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How To Start A Gift Card System For Small Business In 2024

By offering gift cards for your small business, you can entice new customers, encourage more spending, and improve your cash flow.

    Nicolette Kier
  • Last updated onUpdated

  • Matt Sherman
  • REVIEWED BY

    Matt Sherman

    Lead Staff Writer

Our content reflects the editorial opinions of our experts. While our site makes money through referral partnerships, we only partner with companies that meet our standards for quality, as outlined in our independent rating and scoring system.

The best gift card systems for small business owners connect to your POS system, offer a loyalty program, and work for physical and eGift card sales.

We compared several of the best POS systems with a built-in gift card program or gift card software integrations based on pricing, feature set, and ease of use so you can sell small business gift cards at your store and online.

Learn More About Our Top Picks

CompanySummaryNext StepsSummary

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  • Best for low-cost physical and eGift card sales
  • $0-$60+/location/month
  • Monthly contracts, no termination fee
  • Best for low-cost physical and eGift card sales
  • $0-$60+/location/month
  • Monthly contracts, no termination fee

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  • Best affordable restaurant gift card program
  • $84-$424+/month
  • Custom contracts, early termination fee
  • Best affordable restaurant gift card program
  • $84-$424+/month
  • Custom contracts, early termination fee

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  • Most customizable gift card system and payment processing options
  • $14.95-$84.95/month
  • Several merchant service providers and custom contracts available
  • Most customizable gift card system and payment processing options
  • $14.95-$84.95/month
  • Several merchant service providers and custom contracts available

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  • Best for multichannel retail sellers
  • $29-$399+/month
  • Monthly/annual contracts, no termination fee
  • Best for multichannel retail sellers
  • $29-$399+/month
  • Monthly/annual contracts, no termination fee

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  • Best for single and multilocation retail businesses
  • $89-$289+/month
  • Monthly/annual contracts, early termination fee
  • Best for single and multilocation retail businesses
  • $89-$289+/month
  • Monthly/annual contracts, early termination fee

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  • Most versatile restaurant gift card program
  • $0-$119+/month
  • Two-year standard contract, early termination fee
  • Most versatile restaurant gift card program
  • $0-$119+/month
  • Two-year standard contract, early termination fee

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  • Best for very large and multilocation restaurants
  • Custom quote
  • Standard three-year contract, early termination fee
  • Best for very large and multilocation restaurants
  • Custom quote
  • Standard three-year contract, early termination fee

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Read more below to learn why we chose these options.

How To Start A Gift Card Program For Small Business

To start a gift card program for your small business, complete these four steps.

1: Choose The Types Of Gift Cards To Sell

There are two types of gift cards you can sell:

  • eGift Cards: With eGift cards, customers can purchase a digital gift card online and have gift cards texted or emailed to them in the form of a numerical code, scannable QR code, or digital barcode.
  • Physical Gift Cards: Customers purchase a physical gift card to be used in-store.

We recommend selling at least eGift cards since the retail and restaurant spaces increasingly offer online ordering. If you have a physical location with significant foot traffic, consider selling both types of gift cards.

2: Choose A Gift Card Provider

Look for a gift card provider that is within your budget, fits your industry, and ideally connects to your POS system. We recommend a gift card program that’s built into your POS system or a third-party gift card app that connects to your POS because it’s easier to sell, redeem, and monitor gift cards when your gift card program is connected to your core sales and POS reporting software.

3: Connect Your Gift Card Program To Your POS System

If you choose a built-in or third-party gift card program integration, connect it to your POS system. Your gift card program provider will give you step-by-step instructions for connecting your gift card and POS software. Once you make that connection, set up gift cards as a product you can sell and a payment method.

4: Design & Market Your Gift Cards

Choose the look of your physical and eGift cards, including your business logo and colors. Decide whether to sell set gift card amounts or allow customers to buy a custom gift card amount. Finally, set up gift card purchase and redemption policies.

