Why Does the Birthday Points Gift Require a Purchase?

[tiffanysmakeup]

All I would like to know - from a Sephora employee or anyone that knows -  is the reason behind requiring a purchase in order to redeem the 250 Point Birthday Gift. The gift is added to cart, but if you checkout, you receive an error message stating that merchandise must be added to the cart in order to redeem the gift. 

It is marketed as a birthday gift, and supposedly available online. I'm confused on the offer of a "gift" if the gift requires a purchase? If I could redeem the points, I would probably buy something and use the extra points on an item to add from the Rewards section.

Does it have something to do with transaction fees, is it a marketing ploy, etc? I am simply curious as to the reason behind the policy.

Thanks!

[LaurieBT]

Hi @tiffanysmakeup,

At this time, a merchandise purchase is required to redeem the birthday gift online. I'm sorry that I don't have additional information to provide but I'm happy to forward your feedback to our teams for consideration with future updates. We appreciate you taking the time to reach out about this! 

Warm regards,

Laurie