Gift Cards for Italy: Business Solutions for Employees & Customers

Distributing bulk digital gift cards is an excellent strategy for incentive programs with recipients in Italy. The most successful programs combine gift cards from beloved Italian brands along with popular international alternatives.

Of course, any type of gift card strategy only works when it's planned and implemented correctly. 

In this article, we'll explain exactly how to send gift cards to Italian audiences, along with best practices for keeping everyone engaged, anywhere in the world. 

How to engage an Italian audience with better incentives (hint: they're digital) 🇮🇹

If you're running an Italian customer loyalty program, an employee rewards program, or virtually any other type of rewards or incentives program, using digital incentives (instead of physical ones) offers numerous strategic benefits.

Italians generally appreciate modern and uncomplicated solutions. Including international eGift cards in your rewards lineup can therefore help boost customer loyalty and expand your brand’s reach.

And using local digital rewards can go even further, helping to develop trust while reinforcing connections with your Italian audience.

This approach rings true globally. Canadians prefer Canadian rewards, Mexicans opt for Mexican rewards, Indians choose Indian rewards, and so on. Throwing in a range of well-known international brands into the mix is always a plus!

👉 Just because a brand is 'global,' doesn't mean its gift cards will work everywhere in the world (see Amazon international gift card issues, for example).

💡That's why you'll want to find a gift card distributor that supports the regions you need (i.e., one that offers gift cards that can be redeemed in Italy, if that's where you're sending).

Popular Italian rewards

So, what types of gift cards do you want to send your Italian residents? Think about what will motivate them, along with whether or not you have certain brand requirements of your own.  

Here are some of the popular gift cards currently available for Italian audiences in the Giftbit rewards catalog:

• Airbnb
• Amazon.it
• Apple
• ASOS
• Bimbostore
• Calzedonia
• Carrefour
• Coin
• Decathlon
• Eataly
• Ecobnb
• Esselunga
• FlixBus
• Foot Locker
• Global Hotel Card
• Google Play
• H&M
• IKEA
• JACK & JONES
• MANGO
• MediaWorld
• NAME IT
• Nintendo eShop
• OVS
• PlayStation Store
• Q8
• Uber Eats
• Zalando

Spotlight on popular Italian brands and gift cards

Selecting the right gift cards can make a real difference when engaging with Italian audiences. When crafting your gift card incentive program, it's important to highlight brands that Italians recognize and appreciate.

• Eataly 🍝: A globally celebrated marketplace for authentic Italian gastronomy, Eataly blends high-end grocery shopping with vibrant restaurant experiences. Use it to offer a premium, experiential reward perfect for food lovers and special celebrations.
  
  
• Esselunga 🛒: As one of Italy's most beloved supermarket chains, Esselunga is renowned for its high-quality groceries, fresh produce, and household essentials. This makes it an incredibly practical and universally appreciated reward for everyday needs.
  
  
• OVS 👕: A leading name in accessible Italian fashion, OVS offers contemporary and stylish apparel for the whole family. It’s a versatile option for rewarding a wide audience with popular, everyday style.
  
  
• Calzedonia 🧦: An iconic Italian fashion brand, Calzedonia specializes in stylish leg wear, socks, and swimwear for the whole family. It's an ideal choice for offering a fashionable and popular reward with a touch of everyday Italian style.
  
  
• Coin 🛍️: A classic Italian department store, Coin offers a curated selection of fashion, beauty, and home goods from popular brands. This provides a flexible and upscale reward, giving recipients a wide choice across multiple lifestyle categories.

A more global option for people in Italy (and beyond🌍)

Managing recipients across different countries can quickly become complicated.

If you have recipients both inside and outside Italy, then you may want to consider a virtual prepaid Mastercard®. Your recipients will all be able to use it anywhere Mastercard is accepted, both online and offline, making it a great choice for global reward programs. 

Just fund the card from one account and in your preferred currency, and bingo—recipients receive a digital Mastercard. It's a smart move that bypasses the hassle of managing various currencies and countries. 

Send gift cards across Europe 🇪🇺

If your program targets recipients throughout Europe, you want rewarding a colleague in Rome to be just as easy as in Paris.

To accomplish this, you might want to offer the prepaid Mastercard as discussed as above. In addition, you might want to find a gift card company with a robust European catalog. 

With the right partner, you'll be able to upload funds just once in your currency of choice, target your audience across Europe, and let your partner tackle the regional complexities.

For example, a global gift card provider should let you offer your audience complete access to the worldwide catalog, ensuring each person receives options that are relevant to their location—whether that's a shopping spree at Coin in Milan or ASOS in Berlin.

👉 Giftbit lets you offer your audience 'full choice' from the gift card catalog. This means your recipients will only see the gift cards and prepaid cards that are available to them in their region. 

How to send gift cards to Italy (even if you don't live there)

🔈Great news: You don't need to be based in Italy to send gift cards to Italy. Find the right global gift card platform, and the process can be quick and easy (and maybe even fee-free). 

For example, here's how you can use Giftbit to start delivering rewards to Italians in Italy: 

1. Create a free account—this should only take a few minutes.
2. Upload contacts from a CSV file and include the name and email of each recipient.
3. Customize the rewards and schedule or send deliveries to recipients in Italy. 

You also have the flexibility to automate reward delivery using gift card integration through Zapier. For example, by connecting Giftbit to your favorite apps, you can trigger gift card delivery to recipients in Italy directly from your CRM, survey tool, or other platforms without extra manual work.

Or for more advanced needs, you might need a gift card API to build custom solutions tailored to your business. This means you can programmatically deliver digital rewards to recipients in Italy, whether you’re sending to dozens or thousands at a time.

Both Zapier and the API are especially useful if you need to scale your program or automate incentives based on specific actions or milestones. This way, your Italian recipients receive their rewards instantly, no matter where your team is based.

Giftbit makes it fast and easy to send gift cards to audiences in Italy. Reach out with any questions or to learn more about bulk discounts and revenue sharing.