Market your gift cards in-store, on your website, and your social media profiles.

7 Best Gift Card Systems For Small Business

Compare Gift Card Programs For Small Business

IndustryPricingGift Card Sale FeePayment Processing
Square POSAny$0-$60+/month2.5%2.5%-2.9%
TouchBistroRestaurant$84-$424+/month$0Custom
Clover POSAny$14.95-$84.95/monthVariesVaries
Shopify POSRetail$29-$399+/month$02.5%-2.9%
Lightspeed RetailRetail$69-$269+/month$02.6%-2.9%
Toast POSRestaurant$0-$119+/month$0Custom
Revel POSRestaurantCustom$0Custom

Square POS: Best Low-Cost Option For Smaller Businesses

Total Rating 4.9
Pricing4.9

Ease Of Use5.0

Features4.8

Customer Service4.7

User Reviews4.8

Pricing Range

$0/month

Contract

None

Equipment Cost

$49-$799

Get a free card swiper from Square at no cost when you create a free account. Claim your card reader.

Pros

  • Free POS with free online store
  • No monthly fee to sell gift cards
  • Customers can check/reload gift card balance online
  • Attach gift card to a customer’s profile

Cons

  • Payment processing rate is high for higher-volume businesses
  • Transaction fee on gift card sales

Why We Picked Square For Smaller Businesses

Square eGift card sale receipt

Square eGift card sale receipt. (Source: Square)

We love that Square offers physical and eGift card sales for no monthly fee, along with one of the best free POS systems, a free online store builder, and low-cost POS hardware for taking in-person sales. We also like that Square offers specific POS software plans for retail, restaurant, and service-based business owners. This positions Square as an excellent option for smaller businesses.

Note: Since our last update, Square has introduced a 2.5% load fee merchants pay when customers load a physical or eGift card. Once you start processing a higher amount of gift card sales per month, consider a gift card program that charges a flat monthly fee.

Pricing

Square POS Plans Price  When To Use
Free Plan $0/month If you have basic POS and processing needs
Square Appointments $0-$69/month If you are a business with extensive scheduling needs
Square For Retail $0-$89/month If you are a retail business with needs for advanced features
Square For Restaurants $0-$60/month If you are in the foodservice industry and need restaurant-specific features
Square Online Store $0/month depending on plan If you have eCommerce needs

All Square POS plans, free and paid, include a free online store builder.

Other Square fees include:

  • 2.5% transaction fee on all gift card sales
  • $0.34-$1.50 per physical gift card
  • 2.5%-2.9% payment processing fee (required for all sales no matter which POS provider you use)

Once you sell over $125/month in gift cards, Square’s gift card program software may not be the most cost-effective option. However, Square’s free POS software and online store builder still make Square one of the most affordable sales solutions available.

While you don’t technically need Square POS hardware ($59-$799) to sell gift cards, using card readers and registers lowers in-person payment processing fees.

Related: Read our guide to Square POS hardware to help decide which POS hardware your business needs.

Gift Card Program Features

Square POS Features Availability
Multi-Store Support
Contactless Payments
Multi-Channel Selling
Gift Cards Add-on
Customer Loyalty Add-on
Marketing Tools
Online Ordering
Inventory Management
Reporting
Menu Management With Square for Restaurants
Delivery Management Add on
EBT Acceptance
Employee Management
Text Messaging

Square’s most unique gift card sales features for customers include:

  • Purchase a single gift card using multiple payment sources, which is useful for several people going in on a group gift for a boss or friend
  • Send friends eGift cards online using the recipient’s email
  • Check a gift card balance and reload a gift card online
  • Purchase gift cards in bulk, which is great for companies purchasing gift cards for employees or a specific customer group
  • Earn loyalty points on gift card sales with Square Loyalty
  • Redeem gift cards at multiple locations

At the register, employees can:

  • Sell and refund digital and physical gift cards
  • Attach a gift card to a customer’s phone number or email
  • Reissue gift cards if a customer loses their gift card

Related: Read our Square Loyalty review for loyalty program pricing and features.

