Issuing gift certificates Staff-side by email

Staff-issued gift certificates allow your team to create and send complimentary certificates directly to recipients by email. 

Learn how to issue gift certificates Staff-side, including changing the theme, editing the gift certificate, previewing the gift certificate, and managing issued gift certificates.

New to Gift Certificates? Read the first article in this series for an introduction to the Gift Certificates feature.

Accessing the features mentioned in this article

Where can I find this feature using the top menu?

• Manage > Gift Certificates > Issue Gift Certificates
   

What more do I need to use this feature?

• The Gift Certificates feature is activated within your account (Manage > Integrations).
• Admin or restricted to Manage Gift Certificates and Manage Gift Certificate Templates.
   

Which Checkfront version supports this feature - classic items, classic products, or both?

• This feature is available in both our classic items version, using classic items (Inventory > Items), and our classic products version, using classic products (Inventory > Products).  → Learn more about products

What is a Staff account? A Staff account lets you provide access to individuals who need to manage inventory, availability, or bookings.

Staff can issue gift certificates and send them to specific recipients via email.
 

Issued gift certificates are complementary The Customer cannot pay for Staff-Issued gift certificates, as they are complementary and not included in Sales reports. Operators generally issue gift certificates as gifts for patronage or as special promotions. If you would like to offer gift certificates for sale to your Customers, please consider Creating a Gift Certificate.

1. Go to Inventory > Gift Certificates.
2. Click the Issue Gift Certificate button to get started.
3. Select a theme for your gift certificate.
   • You can change the theme of the gift certificate by selecting a theme from the Change Theme drop-down menu. Hover your mouse over the choices to see a live preview. Click the one you wish to use, for example, Celebration, Seasonal, Summer, or No Theme.
4. Edit your gift certificate details.
   1. Enter an Amount for the gift certificate.
   2. Specify the recipient (To)
   3. Provide the sender names (From)
   4. Enter the Recipient Email address, and a message.
   5. Use the Delivery Date field with the calendar selector to specify when you want the gift certificate emailed to you, instead of being issued immediately.
   6. Use the Valid From date with the calendar selector to determine when the gift certificate is activated and applied to purchases.
      • De-select the Never checkbox if you want the gift certificate to expire. Enter the expiry date in the Expires field or use the calendar picker to select the date.
   7. Choose to Hide Amount on PDF if you don't want amounts displayed to recipients. This setting only affects the attached PDF; depending on the variables in your notification template, the system may still display the amount in the notification body.
   8. Check the Use Custom Code box and enter a custom code if you want the Guest to use it at Checkout to apply the gift card.
   9. Click the Issue Gift Certificate button to issue the gift certificate by email.

Learn more about gift certificate notifications To learn more about configuring gift certificate notifications, check out the following article: Gift Certificates: Gift Certificate Notifications

You can preview the gift certificate on the right-hand side of the Issue Gift Certificate page.
 

Change gift certificate logo The logo can be changed within Gift Certificate Settings (Manage > Gift Certificates).

From the Gift Certificates home page, you can now click the Staff Issued Gift Certificates tab in the left sidebar to view the details of your issued gift certificate.

Learn more about reporting on issued gift certificates To learn more about reporting on issued gift certificates, check out the following article: Reporting on issued gift certificates

• Can Gift Certificates be issued in bulk by Staff?

  Currently, issuing Gift Certificates to Customers in bulk is not supported.

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