London, UK: Blackhawk Network, a global leader in branded payments, has been appointed to launch Iceland Food’s first-ever gift card programme in the UK.
Iceland will be able to offer customers an in-store gift card mall featuring own brand gift cards alongside a range of 3rd party gift cards in all 1,000 stores.
CashStar, powered by Blackhawk Network, is the platform that will enable Iceland to launch an online B2c and B2b gift card proposition in the market. Blackhawk Network will manage the entire gift card programme across all channels, delivering eCommerce, in-store and processing requirements.
Louise Dhaliwal, IT Director at Iceland Foods, said: “We’re thrilled to be working with Blackhawk Network to bring our customers an unbeatable range of market-leading gift card options. The impressive service allows us to offer all of our shoppers the chance to add a gift card to their basket, be that online or in-store. The gift cards will allow us to broaden our offering to customers, old and new, broadening the retail capabilities we are proud of.”
Matt Howe, Managing Director EMEA at Blackhawk Network, said: “This is a significant partnership for Blackhawk Network, and we’re excited to be supporting Iceland as it builds out a market-leading gift card offering. Our latest research showed the demand for gift cards in the UK is growing, with one in four shoppers purchasing a physical or digital gift card for themselves in the last year. With our end-to-end solution, the aim is to drive incremental revenue, increase loyalty and enhance the retail experience for Iceland’s customers.”
Blackhawk Network is the only provider to operate an end-to-end solution for managing gift card programmes, delivering everything from eCommerce, in-store and processing of gift cards. The appointment comes after a competitive tender process.
About Blackhawk Network
Blackhawk Network disburses funds using branded payment solutions across the globe. We collaborate with our partners to translate in-country requirements into payment propositions that meet their business objectives. With a presence in 26 countries, we reliably and securely deliver value in over 100 countries worldwide.
Blackhawk Network is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.
Blackhawk Network Europe is headquartered in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, UK. For more information, please visit www.blackhawknetwork.co.uk
About Iceland
Iceland is recognised as the UK’s leader in frozen food and operates over 950 stores across the country, together with a multi-award-winning online shopping service. It prides itself on being a convenient and friendly place to do the family’s weekly shop, as well as meet everyone’s daily top-up shopping needs for fresh, chilled, frozen food and groceries. For more than 20 years Iceland has also offered a unique, free home delivery service for in-store purchases.
Iceland has won multiple awards for the quality of its food and service. Recent honours include being awarded Retail Innovation Product of the Year, Best New Centre Plate, and Best New Pizza / Savoury Bread Product by the British Frozen Food Federation in 2020. The supermarket was also named Best Online Retailer and Best Frozen Food Retailer at the Retail Industry Awards 2018, Community Retailer of the Year at the Retail Week Awards 2018, Online Retailer of the Year at the IGD Awards 2017, and Online Supermarket of the Year at the Grocer Gold Awards 2017. Iceland’s online shopping service was also named the UK’s best in the 2016, 2017 and 2018 Which? supermarket surveys. Iceland has ranked as one of the UK’s Best Big Companies to Work For in each of the last 12 years, and was number one in both 2012 and 2014. Iceland was also named best UK supermarket for customer service in the 2018 and 2019 UK Customer Satisfaction Index.
Since 1970, Iceland has been proudly demonstrating to shoppers just how the Power of Frozen can deliver an extensive choice of high quality, great-tasting food from fine sources around the world at great value prices, while naturally generating low levels of food waste.
Research conducted by Manchester Metropolitan University suggested that switching to frozen food can reduce household food bills by as much as £1500 a year.
Always committed to doing the right thing for customers, communities and the environment, Iceland was a pioneer in removing artificial colours, flavours and nonessential preservatives from its own label food in the 1980s, and in banning genetically modified ingredients in the 1990s. In 2018 it committed to becoming the first major retailer, globally, to eliminate plastic packaging from all of its own label products by the end of 2023, and to remove palm oil as an ingredient from its own label range by the end of 2018.
