO
At Ogloba, we’ve developed ALO – Account Link Offer, a proprietary solution that allows us to measure the true commercial impact of gift cards — especially when they are self-used in cashback, loyalty, or incentive programs.
Far beyond tracking redemption, ALO compares the consumer’s usual credit or debit card spending habits with their behavior when using a gift card to partially or fully pay for a purchase. This approach provides powerful insights into how gift cards drive value — not only in usage, but in uplift.
🔍 How does ALO work?
Through secure partnerships with banks and fintech platforms, ALO allows consumers to link their payment accounts. Once connected and consent is given, ALO can:Identify standard spending behavior in specific merchant categories
Identify standard spending behavior in specific merchant categories
Detect when a gift card is used in a transaction (in part or in full)
Compare the average value of a typical card-based basket with a gift-card-enhanced basket
📈 What have we observed?
Our data shows that baskets where a gift card is used — especially when the recipient has obtained the card via a cashback or incentive program — are on average 2.15x larger than their usual credit/debit card purchases at the same merchant. In other words, the gift card triggers an incremental and measurable increase in spend.
🧠 Why does this matter for brands and merchants?
ALO proves that self-used gift cards are not just redeemed — they are leveraged. The consumer perceives them as real money, but tends to spend more than the value received. By comparing against their baseline card behavior, we eliminate guesswork and can demonstrate:
Incremental revenue directly tied to gift card usage
Higher conversion rates from cashback campaigns
Improved ROI versus traditional points or discount models
Better retention through emotional engagement and frictionless redemption
👥 Who can benefit?
Retailers looking to replace discounts with value-preserving rewards
Banks and fintechs offering merchant-funded incentives
Brands running large-scale acquisition or reactivation campaigns
Platforms measuring the real-world effectiveness of B2C loyalty programs
At Ogloba, we see Account Link Offer not just as an analytics tool — but as a bridge between customer behavior and commercial decision-making. It quantifies what was previously anecdotal: gift cards, when self-used, drive more spend — and ALO proves it.
👉 Want to unlock the real impact of your gift card programs? Let’s talk.
