Giftify Taps Zip Co to Turn BNPL Into a Major Growth Catalyst

The last few months have been an exciting time for Giftify, Inc. [NASDAQ: GIFT] investors as the company continues to build significant momentum. From smart, targeted marketing campaigns that have already delivered significant revenue boosts through to AI integrations, the popular consumer discounts and rewards company is increasingly looking like a probable candidate for a significant earnings surprise in the latter half of this year. Particularly given Groupon, Inc.’s [NASDAQ: GRPN] recent surge to over $30/share — a 4-year high — off the back of some achingly similar initiatives.

Arguably, this alone is enough for Giftify’s management to justify a well-earned holiday — a chance to sit back and watch as incremental sales and operational efficiencies driven by these initiatives compound over time. It’s probably also enough to explain why Giftify insiders have been particularly bullish. With 25% of the company held by insiders and not a single insider share sold over the last 12 months, it would appear that those “in the know” are exceedingly confident about the company’s outlook.

However, as promising as the above picture may be, it would seem that we’ve yet yo see the half of it, with Gifitify continuing to roll out bigger and better initiatives. Indeed, its latest move — the launch of a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) option on its CardCash.com platform in partnership with Zip Co. [ASX: ZIP] — might just be the most exciting announcement yet, with the potential for Giftify to reap outsized returns on the initiative well above those experienced by other brands.

Zip x Giftify: How Zip’s BNPL Solution Could Serve as Growth Multiplier for Giftify

Over the last decade, BNPL solution providers like Zip Co. have experienced significant growth, with the market hitting a full US$235 billion in 2024 as consumers increasingly pivot away from traditional credit cards.

In fact, the adoption of BNPL options provided by the likes of Zip Co. has been so strong that current estimates tip the market to grow at a CAGR of 22% over the next decade to hit US$1.6 trillion by 2034.

As such, it comes as no surprise that big-name consumer brands like Airbnb [NASDAQ: ABNB], Best Buy [NYSE: BYB], Gamestop [NYSE: GME], Amazon [NASDAQ: AMZN], and Walmart [NYSE: WMT] have all been fast to integrate Zip Co.’s BNPL solution into their checkouts. Momentum like that is simply too hard to ignore.

However, there may be more behind the race among major consumer brands to adopt BNPL solutions like Zip than mere consumer demand for said solutions. Of particular note is the demonstrated boost to incremental sales revenue following the adoption of BNPL.

In one study that looked into Afterpay merchants in the US, merchants saw an average 4x boost to incremental sales revenue when comparing forecast incremental sales that would otherwise have occurred against actual, realized sales over the course of the year.

These figures aren’t isolated to Afterpay merchants, either. In fact, we see similar figures appearing in multiple studies. In another study conducted by Stripe (one of Zip Co.’s key integration partners), the average post-BNPL uplift in revenue was found to be 14%, with significantly improved conversion rates, particularly on high-value transactions, playing a role. Another Zip Co. integration partner, Primer.io, has also published similar results.

Based on several figures here (e.g., basket size increase, improved conversion rates, etc.) it might not be entirely unreasonable to assume that BNPL adoption can create somewhat of a “multiplier effect” on incremental sales. That is, if the merchant is actively pursuing other initiatives in tandem to its BNPL adoption.

To provide one example, consider a merchant implementing a new upsell strategy. In having a BNPL option also available at the checkout, it effectively makes it easier for the customer to say “yes please” by removing the “can I afford it right now” hesitations — hesitations that would otherwise generate considerable friction.

In the case of Giftify’s CardCash.com platform, this “multiplier effect” could be particularly powerful.

Take, for instance, a consumer falling upon Giftify’s CardCash.com Wegovy/Ozempic savings campaign. Perhaps, at first, they’re interested — they’ve always wanted to try one of these drugs, but have never been able to justify the expense. “Maybe,” they think to themselves, “if I can get a 20% discount, I might actually be able to afford it this month.”

Of course, such deep discounts are rare on CardCash.com, so the customer who came looking for a 20% discount will likely bounce when they realize the available discounts are slightly more modest than this. However, if they’re also presented with a BNPL option, the combination of a modest discount plus the option to spread the cost out over several months could be a particularly compelling combination.

If this much is true, then it would also be quite reasonable to assume that this potent “discount + BNPL” combination would have similar, if not greater, effects on other metrics, particularly Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). After all, it doesn’t take a great leap of the customer’s imagination to realize that if this little “discount + BNPL” hack worked for Ozempic, it would probably work for all manner of things — grocery shopping, some sports tickets, or even an entire holiday. In fact, there might be no need for imagination at all given CardCash.com’s recent marketing push around “savings” hacks.

In practice, it should only take some minor tweaks to CardCash.com’s current marketing efforts to fully leverage this potent “discount + BNPL” combination. If done correctly, CardCash.com should be able to deliver the consumer education needed to drive a serious sales boost. The basic message here would be, “With CardCash.com, you can BNPL even with brands who usually require payment upfront… and you can nab some deep discounts while you’re at it.” Albeit, one would hope Giftify’s marketing team can deliver this message with a little more finesse than we can.

Giftify’s Unique Positioning: A Flywheel in Motion

As we learn more about Giftify’s recent moves — smart marketing initiatives, AI integrations, BNPL partnership with Zip Co., etc. — it’s starting to become apparent the company’s doing more than going from one isolated win to the next. Instead, what’s starting to emerge appears more like an orchestrated flywheel effect, where each initiative feeds into the next.

Of particular interest is how Giftify’s unique positioning is creating a structurally advantaged edge that extends beyond the dual-pronged “discount + BNPL” proposition — an unquestionably powerful customer acquisition and retention engine in and of itself. What’s perhaps more important, however, is that the success of these initiatives doesn’t rely on Giftify’s ability to outcompete its e-commerce rivals. Indeed, the simple fact that it’s delivering discounts + BNPL options at other brands puts it in a position where it’s more likely to piggyback off, rather than compete against, big e-commerce brands.

Of course, the real question here isn’t over the potential for this strategy to deliver a serious earnings surprise come Q3, if not Q4. The real question is whether Giftify can continue to deliver on the consumer education front — to get the news out there about its “BNPL + discounts” offering. If Giftify can pull this off, then an earnings surprise is essentially a given.

Fortunately, early signs on this front appear positive — when a company realizes a 916% category revenue boost off the back of a single campaign, it’s hard to make the argument that they’re doing things wrong. Further, with Giftify insiders remaining bullish on the company’s prospects, it appears that internal confidence is high.

Given these signals — strong initial results, internal confidence, and a well-orchestrated growth strategy — Gifitify investors have good reason to feel confident going forward. As the company continues to execute and the results begin to bubble up through its quarterly reports, we fully expect the broader market to sit up and take notice, potentially setting Giftify up for a strong, upward revaluation.

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(Featured image by Nataliya Vaitkevich via Unsplash)

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