Getting started with digital restaurant gift cards doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. Online platforms have made designing, distributing, and managing these cards more accessible than ever. They’re easy to purchase and send electronically, perfect for last-minute gifts.
Implementing digital restaurant gift cards enables you to keep up with consumer trends and meet your customers’ expectations.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of creating digital restaurant gift cards so you can quickly boost your sales and delight your customers.
We will also explain how you can use PassKit, our loyalty reward app, to create, manage and distribute digital restaurant gift cards for mobile wallets like Apple and Google Wallet, boosting customer experience and increasing profit.
Understanding the basics of digital restaurant gift cards
Digital restaurant gift cards, or e-gift cards, are a modern and convenient alternative to traditional physical cards. These cards hold a prepaid value that customers can use to pay at your restaurant.
With a digital gift card, you can avoid the hassle of production and distribution that comes with a physical gift card. Creating and organizing these cards is easy – you can do everything online using gift management software.
Here are some additional differences between digital and physical gift cards.
| Digital gift cards | Physical gift cards |
| Delivered instantly via digital channels | Require physical production and distribution |
| Environmentally friendly with no physical waste | Can result in unused cards and material waste |
| Easily shared and stored on mobile devices | Can be lost, stolen or damaged |
| Potential for real-time balance tracking and reloads | Often require in-person balance checks or reloads |
To get started, you’ll need a system to generate and track your gift cards. Customers can then purchase these cards on your website or other platform, selecting a specific monetary value to load onto the card.
Once a customer buys a gift card, the system typically sends it to the recipient’s email address. The recipient can then redeem the gift card by scanning a QR code with their mobile device, making the process smooth and convenient.
Since everyone loves fresh ideas, you can enhance customers’ experience and encourage repeat business.
The benefits of digital gift cards for restaurants
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While digital gift cards are commonly used for in-store shopping, they can also bring numerous benefits to restaurants, boosting their sales and revenue. Let’s explore their key advantages:
- Ease of purchase and delivery: Customers can easily shop and receive digital gift cards via email or text, making the process more manageable. E-gift cards on smartphones are convenient for recipients, boosting their impulsive buying decisions.
- Immediate increase in cash flow: When you sell e-gift cards, your restaurant generates immediate cash flow as you receive the funds before rendering any services.
- Promotion and marketing tool: Digital gift cards can easily integrate with your marketing strategies, helping to acquire new customers and keep existing ones through tailored gift card incentive programs.
- Upselling opportunities: Customers using digital gift cards are more likely to spend above the card value, known as uplift. It results in higher average checks and improved revenue.
- Reduced loss and fraud: Digital gift cards are more secure than physical cards, minimizing the risk of loss or theft. It provides a safe alternative that maintains customer trust.
- Catering and large orders: Digital gift cards can be particularly appealing to corporate clients or large organizations looking to place catering orders. They make the transaction more straightforward and ensure repeat business.
As you can see, incorporating digital gift cards into your business model can increase sales, improve revenue, and sustain customer trust.
The key challenges of digital cards for restaurants
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Digital gift cards offer undeniable advantages for restaurants. However, implementing a successful program requires careful consideration of potential hurdles.
Here’s how to navigate the roadblocks and ensure a smooth experience for all:
- Security concerns: Customer trust hinges on robust security. Prioritize strong encryption for data protection and implement regular security updates to safeguard against fraud. By taking necessary precautions, you can secure your finances and the valuable information entrusted to you.
- Technical support: Anticipate technical problems. Offer reliable technical support for both issuers (your staff) and recipients. When encountering online purchase difficulties or redemption issues, timely assistance promotes customer satisfaction and program engagement.
- Redemption: Simplicity is key. Streamline the redemption process to avoid user frustration. A user-friendly interface with clear instructions, especially for account setup, encourages program use.
- Accessibility for all: Catering to a broad customer base is essential. Ensure digital cards are easily purchasable and redeemable on various devices. Prioritize a mobile-friendly design for on-the-go convenience.
Consider implementing gift card management software to streamline the process and enhance your loyalty strategy.
Choosing the right gift card management system
Choosing the right digital gift card management system is crucial to ensuring the best experience for you and your customers.
Here’s what to look for:
- Seamless integration: Your gift card system should integrate seamlessly with your existing point-of-sale (POS) system and other platforms you’re currently using. It eliminates manual data entry, reduces the risk of human error and ensures a unified experience for your customers.