Who Should Use Square

  • Businesses looking for a low-cost way to sell gift cards
  • Businesses that want to build a free online store
  • Businesses without high monthly gift card sales volumes

Get Started With Square POS

Read our in-depth review

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TouchBistro: Best Affordable Restaurant Gift Card Program

Total Rating 4.3
Pricing4.0

Ease Of Use4.6

Features4.9

Customer Service3.9

User Reviews4.1

Pricing Range

$69/month

Online Ordering

Add-on

Equipment Cost

Call for quote

Pros

  • Physical & digital gift cards available
  • Customers can send QR code gift cards to family & friends
  • Redeem gift cards at multiple locations
  • Customer web app builder supports gift card sales

Cons

  • Can’t reload eGift cards
  • Can’t redeem physical gift cards online
  • Must order physical gift cards in large quantities

Why We Picked TouchBistro For An Affordable Restaurant Gift Card Program

TouchBistro send eGift card to someone else

TouchBistro send eGift card to someone else. (Source: TouchBistro)

We appreciate that TouchBistro is a straightforward, affordable restaurant POS system that charges some of the lowest flat monthly rates for software like gift cards, the loyalty program builder, email and website marketing, and an online ordering platform. TouchBistro's products connect well to provide one single gift card program, POS, kitchen management, and marketing solution.

Pricing

TouchBistro Plans Price  When To Use
TouchBistro Plan $69+/month If you have basic restaurant needs and are interested in purchasing add-ons

TouchBistro’s gift card program software costs $25/month/location and is an add-on to TouchBistro POS plans, which range from $69-$399/month.

The $399/month plan includes unlimited user licenses, making TouchBistro a cost-effective option for businesses with several employees and stations.

TouchBistro’s gift card program integrates well with add-ons including:

  • $50/month online ordering platform
  • $99/month loyalty program
  • $99/month marketing suite

Note: TouchBistro partners with eCard for printing physical gift cards. The lowest quantity you can purchase is 125 gift cards for $110. You can get gift cards from a different source and import them to TouchBistro via CSV file if you’re not ready to commit to purchasing physical gift cards on a large scale.

Additional TouchBistro fees include payment processing fees, which you will pay to TouchBistro or a third-party payment processor, plus a $200 setup fee.

You may install TouchBistro on most iPads, so you can decide how much to pay for your POS hardware.

Gift Card Program Features

TouchBistro Features Availability
Multi-Store Support
Contactless Payments
Multi-Channel Selling
Gift Cards Add-on
Customer Loyalty Add-on
Marketing Tools Add-on
Online Ordering Add-on
Inventory Management
Reporting
Menu Management
Delivery Management
EBT Acceptance
Employee Management
Text Messaging

TouchBistro’s gift card program features include:

  • Sell gift cards on an online ordering page, customer web app, and in-person
  • Schedule digital gift cards to be sent to friends and family on a certain date and time
  • Customers can earn gift cards as part of loyalty rewards
  • Personalize gift cards for holidays, birthdays, and other occasions (great for marketing with a coffee shop POS system)
  • Customers can redeem gift cards at any restaurant location
  • Take gift cards at a customer’s table and the register

While not directly related to your gift card program, TouchBistro’s marketing software allows you to create promotional campaigns that offer dollar or percentage discounts to your online ordering platform visitors, loyalty program members, and customers signed up for your email newsletters.

We also like that TouchBistro software has a great offline mode so you can take orders and sell gift cards without WiFi. This is one reason why TouchBistro is one of the best food truck POS systems.

