Physical gift cards used to be a great way of building brand awareness and boosting sales. Nowadays, customers love having everything under their fingertips, including digital gift cards.
While statistics show that 90% of customers still consider physical gift cards an appropriate present, 47% of adults in the U.S. have unused gift cards, with the total balance estimated at around $23 billion.
This is where gift card software for small businesses can make a significant difference, not only in customer satisfaction but also in your company’s financial health.
Digital gift cards are a perfect solution for selling gift cards that will attract new customers, especially during the holiday season.
In this article, we will dive deeper into what gift card processing software is and explain how to select the gift card platform that increases customer loyalty for your coffee shop, hair salon, hotel, and other small businesses.
What is a gift card program
A gift card program is a marketing strategy for small businesses that improves the customer experience and boosts brand awareness.
When customers give gift vouchers as presents to their friends and family, they become your brand advocates and introduce new customers to your business.
Implementing a gift card management system offers numerous advantages for small business owners and their communities:
- Gift cards promote repeat visits, in-store shopping, and increased revenue.
- Offering gift cards allows customers to recommend their favorite local businesses to friends and family, leading to word-of-mouth marketing.
- Gift cards attract new customers who may not have visited the business previously, broadening the customer base.
- Typically, customers end up spending more than the value of the gift card, resulting in higher overall sales.
- Gift cards contribute to the strength of the local economy by supporting small businesses.
The impact of gift cards extends far beyond their monetary value. They are powerful marketing tools that promote customer loyalty and significantly support local businesses, driving economic growth and fostering community engagement.
What is gift card software for small business
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Gift card management software allows businesses to create, sell, and manage gift card incentive programs. They can customize gift cards with their branding, track gift card transactions, sales and redemptions, and provide customers with a convenient payment option.
These software solutions often integrate with point-of-sale systems and online payment platforms to streamline the gift card process for the business and its customers.
For example, with PassKit, you can effortlessly set up a gift card program without developing custom digital solutions. It helps you kickstart your gift voucher sales and establish a robust gift card management system you can connect with your existing apps to streamline your workflow.
It also provides smooth integrations with Apple and Google Wallet, allowing customers to redeem gift cards in-store and online easily.
Start a free 45-day free trial to test all features.
Why implement a gift card system in your small business
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Small businesses must balance retaining existing customers and attracting new ones for sustainable growth. Implementing a gift voucher management system can effectively address both needs.
Here are the top reasons why incorporating a gift card program can be beneficial for you:
- Offering gift cards can set your business apart from competitors, giving customers a unique reason to choose your brand over others.
- Recipients of gift cards are often first-time visitors, expanding your customer base and increasing your market reach.
- Customers who purchase or receive gift cards are more likely to return, fostering a loyal customer base.
Most importantly, gift cards provide immediate income you can reinvest into your business, helping with financial stability.
Key features to look for in gift card software
The best gift card software can significantly contribute to your business’s overall growth and success.
With numerous solutions available, how do you decide which platform to choose?
PassKit is one of the best loyalty platform providers for gift card processing.
With PassKit, you can efficiently create, manage, distribute and sell gift vouchers, effortlessly monitor gift card redemption and track your ROI.
PassKit offers advanced features to meet your needs, making it a reliable gift card processing software choice.
Let’s explain all the elements in more detail.
Multi-industry coverage
When selecting gift card software, multi-industry coverage is important because it ensures that it can accommodate a wide range of sectors, including retail, hospitality, travel, and entertainment.
PassKit allows businesses to tailor gift card incentive programs to their industry needs. From creating a coffee shop loyalty card to developing a beauty rewards program, we’ve got you covered.
Gift card templates
Not everyone is a designer. Having access to gift card templates is highly convenient when you want to create and sell gift vouchers online.
PassKit offers loyalty card design templates and an intuitive visual editor, Pass Designer, that you can use to brand your gift cards within minutes. It saves you the extra cost of hiring designers or developers.
You can personalize each card by adding customer information such as their name, gender, date of birth, phone number, and email. Additionally, you can set the point balance and the card’s expiry date.
You can also add a QR code or a barcode to make your gift cards scannable, speeding up the process at your Point of Sale (POS).
The best part is that these digital card templates are developed for Google and Apple Wallet and display perfectly on mobile devices.
Gift program management
The gift card management system should include all the information about your digital gift cards in one place.
Advanced gift program management software like PassKit helps you efficiently distribute gift cards to employees, customers, or partners.
For example, you can:
- Track voucher sales
- Monitor what the customer buys with a gift voucher
- Establish gift card policies and update them regularly
PassKit simplifies organizing and monitoring various gifting initiatives, helping you maintain transparency and accountability in your reward distribution processes.
Mobile wallet APIs and SDKs
Whether you create monetary gift cards for your most valuable customers or provide gift certificates they can use to buy gifts, enabling buyers to purchase, store, and use their gift cards with their mobile wallets is necessary for an excellent consumer experience.
We have covered iPhone and Android users by creating the PassKit API for Apple and Google Wallet.
