Getting Started with Gift Cards

What are Gift Cards?

Gift Cards give your business a powerful way to drive sales, reward loyal customers, and simplify promotions. With this feature you can create branded Gift Card Products, sell or send them, and track every issued card in a dedicated Gift Card Orders page — all from inside your Payments section.

Whether customers are purchasing a gift for someone special or you're rewarding loyal clients with complimentary credit, Gift Cards make every transaction more personal. They can be sold through a dedicated checkout or embedded on your website, shared through a QR code, or sent directly to contacts with a custom message.

With Gift Cards you can:

• Create Gift Card Products with your branding, denominations, expiry dates and more.
• Sell Gift Cards from a dedicated checkout, embedded on your site, or via QR code.
• Send Gift Cards directly to contacts without collecting payment (great for promotions or service recovery).
• Track every issued card from the Gift Card Orders page with status, balance, and details.
• Let customers redeem Gift Cards seamlessly at supported checkouts with automatic balance display.

Key Benefits of Gift Cards

• Flexible Selling Options: Dedicated checkout, embed, QR code, or add to existing checkouts.
• Scheduled Delivery: Choose immediate delivery or schedule for a future date.
• Operational Visibility: Track orders, code, amount, and status under Gift Card Orders.
• Brand Consistency: Use gradients or upload artwork so cards match your brand.
• Gifting Built In: "Myself or Someone Else" flows make it simple to buy for others with scheduled delivery.
• Frictionless Redemption: Recipients can redeem on supported checkouts with their code or link.

Prerequisites

• Access to Payments → Gift Cards in your account.
• At least one Gift Card Product created.
• Active checkouts (Forms, Funnels, Payment Links, Invoices, Store, Calendars, etc.) to support redemption.
• (Optional) Artwork and terms & conditions for your Gift Card branding.

How to Create a Gift Card Product

Step 1: Navigate to Gift Cards

In the left menu, click the Payments tab. Then in the top ribbon, click Gift Cards to open the Gift Cards dashboard.

Step 2: Create Gift Card

Click the blue + Create Gift Card button. For first-time users, only the option to create a card will be visible. Orders, Sell/Send options and other details appear once the first gift card product is created.

Step 3: Add Details

Fill in the Basic Information. Key attributes include:

• Name and description
• Terms & Conditions
• Expiry date (applies to all Gift Card Orders for this product)
• URL to redemption instructions

Step 4: Customize the Gift Card

Choose how the card looks so it aligns with your brand. You have two options:

• Create a Gradient: Pick brand-aligned colors and a gradient style/direction.
• Upload Custom Artwork: Upload a high-resolution image (PNG or JPG) that matches your branding.

Step 5: Set Values, Tax & Category

• Add one or more denominations (e.g., $25, $50, $100).
• Set Quantity (Inventory).
• (Optional) Enable automatic taxes.
• (Optional) Assign a Category to help filter and report on promotions.

Tip: Inventory is defined per denomination. If quantity = 100 with 2 denominations, each denomination gets 100 — a total of 200 gift cards.

Step 6: Review and Save

Review the summary and preview. When everything looks right, click Create Gift Card to finish.

Editing, Archiving and Deactivating Gift Cards

You can edit, archive, or deactivate a Gift Card Product at any time.

• Edit: Update denomination, quantity, terms, expiry, category, or tax behavior. Updates apply to future issuances.
• Delete: Archive gift card products you are no longer using.
• Deactivate: Disables Sell and Send actions; the dedicated checkout link stops working immediately.
• Activate: Re-enables sales and sending for the gift card product.

How to Sell Gift Cards

You can sell a gift card through its own checkout or by adding it to your existing selling workflows (Funnels, Forms, Stores, Websites, Payment Links, Invoices, and Calendars). When a customer completes a purchase, Captivation Hub creates a Gift Card Order and delivers the gift card based on the delivery option selected at checkout.

Selling Through the Dedicated Checkout

Step 1: Navigate to Payments → Gift Cards.

Step 2: Locate your card and click Sell.

Step 3: Share the checkout via:

• Checkout Link: Copy and share so customers can purchase directly.
• Embed Code: Embed the checkout on any external webpage.

Customer Experience at Checkout

Step 1 — Select a Denomination: The buyer selects one of the available values (e.g., $10, $25, $50, $100).

