Gift giving is a difficult task for most people, no matter what the occasion is! The first problem is that they don't know what to buy, and the second problem is that they don't know if the gift will be liked. Money is usually the gift at the end of the day! You can, however, give a Gift Card as a more refined, safe, and convenient gift.
Gift card shows that you thought about the gift and put some effort into it. As you give the recipient a certain amount of monetary power, he/she can spend it on whatever they wish, without actually worrying about whether they'll appreciate it.
Both online and brick-and-mortar retailers offer gift cards as a means of shopping and giving money to friends. Each type of gift card has its features and benefits, including physical and digital (e-gift cards).
You should know how gift cards compare with other payment methods before purchasing them for others or yourself during the holiday season.
What is a Gift Card?
You can use a virtual card to make purchases in your store. The brand assigns a gift code to a digital gift card, which is known as an e-gift card or electronic gift card.
When you have an indecisive buyer in your store, these cards are very effective. A variety of amounts are available for digital gift cards from many brands. The validity and usability of the card are determined by the seller.
How Gift Cards Work
Gift cards are used at restaurants, gas stations, retail stores, and other locations as payment. Upon loading money onto the card, you or the gift card's recipient can use it at any location that accepts it.
Open-loop and closed-loop gift cards are both possible. There is no restriction on where you can use an open-loop gift card. A Visa gift card, for instance, can be used anywhere Visa is accepted.
As opposed to open-loop cards, closed-loop cards can only be used at specific merchants. A Starbucks or Amazon gift card, for instance, can only be used at the retailer issuing the card if you purchased it from them.
Digital Gift Cards: How Do I Send Them?
Sending a digital gift card is as simple as following these steps:
From the menu or categories, select eGift cards
Personalize it with your favorite design or upload a picture
Decide how much you would like to gift
Name the recipient
Send it to the recipient's email address
Send your loved ones a personalized text message
Review your cart order
Sender and recipient receive an email
Create a unique gift certificate for a friend, family member, employee, or client using these gift certificate templates.
You can edit and print some of these certificates right from your browser, while others open in Microsoft Word or similar word processing programs. Colors and photos can sometimes be added, as well as text. Your final step will be to print them out and give them to the recipient. Use a free, printable greeting card if the occasion is special.
A variety of styles are available, so you should be able to find one that suits your occasion and the recipient's taste. The selection also includes blank gift certificates as well as those that already have a specific item or service on them.
Free printable love coupons are a great way to give your loved one a more personal gift. A perfect Valentine's Day gift, a perfect Mother's Day gift, or a perfect Christmas gift.
1. Canva
At Canva, there are dozens of templates for gift certificates. Holiday gifts, birthday gifts, employee gifts, special treats, hotel stays, massages, and photoshoots are all possible. You can find a certificate by searching by keyword or browsing categories.
Before printing or digitally sending your gift certificates, you can fully customize the images, colors, and text within Canva. You can also create one from scratch if you wish. The design decisions are made by you from the start.
Canva does charge for some of the images on these gift certificates. Free images can be substituted for these or you can look for those that are marked as free.
2. Creative certificates
Besides gift certificate Word templates, Creative Certificates offers around 20 other templates. Due to their unique colors and designs, they can be used in a variety of settings. Changing the designs isn't possible here, but you can change all the text before printing.
Unlike other certificate management websites, you can edit the certificate online instead of downloading an MS Word document, and you can then either print it or download it as an image or PDF file.
You can choose your favorite design by clicking the blue buttons beneath it. If you wish to make changes in a word processor program, however, you can still download the DOCX file.
3. Microsoft
There are several dozen templates that can be used as gift certificates for birthdays, holidays, or other special occasions. The majority of templates available here are just basic ones, which you can either open in Microsoft Office Online or download and open in Word.
The designs or colors cannot be changed, but the text can. They are not all free, but those that are will be marked as such.
4. Word templates
Besides basic ones that can be used for any occasion, there are those designed specifically for cash, employees, and restaurant gift certificates, all of which have unique designs and colors.
DOT and DOTX formats are available. The files will download in a ZIP archive, so you must first open it.
5. Vertex42
Download blank/basic gift certificate templates from Vertex42 for Christmas, birthdays, and formal occasions.
Before printing, you can edit three gift certificates at once using each template. For use in OpenOffice, these templates are available in both DOCX and ODT formats.
6. Hloom
You can find full-page gift certificates at Hloom for donations, birthdays, dinners and movies, general gifts, golf gifts, spas, and discount vouchers.
To find out how popular each item is, check the download count next to it. You can preview each template before purchasing it in the DOCX format.
7. GiftTemplate
With GiftTemplate, instead of downloading a Word document to edit, you edit everything on the website and then download an image to print (which you can then insert into the Word document if you want).
