OPEN YOUR WALLET AND DUMP ALL THE PLASTIC CARDS ON THE TABLE.

A few years ago only a trio of credit cards, a driver’s license, a library card and maybe a Red Cross blood donor card would be in the pile. But, those bits of magnetic-coded plastic are multiplying.

Look again. What’s that? A gift card good at any store in the local mall and another one, recently reloaded, from Starbucks.

Originally just a nifty way to spring for a gift without expending much effort, gift cards are spreading faster than a family of rabbits. According to the St. Paul, Minnesota firm e-CAP or Electronic Check Alliance Processing, Inc., gift card sales are growing at an annual rate of 15%. They reached nearly $15 billion in 2000.

But sales have skyrocketed. Consider these figures for just the prime retail season–November and December 2005. According to the National Retail Federation, consumers ranked gift cards in third place on their wish lists for the 2005 holiday season. The trade organization estimated gift card sales would total $18.48 billion for the holiday season, a 6.6 % increase over 2004, when holiday sales were $17.34 billion.

“Gift cards present a win-win situation for both consumers and retailers,” said Tracy Mullin, NRF president and chief executive officer. “Gift cards take the guesswork out of giving and since they take up minimal shelf space, they are easy for retailers to stock and display.”

ValueLink, a stored value card developer and marketer, estimates six out of 10 Americans will purchase gift cards this year and spend, on average, $339.

How are some leaders in the car wash industry handling plastic gift cards?

Jim Rowland, a sales executive with Innovative Control Systems, Inc. provider of carwash and quick lube business management solutions, stated: “We sell a gift card program with our software.”

His firm offers a variety of marketing programs for gift cards including “giving an X% bonus on top of what (customers) paid. For example, buy a $100 Gift Card and we will put $110 on the card.”

As a way to market the card through automated attendants, Mr. Rowland said, some “operators have them set

up so that if a customer tries to use the gift card and there is not enough money, it will prompt them to add more value and also offer a different bonus.” Still other operators, he said, were using the gift cards for charity.

National Car Wash is a Nashville-based chain of 45 franchise operations mainly in Tennessee. One shop is located in Kentucky. Tim Jones, vice president of New Business Development, noted his company is “just starting the program for charities and school and fleet cars.” It’s been in operation since February 1…too soon to report any intriguing sales trends. Still, he’s already looking for someone to market the card further.

Customers with gift cards use them in terminals located at each franchise. The program is already being marketed to schools and charities. “It’s a nice fundraiser,” Mr. Jones said. “They make 15% of what they sell.”

“We’re doing it as a way to increase our revenue stream. Charities and schools can benefit.* We can get money on the front end and a certain percentage that’s loaded on the card doesn’t get used,” he noted. Bruce Arnett, Sr., chief executive officer of the 16-shop business, Carnett’s, based in Atlanta, has heard all the hoopla about plastic gift cards, but isn’t sold on the program. Not yet anyway.

“We don’t use gift cards,” Mr. Arnett said. “We have the ability to use them, but we prefer the SuperSaver Books. They are physical pre-paid coupons. Customers can also purchase gift certificates online or in our stores.”

Chuck Howard is chief executive officer of the Autobell Car Wash, a 43- unit business headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Its shops are located mainly in North Carolina but a few are popping up in Virginia.

Autobell’s plastic gift cards are barcoded in units from $15 to $100 dollars, much like gift cards you find in a grocery store or a GAP. “We sell them at face value. They can be purchased at our cash registers or online,” Mr. Howard explained.

“It’s important, but the dollar amount is still small,” he observed. “People buy them mainly around the holidays, like Christmas, anniversaries and birthdays, for gifts. Gift cards are less that 5% of our business but they make a great lastminute gift. Our card can be reloaded, though most do not.”

Autobell’s cards have no expiration date. A number of states have already passed laws banning expiration dates

on gift cards and other, similar programs. Mr. Howard assumes most of his company’s gift cards will be redeemed and is currently redeeming 7,000 to 10,000 a year throughout all the Autobells.

Though a small part of the business, it’s given the royal treatment. “We put posters announcing our gift cards in all our car wash lobbies,” Mr. Howard pointed out. “We use Muzak for our piped-in music in our establishments and we work in plugs about the card into the rotation of commercial announcements on Muzak. We also put messages up on our reader or marquee boards during the holidays and mention gift cards our radio advertising.”

Great American Car Wash, located in Severna Park, Maryland, just up the road from Annapolis, the state capital, has been using gift cards with increasing success the past three years.

“We use gift cards for several reasons,” stated Clark Porter, Great American’s president and co-founder. “We use them to promote sales and we use them for marketing. We offer discounts–if you purchase a $100 gift card, you will get $125 worth of service. A customer can either give the whole $125 value to the intended recipient or get a free car wash for themselves. A lot of them enjoy giving and receiving at the same time!”

“I like ‘em,” he said enthusiastically. “It’s convenient. The repeat customer doesn’t have to carry cash and they can reload them.”

Last year, Great American instituted a program to encourage the sale of the card. “As an incentive to my sales people we offered prizes to those who reached certain sales levels by suggesting the cards. In 2005, they sold 1,200 cards. In 2004, they sold 987.”

The card was first offered in the final quarter of 2003 and 331 cards were sold.

As other companies are discovering, sales of the cards spike during the winter holiday season. “It’s big for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, too,” he said.

Great American reminds customers of the gift card availability by placing signs throughout the shop where customers can browse for gifts, trinkets or car accessories while waiting for their car to be cleaned. When ringing up a purchase, the sales staff is trained to ask customers if they’d like to buy a gift card. During the holiday season, the billboard that towers alongside a busy roadway linking Annapolis to Baltimore suggests a gift card to the thousands of daily passersby.

He’s tracking the sales of the cards carefully. Mr. Porter has notice the percentage of reloads has increased each year. “Over three years, the reloads have quadrupled,” Mr. Porter said.

“We average 145 cars a day in here, 365 days a year or 53,000 cars a year,” said Great American’s president. “For me, gift cards are another marketing measure.”

*Editor’s note: For more information on charitable programs in carwashes, see “Clean Cars for Charity” on page 16.

Annapolis-based resident Wendi Winters is a freelance writer, public relations consultant and Manhattanitein- exile. Currently writing for The Capital and What’s Up Annapolis, her articles have also been published by Associated Press, Copley News Service and many other publications.