Who Should Use TouchBistro

  • Restaurants looking to pay a low monthly fee for their gift card program
  • Food trucks and on-location food service businesses looking to sell gift cards from anywhere
  • Restaurants that want an affordable POS, loyalty, and gift card program software
  • Businesses with several employees and registers

Get Started With TouchBistro

Read our in-depth review

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Clover POS: Most Customizable Option

Total Rating 4.3
Pricing4.0

Ease Of Use4.8

Features4.5

Customer Service4.4

User Reviews4.1

Pricing Range

Starts at $0/month

Contract

Depends on merchant services provider

Equipment Cost

$49-$1,799 per device

Pros

  • Built-in customizable gift card program
  • Several gift card integration choices
  • Customers can send gift cards to friends & family with email, text, and app
  • Several payment processor options

Cons

  • Some Clover vendors are predatory
  • Per-transaction gift card sales fee
  • High upfront POS hardware costs

Why We Picked Clover For The Most Customizable Option

Purchase gift card for children's museum on Clover-powered website

Purchase gift card for children's museum on Clover-powered website. (Source: Clover)

We like that Clover POS offers its own gift card program for selling physical and digital gift cards but also provides the option to integrate with several third-party gift card software. Clover's built-in gift card program offers over 70 gift card designs and allows you to upload custom images/brand assets, or work with a designer to create a beautiful custom gift card.

We appreciate that, similarly to Square, Clover offers retail, restaurant, and service-based business POS software plans. The company has also designed durable proprietary POS hardware.

Related: You can purchase Clover POS hardware from several Clover resellers and get custom payment processing rates.

Pricing

Clover POS Plans Price  When To Use
Clover Payments $0/month If you only need to process payments and don’t need any POS hardware
Clover Essentials $14.95/month If you have a small retail/service-based business and don’t take returns
Clover Register $49.95/month If you have a small to mid-size retail/service-based business and need more POS features
Clover Counter Service Restaurant $54.95/month If you have a quick-serve restaurant, cafeteria, or mobile food service business
Clover Table Service Restaurant $84.95/month If you have a full-service restaurant or bar

You can use Clover’s free gift card app or a third-party app. In addition to a POS plan, Clover fees include:

  • Clover POS Hardware: $599-$1,799
  • Payment Processing: Varies depending on Clover POS provider
  • Clover Gift Card Fee: $0.05 for every $2 gift card value sold (with free Clover app)
  • Third-Party Gift Card App: $0-$30/month (optional)

Read our guide to Clover POS pricing for more information on how Clover software, hardware, and payment processing works.

Gift Card Program Features

Clover POS Features Availability
Multi-Store Support
Contactless Payments Depends on hardware choice
Multi-Channel Selling
Gift Cards
Customer Loyalty
Marketing Tools
Online Ordering Depends on software plan
Inventory Management
Reporting
Menu Management
Delivery Management
EBT Acceptance Add-on app
Employee Management
Text Messaging

Clover’s best gift card features include:

  • Over 70 gift card designs are available
  • Send digital gift cards over text or email
  • Issue gift cards as store credit
  • Accept gift cards across multiple locations
  • Sell QR code gift cards at the POS or on your website
  • Send gift cards to friends or family with a custom message
  • Reload a physical or digital gift card balance
  • Check a gift card balance at the register or online

Clover integrates with third-party gift cards for POS systems, including Loopz, Givex, GiftFly, LoyLap, and Factor4.

Related: Clover’s niche integrations with ID verification and EBT sales apps make this POS system one of the best grocery store POS systems.

Who Should Use Clover

  • Businesses that want to create a custom POS and gift card program
  • Businesses that want better gift card payment processing rates
  • Businesses with niche software needs

Get Started With Clover POS

Read our in-depth review

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Shopify POS: Best For Multichannel Retail Sellers

Total Rating 4.3
Pricing4.0

Ease Of Use4.9

Features4.4

Customer Service4.8

User Reviews4.4

Pricing Range

Starts at $29/month

Contract

None

Equipment Cost

$0-$500+

Pros

  • No additional cost to accept gift cards
  • Multiple options for gift card sales & redemption, including social media
  • Physical, digital, & printed paper gift cards
  • Customers can add gift cards to Apple Wallet