Step 2 — Select Who the Gift Card is For: The buyer chooses Myself or Someone Else. If for someone else, the checkout collects the recipient's name and email.

Step 3 — Add Delivery Date: Choose Deliver Now or schedule for a future date. Add an optional message for the recipient.

Step 4 — Complete Payment: The buyer selects a payment method and clicks Pay. Once confirmed, they can download the gift card. If buying for someone else, the recipient receives it via email at the chosen time.

How to Send Gift Cards (No Payment Required)

Sending Gift Cards lets you issue gift cards directly to any customer without requiring a purchase — ideal for make-goods, loyalty gestures, VIP perks, and internal tests.

Step 1: Navigate to Payments → Gift Cards.

Step 2: On the Gift Card you want to send, click the Send button.

Step 3: Select an existing contact from your list or add a new one. Add a personalized message, then click Continue. You can also use Write with AI to draft the message.

Step 4: Choose one of the preset denominations and select a delivery method: Email, SMS, QR via Email, or PDF via Email. You can also schedule the send date.

Step 5: Review the automatically generated email or SMS preview — including Gift Card Amount, Custom Message, Expiry Date, Redemption Instructions, and Artwork — then click Send Gift Card.

Result: A free Gift Card is issued to the contact. This will appear in Gift Card Orders but not in the general Payments → Orders page (since no payment occurred).

How to Track Gift Card Orders

All issued Gift Cards (whether sold or sent) are listed under Payments → Gift Cards → Gift Card Orders. All cards on this page are clickable and open a detailed page for that order.

Tip: The generic Payments → Orders page only shows paid orders. Use the Gift Card Orders page as your central hub for every card issued or purchased.

Gift Card Dashboard

The Gift Card Dashboard gives you a quick snapshot of your overall gift card performance, including:

• Total Gift Cards Issued (sold + sent)
• Total Value of Gift Cards Issued for the selected time period
• Average Gift Card Order Value
• Number of Unique Customers who purchased or received gift cards
• Top Denominations issued, including the most popular denomination and a Top 5 chart

Gift Card Order Details

Each Gift Card Order details page shows:

• Purchaser and recipient info
• Denomination and expiry date
• Remaining balance
• Status (Scheduled, Active, Inactive)
• Hidden Gift Card number (visible inside the order details page)
• Delivery method and schedule
• Transaction reference (for paid cards)

How Customers Redeem Gift Cards

Customers can redeem Gift Cards on any supported checkout (Forms, Funnels, Payment Links, Invoices, Store, Calendars, Services V2, etc.):

1. The customer goes to any supported checkout.
2. Enters their Gift Card Code in the Gift Card field.
3. The balance displays automatically.

Redemption Rules

• If balance ≥ order total for one-time products: no extra payment needed.
• If balance < order total or order includes subscriptions: checkout captures an additional payment method for the remainder.
• Transaction details show a separate line item for "Gift Card Balance Used."

Supported payment providers: Gift Card redemption is fully supported with Stripe, NMI, Authorize, and Square. Limited support exists for PayPal, Adyen, and custom payment providers (full balance coverage of one-time products only).

Note: Gift Cards are not yet supported on Memberships, Donation Forms, or Rentals.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What's the difference between Gift Card Orders and the regular Orders page?
A: Gift Card Orders (inside Payments → Gift Cards) track every card issued or purchased. The generic Orders page only records paid transactions.

Q: Which payment providers support Gift Card redemption?
A: Full support: Stripe, NMI, Authorize, Square. Limited support: PayPal, Adyen, and custom providers (full balance coverage of one-time products only).

Q: Can I set different expiry dates per order?
A: Not yet. All Gift Card Orders for a product share the product's expiry date.

Q: How does inventory work with multiple denominations?
A: Inventory applies per denomination. Three denominations with inventory of 50 each = 150 total cards.

Q: Can customers check their balance without starting checkout?
A: Not yet. Entering the card number at any supported checkout displays the balance. A dedicated balance-check link is coming soon.

Q: Can I buy gift cards using gift cards?
A: Not yet. This option is in development and coming soon.

Q: Can I restrict where Gift Cards are redeemable?
A: Currently, Gift Cards are redeemable on all supported products. More fine-grained controls are coming soon.