We also provide:
- A software development kit (SDK)
- A list of tools for developers
- A comprehensive library for all ambitious businesses that want to customize their solution and create something more sophisticated
Sign up for a 45-day free trial to see how it works.
QR code scanning
QR code scanning allows for quick and easy gift card redemption. This feature improves the checkout process, reduces wait times, and minimizes errors.
It ensures a smooth customer experience in-store as well as online.
You can add a unique QR code or barcode to your gift cards while creating them. Your staff can scan this code at POS using the PassReader app for iOS and Android, eliminating expensive and clunky scanning hardware.
The system will automatically update all customer details and their gift card balance.
Multichannel distribution
While some customers love buying a gift voucher online, others still prefer a personal touch in-store. PassKit supports both options.
Thanks to the multichannel support, you can distribute your gift cards using diverse online and offline channels.
For example, you can promote and share your cards through the following methods:
It helps you create a connected customer experience across all brand touchpoints.
Push notifications
Push notifications remind customers about their gift card balances, alert them about special promotions, and inform them of upcoming expiration dates.
This proactive approach ensures that customers remain engaged with your brand, increases the likelihood of using their gift cards, and can drive additional sales by encouraging timely redemptions and purchases.
Push notifications help maintain a continuous connection with customers by keeping the brand top-of-mind, fostering loyalty and repeat business.
Location-based alerts
With PassKit, you can enjoy the benefits of location-based marketing.
This feature notifies customers about special deals, offers and similar benefits whenever they are near your store. It reminds customers to stop by and use their gift cards, increasing foot traffic and boosting gift card sales.
By providing timely and relevant notifications, customers are more likely to engage with your brand, fostering loyalty and increasing the likelihood of repeat visits.
Real-time analytics and reporting
PassKit provides an easy-to-use and intuitive dashboard that helps you track the success of your gift card program. It offers actionable insights to understand how your program resonates with your customers, including metrics such as:
- The number of enrolled members
- The number of digital cards saved to Google or Apple Wallet
- The number of digital cards removed from mobile wallets
- The total number of cards deleted via API or through the web interface
Additionally, PassKit allows you to track your customer incentive program performance by day, month, or year or set custom dates to get detailed data.
You can also view charts showing which digital wallet providers your customers actively use.
PassKit provides insights into the distribution channels that bring the most customers to your business. It breaks down the passes installed through various channels such as email and SMS marketing, social media, and more.
It helps you focus on the most effective channels to increase customer sign-ups for your gift card program.
Integrations
PassKit, Zapier, and Make enable business users to automate various tasks associated with gift card programs, facilitating efficient creation, management, and scaling.
Key functionalities include:
- Member registration: Connect sign-up forms to your membership database to automate the customer sign-up process and ensure efficient data collection.
- Profile updates: Enable real-time customer profile updates with no-code integrations, seamlessly synchronizing changes across all connected platforms.
- Renewals or cancellations: Set triggers to handle renewals automatically or implement a streamlined cancellation process, updating your systems without manual intervention.
- Notifications and reminders: Keep members informed with automated messages. Schedule and send reminders for diverse activities.
- Channel integration: Link different digital channels for cohesive communication, ensuring messages reach members on their preferred platforms.
- Engagement through personalization: Increase customer interaction with your business by sending tailored communications based on their activities or milestones.
- Data analysis: Integrate external data sources for comprehensive analysis, gaining deeper insights into your customer base to optimize your program.
Sign up on Make to start using it with PassKit and receive your first month of the Pro plan, which includes 10,000 operations per month, for free.
Final words about gift card software for small business
Designing a practical gift card system for your small business is simple when you have the right partner to bring your vision to life.
We understand the challenges of creating the perfect gift card for your most valued customers, and we are committed to making the process as seamless and stress-free for you as possible.
If a gift card program could benefit your business, we invite you to try our models for free. Take advantage of a 45-day free trial to explore two gift card solutions we have developed for you:
- Multi-use passes, like loyalty cards, for customers to top up their balances.
- Single-use passes for gift cards, ideal for holiday promotions.
Sign up for free today and discover which option works best for you!
FAQs about gift card software for small business
How do I create a gift card for my business?
Creating digital gift cards is easy. Use gift card software like PassKit and customize the pre-made template to fit your gift card programs and company branding.
What software is used to create gift cards?
Gift card software is usually a cloud-based solution where you can create custom gift cards, design your gift voucher system, and integrate it with an existing POS system. Some software, like PassKit, also enables smooth integrations with CRMs, Apple Wallet, Google Pay, and POS systems at multiple locations.
How to make a gift card design?
Designing a physical gift card or a digital gift certificate is simple: incorporate the gift card name (for example, “Free Cup of Joe’s Coffee”), your business logo, and brand colors, and don’t forget to add vital info such as the gift card policies.
How to do a digital gift card?
Creating digital gift cards is more accessible than making a physical card. Start with a free account on PassKit, set up the gift voucher system, and design the perfect gift card look. Optimize the whole process by enabling customers to get their gift cards both online and in-store.