Cons

  • Transaction fee to use a payment processor other than Shopify Payments
  • Must buy physical gift cards in bulk

Why We Picked Shopify POS For Multichannel Retail Sellers

Example Shopify jewelry store with gift card and personalized packaging features

Example Shopify jewelry store with gift card and personalized packaging features. (Source: Shopify)

We believe that Shopify POS provides a strong retail gift card program for no added fee that works well with Shopify eCommerce stores and in-person sellers. Physical and digital Shopify gift cards use QR codes, and eGift cards can be added to a digital wallet for easy redemption at the register. Customers can also redeem Shopify gift cards on your other online channels that use the Shopify checkout, such as a Facebook store, or Pinterest, or using a "Buy" button on your WordPress or Squarespace website.

Related: Read our Shopify eCommerce review to learn about selling gift cards on a Shopify-powered website.

Pricing

Shopify POS Plans Price  When To Use
Basic $39/month ($29/month billed annually) If you have a growing eCommerce business with occasional in-person sales
Shopify $105/month ($79/month billed annually) If you want additional reporting and reduced payment processing fees
Advanced $399/month ($299/month billed annually) If you want advanced reporting and additional discounts on processing fees
Shopify Plus $2,000+/month If your high-volume or large business needs an enterprise-level solution

Shopify gift card program software is available on all Shopify POS plans. Additional Shopify fees include:

  • Physical Gift Cards: $0.56-$1.89 per card
  • Gift Card Sleeves: $59-$789 (250-5,000 sleeves)
  • Payment Processing Fees: 2.4%-2.6% + $0.10 for in-person orders and 2.5%-2.9% + $0.30 for online orders
  • POS Hardware: $49-$459

Note: Shopify sells physical gift cards in bulk (100-5,000 per order), but you may pay for them in interest-free installments.

Read our Shopify POS hardware guide to help you decide which hardware you need in your store.

Gift Card Program Features

Shopify’s best gift card sales features include:

  • Sell gift cards on any of your available sales channels, just like you would sell on any products
  • Redeem gift cards on Shopify POS, Shopify website, Facebook store, Facebook Messenger, or using a “buy” button on an external website, social media post, etc.
  • Sell gift cards as part of a larger gift package (such as a book gift package using a bookstore POS system)
  • Issue promotional gift cards and refund gift cards
  • Print out gift certificates using your own printer, so you don’t have to buy gift cards if you don’t want to
  • Customers can add gift cards to Apple Wallet
  • Sell gift cards and customized gift card sleeves

Shopify also integrates with several gift card software apps such as Gift Up!, Rise.ai, Growave, and Govalo if you like Shopify’s strong multichannel retail sales capabilities but want more gift card functions than Shopify provides.

Who Should Use Shopify POS

  • Retailers looking for strong eGift card sales features
  • Businesses that sell on several sales channels
  • Retailers looking for very customizable retail gift card sales capabilities

Get Started With Shopify POS

Read our in-depth review

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Lightspeed Retail: Best For In-Person Retailers

Lightspeed Retail

Total Rating 4.1
Pricing3.7

Ease Of Use4.4

Features4.3

Customer Service4.1

User Reviews4.0

Pricing Range

$109-$289/month ($89-$239/month billed annually)

Contract

Monthly, annual, and custom

Equipment Cost

$199-$329

Pros

  • No additional monthly cost to sell gift cards
  • Add gift card expiration date
  • Restrict gift card user permissions
  • Accept gift cards at any retail location

Cons

  • Early termination fee
  • Must use in-house payment processor

Why We Picked Lightspeed Retail For In-Person Retailers

lightspeed retail gift card tracking screen

Lightspeed Retail gift card tracking screen. (Source: Lightspeed)

We love that Lightspeed Retail, one of the best retail POS systems, is so customizable for gift card sales and general retail inventory management. For no added monthly cost, you can sell physical/eGift cards, offer promotional gift cards so you can create marketing campaigns, and reload physical gift cards. Lightspeed is one of the only POS software options that allows you to add gift card expiration dates to drive customers to spend at least the card balance if not more. You can also restrict who can view gift card numbers and balances to improve security around gift cards.

