Shopping platform OpenSky will join Dunkin Donuts’, Best Buy and Office Depot in partnering with digital gift card provider Cashstar to offer gift cards on mobile.

The two companies are joining together to give consumers the ability to purchase and share mobile gift cards on OpenSky’s interactive shopping service. The move comes at a moment when mobile is beginning to rise to prominence as a dominant shopping tool.

“We selected CashStar to power our gift card program because they’re the ideal partner for our e-commerce business model,” said Andrew Pavoni, general manager, OpenSky. “They are proven experts in digital gifting with a flexible, scalable platform that will ensure a seamless customer experience.

“We are especially excited to support our customers’ affinity for sharing OpenSky with friends and family by providing them with a new eGifting experience.”

New ecosystem
Mobile gift cards have swiftly become a powerful tool for retailers to encourage purchasing and sharing in one package between their customers.

With them, brands can help consumers to both shop through their phones – itself an increasingly popular commercial channel – and to get gifts for their friends in a convenient and easy way.

CashStar and OpenSky, two companies who provide businesses with tech solutions oriented towards gifting and mobile, have come together to bring mobile gift card giving to customers of the latter’s more than 70,000 independent merchants.

Other brands which have partnered with Cashstar in the past include some big names, such as Sephora, Dunkin’ Donuts, Best Buy and Office Depot.

These gift cards are available through CashStar thanks to help from OpenSky’s network. The cards are customizable and work as a great last minute gift idea for consumers to send to friends and family.

Mobile gift giving
Many brands are already in tune with mobile gift cards as a way of encouraging consumers to give the gift of a purchase from the brand to another customer.

CashStar is in a good position in the mobile gift card space with a variety of popular retailers already under its belt. Just last week, the brand signed Dunham’s Sports to be the latest in its lineup of mobile gift card-giving brands (see story).

Some of the brands that CashStar works with overlap with other important mobile gift card platforms, such as Sephora, which just joined up with Vodi (see story).

Taken together, these disparate brands and platforms are all forming a popular new form of mobile commerce in the shape of mobile gift cards, which are providing consumers with an excellent and easy way to share gifts and purchases from a variety of big retailers.

“OpenSky recognizes the opportunities that digital gift cards provide, both from a pure gifting standpoint and as a marketing and engagement tool,” said CashStar president and CEO Ben Kaplan. “We are thrilled to power their program and look forward to helping the OpenSky team realize the powerful impact digital gift cards can have on the customer experience and the bottom line.”