- Effortless management: Look for a system with a user-friendly dashboard that simplifies gift card sales, activations, tracking, and reporting. It will save you time and allow you to focus on running your restaurant.
- Customer-centric experience: The gift card buying and redemption process should be straightforward and convenient. Customers should be able to redeem their gift cards online and at your restaurant for maximum comfort.
- Robust security: Protecting customer information is paramount. Secure your system with features like data encryption and multi-factor authentication.
The right system will save you time and money while providing a valuable service that can boost your restaurant’s reputation and customer loyalty.
By choosing a platform that offers a comprehensive suite of features for gift card management, you’re investing in your restaurant’s efficiency and growth.
However, with so many options on the market, how can you choose the best one?
Don’t worry – we have a solution.
Setting up your digital gift card program with PassKit
Creating digital gift cards for your restaurant can significantly enhance your customer loyalty strategy. PassKit, a leading mobile wallet service provider, streamlines this process with its user-friendly features.
Here’s how to set up your digital gift card program using PassKit.
Explore features with a free trial
Start by signing up for a free trial. This trial grants you full access to the platform, allowing you to experiment with all its functionalities before committing.
When the trial expires, you can enjoy the benefits of our pay-as-you-grow pricing model and trigger discounts as your usage grows. That way, you’ll always get a fair price.
Customize your digital restaurant gift cards
With PassKit, you’ll get loyalty card templates compliant with Apple and Google guidelines. Using the intuitive Pass Designer, you can customize the visual elements of your gift cards, incorporating your brand colors, logos, images, and other relevant content.
Set up gift card details and value
Ensure your cards are informative and functional. Use PassKit to set the gift card value and expiry date (if applicable).
Implement advanced fields and include personal details about the recipient, such as their email address, phone number, birth date, and gender. Add custom fields to collect additional customer data.
These details, crucial for your internal tracking system, also provide a personalized customer experience.
Automate delivery for convenience
Through Zapier and Make, you can connect PassKit with various marketing automation tools. It offers multichannel distribution, eliminating manual work and helping you reach customers on their preferred platform.
This feature also lets you deliver gift cards directly to customer’s mobile wallets immediately after purchase or as a reward, ensuring a seamless experience.
Track performance with data insights
Gain valuable insights into how customers interact with your gift cards. PassKit’s analytics provide data on customer engagement, allowing you to monitor program performance and ROI to optimize it for maximum success.
You can track:
- The number of members enrolled in your loyalty program
- The number of cards saved to Google or Apple Wallet
- The number of cards removed from mobile wallets
- The program performance by day, month, year, or custom dates
- The mobile wallets customers use the most
- The best acquisition channels driving the most customers
Incorporating digital gift cards with PassKit’s comprehensive features can increase sales, improve revenue, and strengthen customer loyalty for your restaurant.
Integrating digital gift cards with your POS system
Integrating digital gift cards with your point of sale (POS) system can enhance your program’s efficiency and effectiveness. It can also simplify gift card sales and redemptions and offer many benefits for your business and customers.
It allows you to sell and redeem gift cards directly from your register or terminal. It also means that you can track gift card transactions, balances, and history in real-time, which can help you streamline your accounting and reporting.
It also enables you to offer personalized and targeted promotions and incentives to your customers based on their gift card purchases and usage.
Integrating PassKit into your existing point of sale (POS) infrastructure allows you to accept passes. PassKit provides APIs and tools that enable you to scan and process passes directly within your POS software.
Learn more here: Accepting Passes at your Point of Sale.
Marketing your digital restaurant gift cards
Effective marketing is crucial to ensure your digital restaurant gift cards catch the attention of potential customers.
Leverage your restaurant’s online presence. Create eye-catching graphics and banners for your website highlighting the convenience of purchasing and sending gift cards.
Regularly post about them, emphasizing how they are perfect for any special occasion, from birthdays to anniversaries, making it easy for your customers to treat their family and friends. Including customer testimonials can add credibility and showcase satisfaction.
To make it easier, here’s a breakdown of the main channels you should consider and some content suggestions.