Some of the occasions you can use gift certificate templates for include birthdays, Easter, Christmas, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Boxing Day, Cyber Monday, and others.
8. PosterMyWall
For your business or personal use, PosterMyWall has hundreds of gift certificate templates. There are many customization options available.
On their website, you can edit the template right from your browser. In addition to customizing the colors and text, adding photos, changing the size, and choosing different layouts, you can also add photos.
Saved files are only available in lower-quality JPG format for free. Watermarks are not always saved with the site, although it says it will.
Why People Prefer Sending Gift Cards
It is the versatility of gift cards that makes them so popular. Gift card recipients can use their gift cards to purchase anything they like from their favorite companies.
As a car buyer, you don't have to worry about finding the right gifts for your family and friends, especially if you don't know what they'll enjoy. Gift cards are popular among people for the following reasons:
As a result, they can buy their preferred gift at a reduced or no additional cost.
Gift cards eliminate the worry of giving something the receiver already owns.
Recipients can use the gift cards whenever they want. You can use a gift card online or in a local store.
The recipient can purchase more items or more expensive items when using gift cards during sales.
Benefits of Digital Gift Cards for Businesses
1. Bring in new customers
For example, gift cards work well in electronics stores, which carry more expensive, higher-priced items that most customers wouldn't normally purchase.
A gift card encourages visitors to your business who might not otherwise stop by. Consequently, additional purchases may be made in the future.
2. Boost brand awareness
Gift cards with company logos and brands work as marketing tools in the customer's pocket when they are designed to match your brand and logo.
Your brand continues to be dispersed among new customers as people purchase gift cards for birthdays and holidays.
It is easy for your brand to be noticed when your logo appears on the gift card. Additionally, digital gift cards can be sent worldwide, unlike physical gift cards, allowing your company to reach a global audience.
3. Sell and accept gift cards to increase sales
It is common for gift cards to be set to a specific amount, but many customers will spend more than that amount. Customers are encouraged to browse the store's products with a gift card.
They may end up finding a product that costs slightly more than the value of the gift card once they've started shopping. Your customer will be satisfied even if you only pay a fraction of the price.
4. Fraud reduction
When using an electronic gift card, only a portion of the balance can be redeemed, leaving the rest on the card, and cashback is not available. When customers try to make expired returns for cash, gift cards can also be used for store credit, reducing fraud. More sales are generated when gift cards are issued instead of cash.
5. Boost customer loyalty
The ability to earn customer loyalty is another benefit of gift cards. You must earn the loyalty of your customers to keep them loyal to your brand. Keeping them happy and satisfied is the only way to earn their loyalty.
The use of a gift card can ease the process of processing a refund or return for customers who have not been satisfied with your products.
6. Profit from unused cards
For whatever reason, gift cards can go unused sometimes. Your business makes pure profit when this happens.
It doesn't matter if you're trying to build relationships, generate more revenue, or increase traffic; gift cards can help you achieve your goals.
7. Matching POS
Due to their integration with point-of-sale systems, gift cards are extremely useful. Your customers' behavior can be easily tracked when you track their gift card transactions and regular transactions all in one place.
Digital vs. Physical Gift Cards
Physical gift cards are plastic cards, while digital gift cards are electronic cards. You can redeem digital gift cards at online retailers by entering a unique code number assigned to your gift card. Shortly, physical gift cards are expected to become less popular.
Online and digital accounts are available from companies such as Amazon, Walmart, and Target. Digital and physical gift cards are also offered by major restaurant chains. To speed up checkout, customers can use these cards to pay for their drinks and meals using an app or in-store reader.
A mobile wallet app, such as Google Pay, Apple Pay, or PayPal's Venmo, can also store codes for digital gift cards. You can then select your digital gift card as your preferred payment method when checking out.
Gift Cards vs. Prepaid Credit Cards
Understanding the difference between gift cards and prepaid debit or credit cards is important when weighing their pros and cons.
While gift cards are useful for giving gifts, prepaid cards are something you might use yourself for everyday spending if you don't have a bank account or don't want to use cash or a regular credit card. You can use both in stores or online.
Consumers can buy prepaid credit cards and reload them at retail locations with several cards offered by prepaid credit card companies.
A prepaid credit card, a debit card, or a reloadable gift card is typically a better deal than a retailer-specific gift card in terms of value, but a regular credit card offers some advantages, like rewards on purchases or rewards bonuses.
It is also important to consider how prepaid credit cards and gift cards affect your credit score when deciding whether to use them for purchases.
Final Words
The availability of digital gift cards for online shoppers can help scale up your sales if you take a look at the growth of digital gift cards in the eCommerce market.
You should consider adding a Gift Card section to your website because of the above-mentioned benefits. Do you have trouble setting up the gift card section? Check out the WPS Office.
