How to set up gift cards

Enable online gift card redemption

From the company’s Dashboard, type Shift + , to go to the advanced settings. Go to the Bookings section, then find and enable the “Online gift card redemption” setting.

Be sure to enable this feature if the company wants their customers to be able to redeem gift cards online.

Enable gift card booking fees

We can collect fees on gift cards in certain states and countries (see gift card fee rules by state). If this is not already enabled, go to the company’s advanced settings and enable gift card booking fees.

Enable user permissions

Before a user can manage or redeem gift cards, they will need to have the appropriate permissions set up. To do this:

1. Navigate to Settings > Users & Permissions and go to the Permission Groups tab.
2. Click Edit next to the permission group you want to add gift card visibility to.
3. Go to Setup and check the boxes for View gift cards and Manage gift cards.
4. Click Save.

If needed, you can add pre-existing gift cards using the Add cards option.

Gift cards can be added one at a time under the Simple tab, or you can bulk upload gift cards using the Advanced tab and this template.

The Advanced tab should only be used by FH Admins importing existing gift cards. Each card should be entered on a separate line using the following format: card amount without currency, card number, notes

For example:

will result in this:

Any values that you entered after the second comma will be stored as notes. View these by navigating to Edit > Card Settings.

Check with the client: what kind of gift cards do they want to offer? Do they just want a generic gift card, or separate ones for specific tours/activities?

• Create one or more customer types to align with the types of gift cards the client wants.

• Remember that the name entered here is what will be shown to the online customer. This is what the customer type will look like:

  

Create a gift card type by going to Gift Cards and then selecting Card Types. If a card type exists already, it will be listed here with an Edit option to add recipient notes. If there isn’t one created, select New gift card type and enter “Gift Card” in the Type field.

Add this Markdown to recipient notes for all new and existing gift card types:

To redeem your gift card, go to [Gift Card & Certificates - Best Practices](https://demo.fareharbor.com/giftcard/?preview=166bdf) and book your activity online. Click “Apply a gift card” and enter your gift card number during checkout.

Or, call us at 1-800-443-8669 (1-800-GiftNow).

Replace the phone number and website address for the correct details.

Example:

Navigate to Settings > Custom Fields > New custom field.

• For the field type, select gift card. Then choose which gift card type you want to use.

• Fill in the rest of the required fields. In most cases you can leave the title blank, since the field already says “Gift Card” at the top.

• The description can be used to give the online customer any additional information: (ex: Best practice for description is to keep it empty so that no matter the updates made to other item prices, the gift card item text will still be applicable.)

• Be sure to make the custom field visible, and required.

Here is what the field will look like to the online user:

Requirement options

If the field is not required, it will appear as a checkbox, which the customer can click to reveal the full gift card field. This can be used to upsell gift cards on other items.

If the field is required, then the full section will appear by default:

Make a field required by clicking Visible next to the custom field name, then checking the box next to Require an answer.

Other settings

Open the Gift Card field’s “Settings” menu to see these settings.

• Gift card type to create: Make sure the correct gift card type is selected.

• Starting suggested amount: You can change the default starting suggested amount, if desired. These amounts always follow the same sequence: 1, 2, 4 (if the starting suggested amount is $100, the following amounts will be $200 and $400, etc.).

  

Complimentary gift cards

For companies that want to be able to give complimentary gift cards, you can create a separate “Comp gift card” field and set the price to -100% on the direct sheet, meaning the customer will pay $0 but the gift card will still be valid for the selected value (live example here).

If there’s not already a gift card or gift certificate item set up, go ahead and create one. You can download and use the image below:

Important settings to remember for all gift card items:

• Automatic reminder and follow-up emails should be turned off (navigate to Items > select the item > Notifications, then uncheck all boxes).

• Add in confirmation notes. Use the following template:

  After purchasing your gift cards, you can book an activity with your codes on our [website](website link/ activity link)!

• Add in custom cancellation notes. Use the following template:

  Gift card sales are final and non-refundable.

• Add in an item description. Use the following template:

  Purchase the perfect gift: a gift card with a value of your choosing!

• Add in an item headline. Use the following template:

  Give them an experience they’ll remember!

  Note: If you’re building a gift item on a Dashboard that already has gift items, make sure to use headlines to distinguish them from one another and protect conversions:

  • For Gift Cards: Purchase a gift card for any monetary amount, and recipients can redeem for any of our offerings!
  • For Gift Certificate/Voucher: Purchase a gift certificate/voucher to be redeemed on a specific offering!

  These headlines help their customers make a decision, making them more effective than the original Give them an experience they’ll remember!.

• In the item’s Listing settings, navigate to the Basic Info section and check the box [FH admin only] Display as a retail item. This turns “Book” buttons into “Buy” buttons, and disables dates on the book form.

• Both online booking cutoffs should be set to -24 hours (Items > click on the item’s name > Bookability > update the values under Auto close bookings) so that availabilities are never closed off.

• The checkboxes in the third column (“Include in online calendars as “Call to book when closed?”) should be left at the default, as calendars are not displayed for retail items. See screenshot below:

  

Navigate to Items > Gift card item > Options & Prices.

Add the gift card custom field to the customer type. It is highly encouraged to adjust the starting suggest amount under the Custom field settings > Gift card to start at an item’s pricing.

Turn off the tax rate on the item price line. This way, both the customer type and the gift card custom field will inherit the 0% tax rate.

Navigate to Items > Gift card item > Calendar to create gift card availabilities.

• Availabilities should be “All day”.

• Best practice is to set up daily, weekly, or monthly availabilities for gift cards, so that there’s not one availability at the end of the year with hundreds of purchases on it.

• Be sure to add the gift card customer type(s) that should be visible on the availability.

  

Once availabilities have been created, the gift card item is ready for purchase!

1. Navigate to the Bookings section of the Dashboard.
2. Open the Filters menu.
3. Click Items.
4. Select the newly created Gift Card item and uncheck all other items.
5. Open the custom calendar menu and click + New custom calendar.
6. Name the calendar “Gift Cards” and click Create.

Read more about the recommended custom calendar set up for retail items.

Add the Gift Card item to the company’s default booking flow or submit an integration request to integrate the new item on the company’s website.

Additional documentation

• See all external gift card documentation here.

• If someone wants to know what the digital gift card will look like (or how to add a message, etc.), they can find a walkthrough here.

Redemption process, booking fees, etc.

• Gift cards work as payments, as opposed to campaigns and promo codes, which make a booking cost less.

• When a gift card is used to pay for a booking, it will be applied toward the booking price + tax. Booking fees are only calculated for the remaining amount due, so if the remaining amount is zero, the booking fee is zero.

Misc

• The information set up in the company’s profile (company-level cancellation policy, booking notes, etc.) will appear on the gift card confirmation email sent to the recipient.

• The Advanced tab when adding cards on the backend should only really be used for gift card imports. See detailed steps here.

Once the steps on this page have been completed, you (or the client) can create custom designs for their gift cards. Please be sure to review the prerequisites before beginning to create designs.