Website:
- Homepage banner with a direct link to purchase page
- Dedicated gift card page with FAQ and customer support contact
Email campaigns:
- Send targeted emails to your subscribers with a call-to-action to buy gift cards
- Offer exclusive deals for subscribers, like a small discount or bonus amount
Social media:
- Instagram: Use Stories to share quick links and posts to highlight customer stories
- Facebook: Create an event page for holiday specials on gift cards
- Twitter: Engage with followers using hashtags like #DigitalDining or #eGiftCard
Remember to track the performance of your marketing efforts using analytics tools to understand what resonates with your audience. It will help you refine your strategy and increase the effectiveness of future campaigns.
Managing and tracking gift card sales
When offering digital gift cards, you need a solid system to track and report sales accurately. It will enable you to keep an accurate account of funds, evaluate the performance of your gift card program, and optimize your sales strategy.
Tracking sales
For online and in-restaurant purchases, you can use a real-time logging system such as PassKit, which documents transactions instantly and ensures that your records are always up to date.
You can record each sale, noting the date, value, and associated customer information. You can also monitor redemptions by tracking when and where customers have redeemed gift cards.
Reporting
Regular reporting will help you understand how digital gift cards impact your business. Prepare monthly reports to track total sales volume, redemption rates, and outstanding card value.
Use the collected data to adjust your strategy. If specific promotions are working, consider boosting them. Conversely, if some aren’t, reevaluate your approach. For example, you should stock up early if sales spike during holidays. You should also notice redemption patterns to predict traffic.
Customer support and troubleshooting
Educating your staff when your restaurant offers digital gift cards is crucial to ensure a seamless customer experience. Begin by organizing a training session that covers the following:
- The purchasing process: Staff should understand how customers can buy digital gift cards, including any online platform or app you use.
- Redemption method: Explain how customers redeem their gift cards, clarifying any steps needed on the point-of-sale system.
- Balance inquiry: Teach staff how to check the balance of a gift card for customers upon request.
Your team should also be equipped to handle customer issues effectively:
- Activation errors: If a customer’s gift card isn’t working, guide staff to check if the card is activated correctly and resolve the issue accordingly.
- Transaction troubles: In case of a failed transaction, your staff should know how to troubleshoot common problems or who to contact for support.
PassKit offers reliable customer support to ensure you have a seamless experience. You can contact us anytime through email or live chat on our website.
Additionally, we have a comprehensive help center that can save you time on training and provide your staff with all the resources they need to get started with PassKit in just a few days.
Plus, our intuitive web app dashboard and an easy-to-use PassReader app for iOS and Android will make their life easier. Your employees can scan customers’ digital gift cards in seconds, automatically updating your records and customers’ balances.
Start a 45-day free trial to evaluate all features firsthand.
Final words about digital restaurant gift cards
Digital restaurant gift cards are a convenient and flexible way to give the gift of a great meal while also boosting customer loyalty.
Here’s what you should remember as you finalize your choice:
- Ease of purchase: Digital cards can be bought from the comfort of a customer’s home, making them accessible anytime.
- Customization: Many platforms allow you to personalize the gift card with a message or images, adding a personal touch to your gift.
- Security: They often have security features that protect against fraud and loss.
- Tracking spend: Some systems enable recipients to track their remaining balance, ensuring they fully use their gifts.
- Instant delivery: These cards can be emailed instantly, perfect for last-minute presents.
By selecting digital restaurant gift cards, you are choosing a streamlined, cost-effective, and eco-friendly gift option that enhances the dining experience for recipients.
These cards are a token of appreciation and a strategic tool for building and maintaining meaningful personal or professional relationships.
Digital restaurant gift cards are more than a trend; they are becoming a staple in how we think about gifting and loyalty in the hospitality industry. And PassKit is at the forefront of this revolution.
Start a 45-day free trial now.
FAQs about digital restaurant gift cards
Let’s answer the most common questions about digital restaurant gift cards.
Can I use an eGift card at a restaurant?
Yes, you can use an eGift card at a restaurant. It’s simple: show the card at the time of payment. Many restaurants allow you to print or display the eGift card on your mobile device.
Can you get a gift card digitally?
Yes, digital gift cards are widely available. They can be purchased online and sent directly to the recipient’s email or mobile wallet.
Is there a gift card that can be used at any restaurant?
While not all gift cards are universally accepted at every restaurant, some providers offer multi-restaurant gift cards you can use at various eateries. Be sure to check the details for any limitations.
What is the app that sends digital gift cards?
PassKit is one of the most popular platforms for creating, managing and distributing digital gift cards. Its multichannel distribution feature allows you to share your cards online and offline, for example, on your website, social media or via QR code on your menu.
