A gift card does two useful things at once. It brings money in before the work is done, and it introduces somebody who has never bought from you, arriving with a reason to try.
For a salon, a restaurant, a studio or a shop, the December weeks alone can justify setting them up. The rest of the year they quietly cover the awkward gift.
Decide what a card is worth
Two models, and the choice shapes everything else.
- A cash value the recipient spends on whatever they like. Simple, flexible, and it never expires into an argument.
- A named experience, such as a treatment or a meal for two. Easier to give, but you must decide what happens if your prices change before it is redeemed.
Most small businesses are better served by cash value. Named experiences look more giftable, but every price rise turns unredeemed cards into a decision you have to make in front of a customer.
Know the rules before you print an expiry date
Expiry on gift cards is regulated in many countries, and the minimum period is often longer than businesses assume. Some places prohibit expiry on the cash value entirely.
Check your jurisdiction before promising anything, and state the terms on the card and at the point of sale. This is one of the few areas in small retail where getting it wrong has a direct legal consequence.
Treat the money as a liability, not as revenue
An unredeemed gift card is money you owe in goods or services. Recording it as revenue on the day it is sold flatters a good month and creates a hole in a later one, and it is the mistake most often found in a first audit.
Keep the outstanding balance visible. It is also a genuinely useful number: a large balance is future work already committed.
Make redemption painless
The moment that decides whether a gift card creates a repeat customer is redemption. If staff have to look things up, phone somebody or apply an awkward workaround, the recipient feels like a nuisance.
A card that carries its own balance, is checked in seconds and can be partly spent with the rest kept for later is the arrangement that works. Setting that up is covered in gift cards.
Sell them where they will be found
Gift card pages are searched for by name in the two weeks before every gift-giving occasion, and most small businesses hide theirs in a menu.
Give it a page of its own, link it from the homepage in season, and say plainly how it arrives: printed, emailed, or collected. Pages and menus are managed as described in pages and menus. If you sell online too, the setup sits alongside the rest of the shop as described in setting up your shop.
FAQ
Should a gift card expire?
Check local law first, since many places set a minimum period or prohibit expiry on the value. Where it is permitted, a long period causes fewer disputes than a short one.
Cash value or a named treatment?
Cash value for most businesses. Named experiences are more giftable but become awkward when prices change before redemption.
How should gift cards be accounted for?
As a liability until redeemed, then as revenue. Booking the sale as revenue immediately overstates the month and creates a shortfall later.
Do gift cards actually bring new customers?
That is their main strategic value: the recipient is usually somebody who has not bought from you, arriving with the cost already covered.
What happens if somebody loses the card?
Decide the policy in advance and publish it. If the card is registered to an email address you can usually reissue it, which is a good reason to sell them digitally.