Pricing

Lightspeed Retail Plans Price  When To Use
Basic Plan $109/month ($89/month billed annually) For single/multi-location retail business looking for strong inventory management and a customizable POS interface
Core Plan $179/month ($149/month billed annually) For single/multi-location retail businesses looking for eCommerce and accounting features
Plus Plan $289/month ($239/month billed annually) For single/multi-location retail businesses looking for a strong loyalty program and advanced business reporting

Lightspeed does not charge any additional fees to sell gift cards. Additional Lightspeed features include:

  • Additional Registers: $59/register license/month
  • Additional Locations: $69-$269/location/month
  • Payment Processing Fees: 2.6% + $0.10 for-in person orders; 2.9% + $0.30 for online orders

Note: With each new location, you get another register. For example, if you have two locations, you’ll get two registers, one in each location, but will only pay the added location fee. If you purchase a third register license, you’ll pay the added location fee and an additional $59/month.

Gift Card Program Features

Lightspeed Retail Features Availability
Multi-Store Support
Contactless Payments
Multi-Channel Selling Standard plan and up
Gift Cards
Customer Loyalty Advanced plan
Marketing Tools Standard plan and up
Online Ordering Standard plan and up
Inventory Management
Reporting
Menu Management
Delivery Management
EBT Acceptance
Employee Management
Text Messaging

When it comes to gift card sales customizations, you can:

  • Set custom security settings around gift cards
  • Recharge physical and digital gift cards
  • Choose a gift card expiration date and choose whether to honor expired gift cards
  • Order physical gift cards from several gift card providers and import the information to Lightspeed
  • Offer several images that customers can choose to attach to digital gift cards
  • Choose between several different fixed prices to load to a gift card
  • Create gift cards with open amounts so customers can purchase their custom amount
  • Create gift card minimums and maximums to drive a minimum number of sales and protect yourself from instances of fraud
  • Attach your Lightspeed loyalty program with gift cards
  • Track customer gift card usage

Related: Read our Lightspeed Loyalty program review.

Who Should Use Lightspeed Retail

  • Retail businesses with one or more locations
  • Retailers that want to offer gift cards with expiration dates
  • Retailers that want to integrate gift cards with a loyalty program

Get Started With Lightspeed Retail

Read our in-depth review

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Toast POS: Most Versatile Restaurant Gift Card Program

Total Rating 4.0
Pricing2.6

Ease Of Use4.7

Features5.0

Customer Service5.0

User Reviews4.1

Pricing Range

$0-$69 plus custom plan

Online Ordering

Yes

Equipment Cost

$0+

Pros

  • Customers can send gift cards using email/phone number
  • Customers can check & reload gift card balances online
  • Accept gift cards at the register, table, self-serve kiosk, & online
  • Easy for employees to look up customer gift card info & resend gift cards

Cons

  • Additional monthly cost to accept gift cards
  • Long-term contract with early termination fee
  • Customers collect points on gift card redemption, not purchases

Why We Picked Toast For A Versatile Restaurant Gift Card Program

Toast POS gift card generator

Toast POS gift card generator. (Source: Toast)

We like that Toast's gift card features are versatile and customer-focused, including the ability to redeem a gift card at the register, at a table, at a self-serve kiosk, or online. Customers can receive QR code gift cards via text or email, type in physical gift card barcode numbers at checkout, or use an eGift card. Servers can look up gift cards using a customer's name and contact info so even if a gift card gets lost, servers can apply it toward an order.

Related: Read up on all our best restaurant POS systems.

