Uno's Virtual Gift Cards Capture Customer Info

Uno Chicago Grill now offers patrons virtual gift cards, which givers load online and then e-mail to recipients.
By Lisa Bertagnoli, Contributing Editor -- Chain Leader, 5/1/2009

Patrons who want to buy a friend an Uno Chicago Grill gift card now have two choices: Buy a plastic gift card at a restaurant; or go online, buy a virtual card, and e-mail it to the recipient.

Uno Chicago Grill now offers patrons virtual gift cards, which givers load online and then e-mail to recipients. The cards capture information from both giver and recipient.

Boston-based Uno began offering virtual gift cards last December as a convenience to guests, says Rick Hendrie, senior vice president of marketing for the 200-unit chain. Uno advertised the virtual cards via an e-mail blast to customers. To create the cards, givers visit the chain's Web site, click on "gift cards," and choose the e-mail option. Once there, they can select one of nine backgrounds and a denomination of $25 or $50. They then provide the recipient's name and e-mail address and proceed to a pay page, where they give their own name, e-mail address and payment info. Givers are sent a confirmation e-mail when the recipient opens the card.
The virtual card captures data on both giver and recipient. That data will enable Uno to "segment messages to appropriate audiences," Hendrie says, though he will not elaborate.
Eighty-five percent of virtual cards are used within three months, and users spend 60 percent more than the card's face value, says David Stone, CEO of the company that supplies the technology (it is available as a Web-based or POS application).
Stone notes that the cards are not glitch-free; just under 1 percent bounce back as spam. "But the numbers are falling every day," he says.