The gift card market in the UK is worth £8bn annually, with some of the most popular gift cards including the likes of Amazon, John Lewis, and Marks & Spencers. Representing the horticulture industry in this growing market, is the NGGV scheme, the UK’s longest-running promotion of gardening and gardening good causes, run by the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA).

The NGGV scheme’s coverage encompasses 750+ retailers and 1,400+ locations, the programme delivers over 2 million in store transactions, £51m in total sales and £27m in gross margin for participating retailers. The scheme drivers 2 million consumer visits to garden centres in the UK and evidence shows that the scheme delivers a positive gross margin to participating retailers.

Considering the consumer appetite for gift cards, as an industry we need to ensure that we are not only visibly present as a viable purchase option, but so too to ‘lock-in’ those funds into the horticultural industry. If consumers are tempted by a supermarket or amazon gift card, we have lost that revenue as an industry.

To appeal to gift card consumers, we need to move with the times and consumer demands. One of the last retail network schemes to switch from paper to card, the NGGV scheme is therefore modernising by phasing out paper based vouchers, and focus on gift cards and e-giftcards only.

Launched in 2014, gift cards aren’t new to the industry and currently account for 80% of purchases. The scheme will stop supplying retailers with paper vouchers as of the 31st of December but have confirmed that any paper based vouchers still in stock can still be traded. Final customer redemption date 31st December 2026 (3 years expiry).