Pricing

Toast POS Plans Price  When To Use
Quick Start Bundle $0/month You have a small, single-location restaurant with basic feature needs
Core $69/month You need a full point of sale suite with processing and custom hardware
Custom Custom Larger businesses looking to access the entirety of Toast’s features

Toast’s gift card software costs $50/month and is an add-on to Toast POS software plans unless you sign up for the free Starter Kit plan and agree to a higher payment processing fee.

Additional Toast fees include:

  • Toast POS Hardware: $799.20-$1,024.20
  • Payment Processing Fees: 2.49%-3.69% or custom (dependent on POS software plan)
  • Loyalty Program: $50/month
  • Online Ordering Platform: $75/month

Related: Read our restaurant POS hardware guide to learn more about what restaurant hardware is available from providers like Toast.

Gift Card Program Features

Toast POS Features Availability
Multi-Store Support
Contactless Payments
Multi-Channel Selling
Gift Cards
Customer Loyalty
Marketing Tools
Online Ordering
Inventory Management
Reporting
Menu Management
Delivery Management
EBT Acceptance
Employee Management
Text Messaging

Our favorite gift card program features from Toast include the customer-centric gift card purchasing and redemption features.

Customer-centric gift card features include customers’ ability to:

  • Purchase gift cards and schedule a gift card to be sent at a specific date and time, as well as include a special message for the recipient
  • Send gift cards using an email or phone number, which is great for customers who don’t remember the recipient’s email or check their email if they’re purchasing a gift for themselves
  • Choose from several different designs with pre-loaded or open-ended amounts
  • View and reload physical and eGift cards from an online portal
  • Add gift cards to their Apple Wallet

Toast’s best gift card redemption features include:

  • Guests can redeem gift cards online, at the POS, and self-serve kiosks
  • Guests can redeem gift cards by swiping a physical gift card, using an eGift card code, and scanning a QR code attached to an eGift card
  • Servers can accept gift cards via the Toast Go 2 handheld POS system so customers can pay with a gift card at the table
  • Guests can still be prompted to leave a tip after using their gift card as payment
  • Multilocation businesses can accept gift cards at any location

You may also combine your gift card and loyalty programs so loyalty customers can earn points when they redeem gift cards.

Restaurant owners can easily import gift cards from other programs to Toast, so the transition from a previous program is easy.

Related: Compare Toast to the rest of our best POS loyalty programs.

Who Should Use Toast

  • Restaurants wanting to offer several gift card ordering and redemption features
  • Restaurants that want excellent marketing features
  • Sit-down restaurants that want to take gift cards at the table

Get Started With Toast POS

Read our in-depth review

Jump back to comparison chart

Revel POS: Best For Very Large & Multilocation Restaurants

Total Rating 3.9
Pricing3.6

Ease Of Use3.9

Features4.3

Customer Service4.2

User Reviews3.8

Pricing Range

Quote-based

Online Ordering

Yes

Equipment Cost

Call for quote

Pros

  • Custom/niche software features
  • In-house & third-party gift card options available
  • Digital & physical gift cards
  • Choice of hardware & payment processors

Cons

  • Long-term contract with early termination fee
  • Costs extra to take gift cards
  • One-time setup fee

Why We Picked Revel Systems For Very Large & Multilocation Restaurants

We like Revel Systems because it is a highly customizable iPad POS that gives large business owners their choice of POS hardware, software features, payment processing provider, and gift card program. Its reporting features, including gift card sales reporting and marketing campaign monitoring, give very large and multilocation restaurants an idea of how their gift card programs are performing (and how to improve their program).

Pricing

Revel POS Plans Price  When To Use
Revel plan Quote-based: three-year commitment for cheapest plan Use if you are committed to the product and have a need for high-end features.

Revel’s gift card program is a custom-priced add-on to a custom Revel POS software plan. You’ll also get a custom payment processing fee.

