gift cards – Focus | Restaurant & Bar Management Apps

November 5, 2021November 5, 2021

Digital Gift Card Promos for the Holidays

The holidays are upon us which means pushing to book parties and sell gift cards in an effort to boost yearly numbers. The crunch can be daunting from a marketing perspective, especially with gift cards sales when everyone is offering some sort of promo. Digital gift cards make it easy to set up and offer promos to your guests, online.

The traditional way of offering promos usually entails a guest coming into the business to buy a physical card and walking away with a tangible item carrying a stored value. The promo could be adding extra value to the card, a separate promo card or coupon with an expiration date, or a discount on a current bill when the card is added on. There are many ways to give a bonus to those guests buying gifts, but what is the best way to handle this online with digital gift cards?

With Focus e-Gift you have two promotional options that can be set up to offer discounted digital gift cards.

Predetermined Values with Denominations

Example: Get a $100 gift card for $75.

focus egift promo denominations

What dollar amounts should you offer the bonus at? Think about your guests and their check average. How much are they willing to spend and what will feel like a good value to them. You want to make sure that you give enough of a bonus to entice a purchase but don’t want to give everything away.

If your check average is $40 per person, then a $50 gift card may only cover one person’s bill. If I entice them to pay $75 or $80 for a $100 gift card then they are able to either splurge on dinner or cover the cost of 2 people with that gift card making it a perfect gift or just value savings for the purchaser at a business that they are already a patron of.

With predetermined values, any guests going to purchase a digital gift card will have access to the promo.

Promo Codes for Flat Discounts

Buy $100 or more and get $25 off.

focus egift promo codes

If you are looking for a solution that only allows certain guests like say maybe those that visit in person and see the offer on your guest receipt or maybe a person on your marketing email list, then promo codes are the way you want to go.

A promo code lets you insert a code that has to be known by the purchaser at checkout to receive a discount on their gift card. So I could say that the code ‘HAPPYHOLIDAY’ takes $25 off the purchase price of any gift card that is $100 or more. This gives the customer flexibility in their purchasing options but only allows for a flat discount amount so you can control some of the expense.

The great part about digital gift cards is they can easily be delivered electronically at any time, they allow revenue to be generated without labor, and the recipient can easily use their card online or in-store.

Want to set up Focus e-Gift? Contact us today!

October 18, 2021October 18, 2021

Gift Card and Loyalty Programs For Marketing

Gift Cards and Loyalty or Rewards Programs have been go-to marketing tools to build restaurant brand recognition for a long time, but operators still seem to struggle with harnessing their power. There are many different platforms and ways to build and promote both platforms that it can often become challenging to figure out the best technology stack that effectively allows you to create and promote programs that keep your guests returning.

We’ve talked previously about the value of physical and digital gift card offerings. Offering both kinds of stored value cards allows you to capture different demographics and reach more people. It is important the gift card platform you use can handle both in one integrated system that works with your POS, online ordering, and any other platforms your guest will use to order/pay.

FocusGift gives you a gift card platform that allows you to sell physical gift cards at your location as well as digital cards online through your website. The sales of both flow through to the POS for sales tracking, giving you proper accounting. They both also can be redeemed the same way through standard POS stations, handheld devices, and the FocusOnline online ordering system.

What does offering gift cards get you?

– Returning or new customers.
– Cash flow without high overhead.
– Brand loyalty, especially if you tie in rewards for those guests.

FocusLoyalty is a robust loyalty program that works in conjunction with all your ordering and payment platforms. You can build out simple or complex rewards options for your customers and text or email them offers. Don’t have a need for complicated points or tired rewards? You can always just create promos or marketing blasts that go directly to your best patrons. Emails or text messages can be sent to those with the most spend or triggered off of their last visit date.

Why does your business need a loyalty program?

– Thanking returning guests becomes automatic.
– Incentivize guests to return on a more regular basis.
– Stay top of mind to your customers.
– Generates more regular communication with your top spenders.

The beauty of the gift and loyalty program options with Focus is they all work together as part of one ecosystem. This reduces complexity and creates less stress for operators and their staff. The most important part is it’s easy for guests to use, giving you a guaranteed way to make them happy.

August 3, 2021

The Value of Physical and Digital Gift Cards

Gift cards are nothing new to many businesses. As a branding tool, they allow you to keep your name top of mind with raving fans but also bring familiarity to new guests who receive them as gifts. In times of inconsistent revenue, they can even be a much-needed cash boost. Gift cards are an all-around benefit allowing your restaurant or bar to pull in new customers or entice people to return.

Traditionally the preferred method of selling gift cards has been using physical plastic cards that are encoded with specific gift card data. The card would be sold through the POS and activated at the time of payment. That card would then be used either by a returning guest or a lucky gift recipient. The stored value on the card could be completely used in one transaction or have only a portion redeemed at that time to save the remaining balance for use on another day. More money can be added at any time so the customer can continue using the same card over and over again.

Physical cards are great as gifts, especially if you are including them in a basket or with other items. They are also useful for giveaways or promotions, again allowing you to push your brand name in the community. Plastic cards typically are required for doing bulk activations so cards can be preactivated and sold or given away through a third party or at alternative locations.

Physical cards do also have an additional cost to them since you have to purchase the plastic cards in bulk as well as any graphic design that may be required to have them printed. Printing times may also vary throughout the year with long wait times always around major holidays.

E-gift cards are a fantastic way to offer digital gift cards that don’t have the upfront cost of buying physical cards to distribute. They also allow you to sell and activate cards online so guests can purchase or send them even when they are not at your location. They are convenient for your customers to use and can still be used in conjunction with physical gift cards. Many businesses even choose to use only digital gift cards which allows them to maximize the profit of each dollar activated.

When someone purchases a digital gift card online an email is sent to them instead of receiving a physical card. This email includes the business’s branding and location information. If the card is purchased as a gift for someone else, the purchaser can also send a customized message to the recipient.

Digital gift cards purchased through Focus E-gift can be redeemed through the POS at your location or through select online ordering platforms, including Focus Online. The digital card can also be stored in a phone’s digital wallet for easy access and balance updates.

Selling gift cards at your location or online has never been easier with Focus Gift. The simple platform allows you to sell and manage cards online and at the POS. Onboarding and setup are fast and are included with any FocusCloud subscription.

Focus Gift also provides multi-unit groups options for gift card reconciliation across multiple locations or to centralized holding accounts.

October 23, 2018

The Ultimate Holiday Gift Card Check List

The holidays are almost here, and gift cards can give restaurants a huge sales boost at the end of the year. Are you ready to cash in?

Integrate Gift Cards

Activating and using gift cards through your POS system saves servers time. Unlike gift certificates, a running balance is kept for each card so you can ensure the proper amount is used towards a guest’s bill.

Gift Card Supplies

Order now to ensure you have enough cards and envelops to make it through the busy holiday season. Custom holiday versions are also available from most printing companies.

Holiday Purchase Promo

Want to entice more gift card sales? Many restaurants will offer guests a perk such as a coupon or an additional gift card they could use for themselves. Plan out your promotion ahead of time so you can pre-activate gift cards or prepare other incentives for guests.

Employee Sales Contest

Get all of your team on board with selling more gift cards! Create a sales contest to track your top gift card sellers. Rewards can be for pride, traded shifts, no side work or some extra holiday cash.

Need to get gift cards setup or more supplies ordered? Give us a shout!

[pardot-form id=”438″ title=”FocusGift Info”]