What can you really buy with bitcoin?
Skeptics have been asking bitcoin users this question since Bitcoin's start in 2009. Well, the answer now is pretty much anything.
How? Enter the online gift card marketplace, a powerful gateway for bitcoin's use in e-commerce transactions. These marketplaces broker the buying and selling of digital gift card codes redeemable at major brands, often at sizable discounts.
The gift card industry is already familiar with digital transactions as well as the high cost of credit card fraud. It's no surprise that gift card marketplaces have been some of the first large e-commerce businesses to begin accepting bitcoin payments, which carry no card fraud or chargeback costs for sellers.
eGifter is one of these early adopters. A major player in the world of gift card marketplaces, eGifter was one of the first to begin accepting bitcoin back in 2014. The company's leadership have been big believers in bitcoin's potential to transform payments. Here's why they took the initial leap:
“The low margins and fraud challenges in our business had us looking to add more affordable and secure payment options. Bitcoin was a great addition as it both reduced transaction costs, and delivered sales free of the type of fraud we see in credit card sales” - Tyler Roye, CEO of eGifter.
Today, eGifter offers bitcoin users access to hundreds of mainstream and niche brands, including almost every major national and regional retailer in the US. They also offer a wide variety of restaurants and services. You can buy digital gifts card for yourself or give them as gifts through eGifter's website or mobile app. Shoppers who aren't sure what they want can choose the eGifter Choice Card, which can be turned into any other digital gift card later.
Bitcoin purchases have been a major contributor to eGifter's growth since 2014, adding millions to sales volume which continues to grow. We were excited to begin working with eGifter this year when they reached out to us about BitPay's bitcoin payment processing.
“BitPay made it clear to us that they are committed to being the leading bitcoin processor for merchants looking to accept bitcoin. They offered us a reliable and secure service that met or exceeded all of our requirements and made it easy to get up and running.” – eGifter CEO Tyler Roye.
Now, several months after getting started with bitcoin payments via BitPay, eGifter is seeing continued growth and some interesting purchase trends. This increased use is coming from existing customers as well as new bitcoin customers.
“We attribute some of our growth in both customer count and gross sales to the recent increase in bitcoin value. BitPay has also helped us improve our checkout experience, which we believe is also having an impact." – eGifter CEO Tyler Roye.
eGifter is seeing bitcoin users spending across all major categories, showing that bitcoin users are interested in spending their bitcoin for all of their needs. This is encouraging for the future of bitcoin as a more widely accepted payment option. You can see eGifter 2017 bitcoin sales by category below:
We're excited about these trends, and they continue to provide evidence that bitcoin is powering everyday transactions, from clothes shopping to food purchases.
If you want to see the power of bitcoin for yourself, just visit eGifter.com/bitcoin. You can also download the eGifter app on the App Store or Google Play. With so many choices on eGifter, you could pay for everything you need without touching your credit card.
