Dads, grads, and gift cards

Gift cards are often a go-to solution for challenging gift-giving situations. They can be the perfect choice for tough-to-shop-for fathers and new graduates who often prefer cash.

This graduation season and Father’s Day, offer an excellent opportunity to revitalize your gift card program–and find new ways to market them more effectively.

For some inspiration, read about seven Clover merchants who leveraged gift cards to elevate their sales and enhance brand recognition for their businesses.

WoW Day Spa/Picayune Microblading

This two-in-one business, owned by Scott and Pepper Poe, is the Gulf Region’s premiere salon and spa for permanent make-up and microblading. Before Clover, the Poes’ business couldn’t afford high-value gift cards that looked professional enough to reflect the dollar amount. Through Clover, they now offer both physical and digital gift cards.

“The branded gift cards have our salon name and logo on them, and they look extraordinarily professional,” shares Scott. “For a small business, it’s a very nice boost to your revenue.”

Walrus Ice Cream

This 35 year-old local staple of the Old Town Fort Collins, CO, has relied on gift card sales for years, offering what they call “Walrus Bucks” in the store. To expand the reach of gift cards, Lisa Paugh, owner of Walrus Ice Cream, introduced digital gift cards via Clover, which she considers “the best decision.”

“I’ve noticed that they’re really handy when a family member from a different state wants to buy a birthday or graduation present for a kid or grandkid, and they can’t come to Colorado to buy Walrus Bucks,” explains Paugh. “They can order that gift card online and it goes straight to whomever they’re buying it for, and it’s extremely convenient.”

When asked why she considers Clover’s digital gift cards the best decision, Paugh replies,”Because I’ll come in and have sales, and I won’t have done anything. That’s the part that I like the most.”

Barocco X Nino

Bruno Colozza, owner of Toronto’s Barocco X Nino, didn’t want setting up a gift card program to be just another hassle to navigate as he was opening the café and roastery.

“When it was time to come up with a gift card, it was nice to use a service already integrated with our POS,” says Colozza. “The more you can run things that work well together, the less headaches you have because running small businesses tends to be very hands-on, and you don’t want to waste too much time on technical stuff.”

Blushbaby Lash and Makeup Studio

For the owner of Blushbaby Lash and Makeup Studio, Khadija DeShong, prioritizing the customer experience is key. She finds that beyond accepting all major payment types, her clientele most appreciates the paperless and contactless experience Clover offers.

“When I first got Clover, they were like, ‘Oh my god, this is great.’ They love getting both their receipts and promotional offers through text or email,” Khadija mentions. “They also love how easy it is to buy digital gift cards during the holidays and come in to use them by showing their phones.”

Mountain Medicine Integrative Wellness Center

For many businesses, networking and doing business at offsite events can help reach new customers. Even for services-based businesses without retail product offerings, like Mountain Medicine Integrative Wellness Center, selling gift cards on the road at events is a perfect way to entice people into the clinic.

“At a recent event, we brought the Clover Mini with us to sell gift cards. It worked out pretty well,” says owner, Bret Wojciak.

For dads in the Flagstaff, AZ, area that have it all, a gift card for a massage, acupuncture, or chiropractic services could make a great Father’s Day gift.

Elite Practitioner

Another services business in the health and wellness sector, Elite Practitioner, has also found success using gift cards to attract new clients. Emem T. Obot, owner of the aesthetics business based in downtown Chicago, appreciates that Clover allows her to apply those gift cards to a client’s EMR, or Electronic Medical Record.

“When I first opened, I offered a $50 gift card to be used towards any future services,” explains Obot. “I can use the Virtual Terminal to charge the digital gift cards and add the credit onto their EMR.”

London Beauty

Kathleen London first chose Clover to manage her boutique’s payment processing for its competitive swipe fees. Once the system was implemented in her operations, however, she saw great potential for managing her business, London Beauty.

“With the back office element of Clover, you literally can do everything you need to do with that software,” London stresses.

London loves all the built-in apps with free pricing tiers—gift cards included! Her customers have responded favorably, too.

“Yeah, people like it. We tried it on a lark, and we kept it because it’s super simple, everybody likes it,” says London.

To learn how other merchants use Clover solutions to run their business, read more merchant stories here.

Editorial Team

Gift cards, Meet the Merchant

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