How To Make Gift Cards Work Best For Your Business?

Many small businesses launch gift card programs and let them sit at the register untouched. Cards collect dust while customers walk past without noticing. The program exists, but it does not perform.

Gift cards work when businesses treat them as active sales tools rather than passive offerings. The right design, placement, promotion, and staff involvement turn a basic gift card into a steady source of new customers and repeat visits.

Gift cards remain a familiar present for birthdays, holidays, and thank-you moments, and shoppers buy them throughout the year. Businesses that actively promote their gift cards capture a share of this spending. Those who simply stock cards and hope for the best miss the opportunity. Learning how to make gift cards work best for your business comes down to a few practical strategies any owner can implement.

Why Some Gift Card Programs Fail

Gift cards do not sell themselves. Programs underperform when businesses make common mistakes.

Reasons gift card programs struggle:

• Cards hidden behind the counter or in a drawer
• Staff never mentions gift cards during transactions
• Generic designs that look like every other card
• No promotion during peak gifting seasons
• Complicated redemption process that frustrates customers

Fixing these issues does not require a large budget. Small changes in visibility, staff behavior, and promotion make a measurable difference.

Pro Tip: 

Ask your staff how often customers inquire about gift cards. If the answer is rarely, the problem is visibility and promotion, not customer interest.

Design Cards That Represent Your Brand

A well-designed gift card does more than hold value. It represents your business every time someone opens their wallet.

What Makes a Card Stand Out

Generic cards blend in with other cards at checkout and fail to attract attention. Custom designs catch attention and remind recipients where to spend.

Design elements that work:

• Your logo displayed prominently on the front
• Brand colors that match your signage and packaging
• Clean layout with easy-to-read text
• Quality finish that feels premium in hand

Seasonal and Themed Options

Businesses with multiple card designs see higher sales during gifting seasons. Holiday-themed cards appeal to shoppers looking for a festive presentation. Birthday and thank-you designs work year-round.

Shoppers often choose physical gift cards as an easy, ready-to-give present for holidays, birthdays, and thank-you gifts. A card that looks like a gift rather than a payment method sells better.

Place Cards Where Customers See Them

Visibility drives gift card sales more than any other factor. Cards hidden behind counters do not sell.

High-Visibility Placement

Effective locations:

• Next to the register at eye level
• Near the entrance during holiday seasons
• At checkout in a branded display stand
• Alongside popular products as gift pairing suggestions

Display Options

Countertop displays hold cards upright where customers notice them. Hanging displays work well for businesses with limited counter space. Cardholders and gift envelopes add perceived value and make the card feel gift-ready.

Train Staff to Mention Gift Cards

Staff interaction has the biggest impact on gift card sales. A simple mention during checkout reminds customers that gift cards exist.

When Staff Should Suggest Gift Cards

Natural opportunities:

• Customer mentions an upcoming birthday or holiday
• Customer seems unsure what to buy
• Customer asks about gifts for someone else
• During checkout as a quick reminder

What Staff Should Say

Keep it simple and conversational. “We have gift cards if you ever need a last-minute gift” works better than a scripted sales pitch. Staff should know card denominations, how to activate cards, and how redemption works.

Promote During Peak Gifting Seasons

Gift card sales spike around holidays, but only for businesses that actively promote. Waiting until December to mention gift cards misses weeks of potential sales.

Key Gifting Periods

• Winter holidays (November through December)
• Valentine’s Day
• Mother’s Day and Father’s Day
• Graduation season (May and June)
• Back-to-school (August and September)

Promotion Strategies That Work

In-store promotion:

• Signage near the register and entrance
• Staff reminders during checkout
• Gift card displays in high-traffic areas

Marketing promotion:

• Email reminders to existing customers
• Social media posts highlighting gift cards as gift solutions
• Bonus value offers such as buy $50 and get $10 free

Bonus promotions drive sales during competitive periods. Customers see extra value, and the bonus card brings them back for a future visit.

Make Redemption Easy

A confusing redemption process frustrates customers and reflects poorly on your business. Simple redemption encourages full card use and repeat visits.

Redemption Best Practices

Keep it simple:

• Train all staff on how to process gift cards
• Ensure your POS system handles partial redemptions smoothly
• Allow customers to check balances easily
• Accept gift cards for any product or service without restrictions

Recipients often spend more than the card’s value, especially when the remaining balance falls short of the item they want. Easy redemption encourages this overspend. Complicated rules discourage customers from returning.

Gift cards must work seamlessly with your point-of-sale system. At Duracard, we encode custom gift cards with the barcode or magnetic stripe format your POS system requires, and our cards support more than 200 POS and gift card systems. Tell us which system you use when you order, and if your system is not on our list, call (651) 702-9243 and we will check compatibility for your setup.

Use Gift Cards for Store Credit

Gift cards solve a common business problem. Cash refunds leave and never return. Store credit keeps money within your business.

When to Offer Gift Cards as Store Credit

• Returns without a receipt
• Exchanges where the new item costs less
• Customer complaints where goodwill matters
• Service recovery situations

Customers appreciate the flexibility. The money stays with your business as credit the customer can spend later, and the card gives them a clear reason to return.

Track Performance and Adjust

Gift card programs improve when you measure results and make changes based on data.

Metrics Worth Tracking

Most POS systems provide gift card reports. Review these monthly and look for patterns. Low sales during peak seasons suggest promotion problems. Low redemption rates may indicate design or visibility issues.

Some gift cards never get fully redeemed, but those leftover balances are not profit. Until a card is spent, the balance is money your business owes the cardholder, and some states have unclaimed property rules for balances that go unused for long periods. Ask your accountant how to record outstanding gift card balances in your books.

Comply With Gift Card Laws

Federal and state laws govern gift card programs. Following these rules protects your business and builds customer trust.

Federal Requirements

• Funds on a gift card cannot expire sooner than five years after the date the gift certificate was initially issued, or after the date money was last loaded onto the card.
• Dormancy, inactivity, and service fees are allowed only after 12 months with no activity on the card, and no more than one such fee can be charged in a month.
• The card must clearly state any fees that may apply and the expiration date of the funds.
• Bonus and promotional cards given away at no cost to the customer, such as the $10 card in a “buy $50, get $10” offer, can have shorter expiration dates, as long as the front of the card says the card is promotional and shows the expiration date.

Some states set stricter rules. California bans expiration dates and most fees on gift cards, and since April 1, 2026, businesses there must pay out any balance with a cash value of less than $15 in cash when the cardholder asks. Check your state’s current rules and have an attorney review your card terms before you launch or update your program.

FAQs

How do I increase gift card sales?

Place cards in visible locations, train staff to mention them during transactions, and promote actively during gifting seasons. Bonus value promotions also drive sales during competitive periods.

Should I offer bonus promotions?

Bonus offers like “buy $50, get $10 free” drive sales during competitive seasons. The bonus card brings customers back for an additional visit.

Final Thoughts

Learning how to make gift cards work best for your business comes down to visibility, promotion, and easy redemption. Cards that sit behind the counter and programs launched without staff training both consistently underperform. Businesses that treat gift cards as active sales tools see consistent results.

Easy redemption starts with a card that scans cleanly at the register and looks like it belongs to your brand. At Duracard, we print full-color PVC gift cards in-house at our Cottage Grove, Minnesota facility, with barcodes, magnetic stripes, and card numbers encoded to match your POS system. You review and approve a digital proof before production begins, giving you the chance to check the design, card numbers, and encoding details before any cards are printed.

Order your custom gift cards today and give customers a card worth buying, gifting, and bringing back.