Gift cards are the one product you sell in December and deliver in February. That is why they are worth setting up properly, and why most small businesses get them ready a week too late: the first request arrives, the page gets made that afternoon, and the three weeks of searches before it are missed.
Who wants one
More people than you think. In NRF's holiday survey for 2026, 47% of shoppers said they would like to receive a gift card, and the October 2026 outlook found they are most wanted by Gen X (46%) and Boomers (59%). The year before, NRF put gift cards at the top of the wish list at 50%, with 43% of shoppers planning to buy at least one and total spending expected to reach $29 billion.
The reason is simple from the buyer's side. A card to a specific restaurant, salon or shop says "I know what you like" without guessing a size. That is the gift your business is competing to be.
When to start
The same NRF survey found 42% of shoppers begin before November. A gift card page needs to be live, findable and linked from the homepage by the start of November, because the searches start then. If you are reading this later than that, today is the second-best day.
A plan in four weeks:
- Four weeks out. The page is live with amounts, how it arrives and whether it expires. Link it from the homepage and the menu.
- Three weeks out. Tell existing customers once, by email, with the link. One email, no countdown, no "last chance".
- Two weeks out. Put the link in your email signature, on the counter and on receipts. A QR code on the counter sells more cards than a sign that says "ask us".
- The final week. Say plainly that an emailed card arrives the same day. The last-minute buyer is the gift card's best customer, and they need to know it will be there by Christmas morning.
Have the digital version ready
A card that arrives by email is the one that sells in the final week, so make that the default and the printed one the option. The email should carry the code, the amount, a message from the buyer, and the two things the recipient will ask: where it can be spent and how to check the balance.
If you issue cards from your own site, the gift cards guide covers issuing one, emailing it and generating a batch for a company buying forty.
Plan for January, not December
The sale is the easy half. In January the cards come back, and three things decide whether the recipient becomes a regular:
- Redemption is painless. Staff check the code and the balance comes off. Nobody phones anybody.
- Part of a card can be spent. A $100 card against a $60 visit leaves $40 for a second visit, which is the whole point.
- Nobody is told it has expired. A card sold in December that cannot be used in March is a complaint with your name on it, and in the US the money on a card has to stay good for at least five years anyway.
A quiet January is also the moment to use the balance you are holding. A note to card holders in the second week of January ("your card is waiting, here is what is new") fills the weeks the rest of the calendar leaves empty, and it is a message about their money rather than an advert.
Decide the rules first
Expiry, lost cards, refunds and leftover balances are decisions you want made before the first sale, not at the counter. A gift card policy for a small business walks through them, and how to sell gift cards online compares the ways to sell them and what each charges.
Questions
What amounts should I offer?
Three. One below your average sale, one about equal to it, and one generous. Buyers pick the middle one most of the time, so make it the amount that covers a full visit.
Should I discount gift cards in December?
No. A discounted gift card is money you owe at full value, bought at a loss, and it trains customers to wait for the discount. If you want a sweetener, add a small bonus to cards over a threshold rather than cutting the price.
Can I sell gift cards if I only take bookings, not orders?
Yes. A card is a balance, and a booking deposit or a service paid online is a thing it can be spent on. The mechanics depend on your platform; on Webkio the card is redeemed at a shop checkout, so a service sold as a product is the usual arrangement.
How do I handle the card that was emailed to the wrong address?
Deactivate the code and issue a new one to the right address. That is why a tracked code beats a PDF: the wrong one can be switched off.