Gift Card Program Features

Revel POS Features Availability
Multi-Store Support
Contactless Payments
Multi-Channel Selling
Gift Cards
Customer Loyalty
Marketing Tools
Online Ordering
Inventory Management
Reporting
Menu Management
Delivery Management
EBT Acceptance
Employee Management
Text Messaging

Revel Systems is a highly flexible POS system that works best for established restaurants. The software makes it easy to manage multiple locations and a large inventory. It has many niche customizable features, such as drive-thru POS capabilities.

The following are some of Revel System’s small business gift card features:

  • Sell digital gift cards on an online ordering website
  • Design and order physical gift cards from your POS portal
  • Preloaded and custom-pricing gift card sales
  • Reloadable gift cards
  • Issue promotional gift cards
  • Gift card tracking and reporting
  • Import current gift cards if switching from another POS or gift card app
  • Gift card integrations include Givex, Incentivio, eCard Systems, Paytronix, LoyaltyPlant, Valuetec, and Synergy Loyalty Solutions

Who Should Use Revel Systems

  • Very large restaurants looking for a highly customizable business management solution
  • Businesses looking for their choice of gift card program integration

Get Started With Revel POS

Read our in-depth review

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Retail POS Review Methodology

Merchant Maverick has been researching and reviewing POS providers since 2012. Our writers have tested over 100 different point of sale systems, evaluating pricing, features, ease of use, customer service, and user reviewers. Read more about how we rate POS providers.

Weighted Rating Breakdown

Pricing 40%
Features 30%
Ease Of Use 15%
Customer Service 10%
User Reviews 5%

When comparing different POS software systems, we consider many data points, including relative pricing, the depth of niche features offered, the price of hardware, and any associated payment processing fees. Our lists of the best providers include only apps we’ve deemed worthwhile from multiple vantage points. The POS vendors we pick share qualities such as widespread availability, accessibility, user-friendliness, and reasonable pricing. We also look carefully at niche features, such as check-splitting, inventory management, eCommerce, loyalty programs, gift cards, and more.

We spend an average of 10-15 hours researching and updating each one of our lists, making sure the providers included meet our internal standards for quality and reputation.

80+

Vendors evaluated

65+

Attributes assessed per vendor

20+

Features weighed

30+

Combined years of experience


5 Tips To Improve Your Gift Card Program

Here are a few tips to sell more gift cards:

  • Customize Your Gift Cards: Custom gift cards help you build your brand. To make custom gift cards for your business, choose a gift card system that allows you to upload custom images for digital and physical gift cards.
  • Advertise Your Gift Cards: Make sure your customers know you offer gift cards and how to buy them. You can advertise your gift cards through social media posts, email marketing, in-store signage, and more.
  • Combine With Promotions: Some promotional ideas involving gift cards include selling gift cards at a discount ahead of the holidays or offering free gift cards as a loyalty benefit for your top-spending customers.
  • Offer Multiple Gift Card Options: Some customers prefer digital gift cards, while others prefer physical gift cards. To maximize your gift card sales, offer both options. Customers should also ideally have multiple gift card redemption options (in-store, online, social media, etc.).
  • Optimize Your Website: Your business website should be a channel where customers can both purchase and redeem gift cards. Make sure it’s easy to buy your gift cards online and offer a good array of products customers can purchase there.

The more you promote your gift cards and the easier you make it for customers to purchase and redeem them, the more gift cards your small business will sell.

FAQs: How To Start A Gift Card System For Small Business In 2024

How do I create a digital gift card for my small business?

To create a digital gift card for your business, choose a POS software that offers eGift card sales features. Then, when customers pay for a digital gift card, they’ll get a gift card code sent to their phone or email address.

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Nicolette Kier

Nicolette Kier

Expert Contributor
Nicolette began writing on small business topics in 2020. After hundreds of hours researching, testing, and assisting small business owners with web building and point of sale software, she is now an expert on all things eCommerce and point of sale. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Pittsburgh and resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Nicolette Kier
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