Gift Certificates

Overview: What are we talking about?

Selling and redeeming physical gift certificates in Gingr is a two-step process. This article will walk you through how to set up gift certificates in Gingr, as well as how to sell and redeem them with customers.

This article includes:

• Setting Up Gift Certificates
• Selling Gift Certificates
• Redeeming Gift Certificates
• FAQ

Helpful Hints: Before you begin.

• In order to make sure that you do not double-record the gift certificates as a revenue, it's recommended that you only record the sale as revenue when the gift certificate is purchased. To do this, you will never include your Gift Certificate payment method on your Revenue by Date report (just like with Admin/Comp). By doing this, the sale of the open line item will be recorded as revenue, and the gift being applied to a transaction will not cause a double report of revenue. Feel free to reach out to support if you have any questions regarding reporting!

• If the pet parent redeeming a gift certificate is a new customer, you'll need to create a new record for them before you can proceed.

How to: Set up and use Gift Certificates.

Setting Up Gift Certificates

Step 1: Set up an Open Line Item for your Gift Certificates.

1. Navigate to Left-hand Navigation: Admin » Open Line Item Types.
   
   
2. Click + Add
   
   
3. Fill out the form as listed in the table below:
   
   

   Setting	Description	Helpful Hint
   Location	This is the location(s) where this line item will be able to be used.	You can select more than one location when creating open line items.
   Type	This is the name of the gift certificate as seen by you and your customers	We recommend using "Gift Certificate" for simplicity
   Is Taxed	This setting will indicate whether or not you collect tax on this item	No/Off
   Status	Is this item available for sale?	Yes/On
   Allow Negative	Can it be sold as a negative amount?	No/Off
   Is Tip	Is this item being used to collect a tip?	No/Off
   Specialist	The specialist assigned to this item.
   Account Code	Optionally assign an Account Code for accounting purposes

   
   
   
   
4. Save or Save And Add Another.
   
   
5. Design a paper gift certificate. This is where you can get creative. Some ideas for paper gift certificates are:
   
   
   • Business cards designed with your branding and a place to write an amount.
   • An 8.5x11 piece of paper with your branding and a place to write an amount.
   • A printed receipt of the gift certificate sale from Gingr.

 Step 2: Set up Gift Certificate payment method.

1. Navigate to Left-hand Navigation: Admin » Payment Methods.
   
   
2. Click + Add.
3. Fill out the form following the field guide below:
   
   

   Setting	Description	Helpful Hint
   Type	The name of the payment method you are creating	Name this "Gift Certificate"
   Processor	Which processor does this payment method use?	Do not attach a processor
   Zero Payment		No/Off
   Open Cash Drawer Modal	If you want to open the cash drawer when selling gift cards	Optional
   Status	Is this payment method active?
   Show Change Calculator	Enabling this setting will display the change calculator during checkout.

   
   
   
   
   
4. Save.

Selling Gift Certificates 

Sell the customer an Open Line Item for the Gift Certificate amount they would like to purchase.

1. Navigate to the Cart from Top Navigation: Cart Icon.
2. Choose Gift Certificate from your Open Line Items, and enter an option Description and Amount.
   
   
3. Click the gray plus sign to drop the item into the cart, and take payment from the customer purchasing the Gift Certificate.
   
   Important! This is where you are taking actual payment for the Gift Certificate, so choose a "real money" payment method (Cash, Check, Credit Card) to check out this transaction.
   
   
4. Once the transaction is complete, hand them a paper gift certificate with the amount written or printed on it. They would then give the certificate to the recipient and you'll wait for the happy pet parent to come redeem their gift! 

Redeeming Gift Certificates

1. Add the customer's reservation(s) to the cart from Left-hand Navigation » Dashboard or go directly to the cart from Top Navigation » Cart to add POS items, packages, or open line items. Make sure to select an owner!
2. Click the blue "Checkout with Payment" button when you are ready to checkout.
   

3. Choose the Payment Method "Gift Certificate" and enter the amount for which they are redeeming the gift certificate. Then click "complete checkout".

Important! Edit the amount to be exactly the amount of the gift certificate in the checkout popup window. This will make sure that your reporting is accurate.  

If the gift certificate is GREATER than the value in the cart, you can make a manual adjustment to their paper gift certificate to show how much can be redeemed at a future visit. You can also add store credit in the amount unused from the gift certificate to the invoice when checking out.

If the gift certificate is LESS than the value in the cart, you will need to complete the transaction using both the gift certificate and an additional payment method.

DO NOT use your Gift Certificate Payment method for anything other than applying the gift card credit to the recipient's account. This will result in gaps in your reporting. 

FAQ: Check this out!

Can we use programmable plastic gift cards with Gingr?  

We do not offer an integration to use plastic gift cards for a few reasons, but the overall reason is that it's expensive for the business to support. Printing on a typical plastic gift card costs about $1 per card, plus a $.30 per transaction. By handling gift certificates in the manner described below, the cost is essentially free to you and provides the same utility. The only cost to you with this option would be the cost of printing, which can be as cost-effective as you'd like! That's a win-win!