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Gift Cards Overview - Offer Gift Cards to Customers

4 min read Beginner For Owner, Manager Updated about 2 months ago
Quick Answer
Gift cards in RecSystems are prepaid credit customers can purchase and redeem on bookings. Enable gift cards in your settings, and customers can buy them on your booking site or you can create them manually.

Gift Cards Overview

Gift cards are a powerful way to generate revenue and attract new customers. Customers can purchase prepaid credit for themselves or others, making them perfect for holidays, birthdays, and any gift-giving occasion.

What Are Gift Cards?

Gift cards are prepaid credit:

  • Purchased for a specific dollar amount
  • Given a unique code
  • Redeemed at checkout
  • Applied to booking total

Example: Someone buys a $100 gift card for their friend. The friend enters the code at checkout and gets $100 off their booking.

Types of Credit

RecSystems offers several types of promotional credit:

Type What It Is Who Creates
Gift Card Prepaid credit (purchased) Customer or staff
Voucher Rain check / service credit Staff only
Discount Fixed dollar amount off Staff only
Coupon Percentage discount Staff only

Gift Cards vs. Other Types

Gift Cards:

  • Purchased with real money
  • Balance decreases with use
  • Can be used multiple times until depleted
  • Applied after tax calculation (like cash)

Vouchers:

  • Issued by you (rain checks, compensation)
  • One-time use typically
  • No purchase involved
  • Applied before tax (reduces taxable amount)

Coupons & Discounts:

  • Promotional codes
  • Percentage or fixed amount off
  • Created for marketing campaigns
  • See Discounts & Coupons

How Gift Cards Work

Customer Purchase

  1. Customer visits your gift card page
  2. Selects amount ($50, $100, $200, or custom)
  3. Enters recipient email
  4. Pays with credit card
  5. Recipient receives email with code

Redemption

  1. Recipient books a rental
  2. Enters gift card code at checkout
  3. Balance applied to booking
  4. Remaining balance (if any) saved for future

Benefits of Offering Gift Cards

For Your Business

  • Upfront revenue — Get paid before service
  • New customers — Recipients may be first-time visitors
  • Increased sales — Gift recipients often spend more
  • Marketing — Spreads awareness of your business
  • Holiday sales — Perfect for seasonal gifting

For Customers

  • Easy gift-giving — No guessing what to buy
  • Flexible use — Recipient chooses what to rent
  • No expiration hassle — (if you don't set one)
  • Instant delivery — Email delivery, no shipping

Getting Started

Enable Gift Cards

  1. Go to Account → Account Info in the navbar
  2. Enable gift card sales
  3. Configure options (amounts, custom amounts)
  4. Gift card page becomes available

Default Amounts

Common preset amounts:

  • $50
  • $100
  • $150
  • $200

You can also allow custom amounts.

Gift Card Page

When enabled, your booking site includes a gift card page where customers can:

  • Select an amount
  • Enter recipient's email
  • Add a personal message
  • Complete purchase

The recipient receives an email with the code and instructions.

Managing Gift Cards

From your dashboard, you can:

  • View all gift cards
  • Check balances
  • See redemption history
  • Create cards manually
  • Void cards if needed

What's Next

Learn more about:

Related Articles:

Frequently Asked Questions

What are gift cards in RecSystems?
Gift cards are prepaid credit that can be purchased and given as gifts. Recipients enter a code at checkout to apply the credit to their booking.
Can customers buy gift cards online?
Yes, if you enable gift card sales, customers can purchase them directly on your booking site. They can send them to themselves or others.
Do gift cards expire?
You can set expiration dates when creating gift cards. If no expiration is set, they remain valid indefinitely.
What's the difference between gift cards and vouchers?
Gift cards are purchased prepaid credit. Vouchers are issued by you for service recovery or rain checks. Coupons are percentage discounts.