Selling gift vouchers online

Your gift voucher shop lets anyone buy a voucher for your salon online, any time: they choose an amount, add a message, pay by card through Stripe, and the voucher is emailed straight away or on a birthday they pick. Each voucher sold online lands in your gift vouchers like one sold at the desk.

#What you need before selling gift vouchers online

• Stripe connected, so you can take card payments (setting up card payments with Stripe). Until it is, Settings → Online booking says so, with Set up payments for anyone who may connect Stripe.
• Email, which FullColumn sends for you, to deliver the voucher.

Sell gift vouchers online stays greyed out until both are ready.

#Turning on your gift voucher shop

1. Open Settings → Online booking and find Gift vouchers online.
2. Turn on Sell gift vouchers online.
3. Set your amounts, how long vouchers last and any terms (below).
4. Press Save changes.

Your shop is at book.fullcolumn.com/your-salon/gift: Copy and Open are beside it. Your booking page shows "Looking for a present? Buy a gift voucher" on its first step. Share the shop link on your website and socials too, especially before Christmas and Mother's Day.

#Choosing gift voucher amounts

• Amounts to offer: type the amounts buyers can pick, separated by commas, such as "50, 100, 150, 200" (to start with). Each must be between $5 and $5,000, and up to 8 show as buttons, smallest first.
• Let buyers choose their own amount (on to start with): adds an Other button, where buyers type any amount between your Smallest ($25 to start with) and Largest ($1,000 to start with). Both must be between $5 and $5,000.

You need at least one amount, or to let buyers choose their own.

#Choosing how long gift vouchers last

Valid for sets how long a voucher lasts from the day it's bought: 3, 4 or 5 years (3 to start with), or Never expires. In Australia, gift vouchers must last at least 3 years, so shorter choices aren't offered. Salons elsewhere can also choose 1 or 2 years.

The expiry date is printed on the voucher ("Valid until…"), or "No expiry date".

Vouchers sold at checkout and issued by hand start with this Valid for too, and you can change each one's date (gift voucher expiry dates).

#Adding terms to your gift vouchers

Terms (optional) are printed on the voucher and in its emails, such as "Can be used for any service or product. Not redeemable for cash." They also show to buyers before they pay.

#What buyers see in your gift voucher shop

Your shop shows your logo and name, then Give a gift voucher: "Sent by email, ready to print or forward.", with "Use it for any service or product." when you haven't written Terms of your own. A preview of the voucher fills in as they go.

1. Amount: one of your amounts, or Other for their own.
2. Who's it for?:
   • Email it to them: the recipient's name and email, and When should it arrive? (today, or a birthday or special day up to a year ahead).
   • Send it to me to give: the voucher comes to the buyer to print or forward; the recipient's name is optional.
3. Message (optional): up to 400 characters, printed on the voucher.
4. Your details: the buyer's name and email, "For your receipt and a copy of the voucher".
5. Pay, by card on Stripe's secure page.

After paying they see "Thank you!" and where the voucher's going, with See the voucher. If they leave the payment page without paying, nothing is charged and they can try again.

#How gift vouchers bought online are delivered

• The buyer gets an email receipt with the voucher's code and a link to it. When it's theirs to give, the email is ready to print or forward.
• The recipient, when it's emailed to them, gets "a gift voucher for" your salon from the buyer, with their message, the code and "Just mention your voucher code when you book or pay." A voucher for a chosen day goes from 8am on that day, your time.
• The voucher's own page shows the voucher with its amount, who it's for and from, the message, its code with a QR code, and the expiry. It has Print and Book now, and later shows what's left to spend, or that it's been used, has expired or was cancelled.

Your clients bring the code in, or quote it when they book. Vouchers are spent at checkout, not on the booking page (gift vouchers).

#Finding gift vouchers sold online

Vouchers bought online are in Sales → Gift vouchers, marked Online, with a card sale through Stripe in your sales. If the buyer's email belongs to a client on your list (and the name fits), the sale goes on their client card; otherwise no new client is added. Opening a voucher shows who bought it and where it's going: "Will be emailed to" the recipient on the chosen day, "Emailed to" them on the day it went, or "Sent to the buyer to pass on".

If a voucher email went astray, or the address was typed wrongly:

1. Open the voucher in Sales → Gift vouchers.
2. Press Email buyer again, Email recipient again or Email it to the recipient.
3. Correct the email address if you need to, and press Send.

Emailing a voucher again needs the permission Issue, edit and void gift vouchers. Owners have every permission. To hear about each voucher sold online, turn on Gift vouchers bought online in your team alerts.

#Who can set up your gift voucher shop

The shop's settings are in Settings → Online booking, which needs the permission Change salon settings (hours, online booking, messages, branding). Connecting Stripe needs Connect Stripe and SMS, and change payment settings. Owners have every permission.

#Common questions

#Can a client use a gift voucher to book online?

Not on the booking page. They quote or show the code, and your team takes it off the bill at checkout.

#A buyer typed the recipient's email wrongly. What do I do?

Open the voucher in Sales → Gift vouchers, press Email recipient again, correct the address and send it.

#Can buyers choose when the voucher is emailed?

Yes, when it's emailed to the recipient: any day from today up to a year ahead. It's sent from 8am on that day. A voucher sent to the buyer goes straight away.

#Is tax charged on a gift voucher sold online?

No tax is added when a voucher is sold. Tax is worked out when the voucher is spent on services or products at checkout.

#Do vouchers bought online expire?

They last as long as Valid for said on the day they were bought. Changing it later doesn't change vouchers already sold.

#Can clients see vouchers they've bought?

Yes. In the client area, Gift vouchers you bought lists them when they've signed in with the email they bought with. The buyer's receipt email also links to each voucher.