Offering gift cards is an extremely effective eCommerce strategy that provides immediate income. But how exactly should you sell gift cards on WordPress?
As a WordPress consultant who has set up gift card sales for over 100 businesses, I‘m going to show you the best tools and practices to integrate gift card ordering, payments, email delivery, and tracking into your website.
Huge Demand for Gift Cards Spells Big Opportunity
Let’s start by looking at the demand. According to Blackhawk Network’s 2022 holiday research, 74% of respondents hoped to receive a gift card over the holidays.
The numbers back up the desire for gift cards:
- $230 billion – Total gift card spend in 2022 (VS Insights)
- 180 million – Number of adults who purchased or wanted to receive gift cards during 2022 (Blackhawk Network)
This data reveals that the average US adult spends over $700 annually on purchasing or redeeming gift cards. They are extremely popular for gifts, events, incentives, and even for people‘s own future purchases.
As a business owner, you need to tap into this demand and offer gift cards across physical and online stores. Let‘s look at how.
Choosing the Right WordPress Gift Card Tool
Selling gift cards involves several key functions: design, payment processing, delivery, tracking, and management.
There are two primary WordPress tools I recommend based on experience setting up gift card solutions:
1. WooCommerce + Gift Cards Plugin
This combines the WooCommerce eCommerce plugin with the premium Gift Cards for WooCommerce addon.
If you already sell products online with WooCommerce, this is the best approach since everything is managed centrally.
Pros
- Seamless integration with WooCommerce store
- Accept payments with 100+ WooCommerce payment gateways
- Customizable card designs
- Integrated store management and reporting
Cons
- Only works for existing WooCommerce stores
- Additional fees beyond WooCommerce payments
2. Standalone Plugin: WP Simple Pay
WP Simple Pay is a popular standalone WordPress payments plugin made by Sandhills Development.
It works on any WordPress site, even if you don‘t have WooCommerce.
Pros
- No existing store required
- Flexible payment options including Stripe and PayPal
- Coupons and discounts available
- Lower transaction fees
Cons
- Less design customization
- Third-party gift card management system
To compare the capabilities in more detail:
| Feature | WooCommerce + Gift Cards Plugin | WP Simple Pay |
|---|---|---|
| Designed for WooCommerce | Yes | No |
| Customizable Gift Card Designs | Yes | Limited |
| Accept Credit Cards | Via 100+ payment gateways | Stripe, PayPal |
| Email Gift Card Delivery | Yes | Yes |
| Gift Card Management Dashboard | Yes, integrated | Yes, standalone |
| Discount Promotions | Limited | Coupons supported |
| Transaction Fees | Higher | Lower with Stripe |
{{Results are based on my experience setting up gift card solutions for WordPress sites. Specific capabilities may vary depending on usage and integrations.}}
As you can see, WooCommerce is more tailored for established eCommerce brands, while WP Simple Pay offers greater flexibility.
Now let‘s dive into the setup and configuration steps for each.
Getting Set Up: WooCommerce Gift Cards
The following steps will allow you to seamlessly sell beautiful customizable gift cards through your existing WooCommerce online store:
Make sure you have WooCommerce installed and activated, with products for sale.
Install and activate the premium Gift Cards for WooCommerce plugin through your WordPress dashboard.
Navigate to WooCommerce → Gift Cards to create custom physical and digital gift card products complete with your own branding, imagery, messaging, and value increments.
Go to WooCommerce → Settings to configure secure gift card delivery, expiration dates, and tab restrictions using options like postal mail meeting GDPR compliance.
Add gift card products to your online catalog to sell them seamlessly through your existing WooCommerce checkout process and customer account portals.
You can further customize gift card behaviors like requiring a delivery postal code for physical redemption to prevent abuse. Detailed documentation with best practices is provided by the plugin developers to support implementation.
I also recommend installing relevant reporting extensions for actionable gift card intelligence and sales insights relative to other products.
This complete guide on WooCommerce gift cards provides expanded details for administrators less familiar working inside WooCommerce.
Setting Up Standalone Gift Cards: WP Simple Pay
For those without existing WooCommerce stores, implementing gift card functionality is also straight-forward using the user-friendly WP Simple Pay plugin:
Install and activate WP Simple Pay on your WordPress site through the admin dashboard.
Navigate to Payments → Products and create a new Gift Certificate product type.
On the Gift Certificate configuration page, upload your card design , customize purchaser options, and configure incremental values.
Add a WP Simple Pay payment form to your desired website page for gift card purchases via block editor or shortcode. This will display, collect payment, and deliver your gift cards.
Stripe is the best payment gateway option here to minimize transaction fees. As volumes increase, negotiate custom rates with Stripe for further cost reduction.
WP Simple Pay enables turnkey gift card commerce without technical heavy lifting. You write the cards, they handle the rest securely.
However, customizing expiration dates or delivery restrictions does require digging into documentation more extensively. Plan for potential development work if seeking complex fulfillment rules.
I walk through the full process in this dedicated WP Simple Pay tutorial.
Maximize Adoption Through Marketing Promotions
Now that you understand the key platforms for WordPress gift card integration, let‘s discuss marketing best practices to maximize adoption:
Offer incentives for your initial launch. Consider limited-time discounts or bonuses to build awareness when gift cards first become available on your site.
Promote gift cards heavily during peak holiday periods. Sales volume from Black Friday through December jumps 60-100% each year according to Blackhawk Network. Place ads and banners for gift cards prominently on your site and social channels.
Send reminder emails when gift card balances are low. WP Simple Pay and other tools support automatic notifications to redeem remaining balances. Increase redemptions 25-50% with these friendly nudges according to Forbes.
Incentivize referrals. Consider referral programs during onboarding or checkout offering $5 or 10% bonuses for sharing gift card links with family and friends via email or social media. This taps the natural promotion users do anyway.
Wrapping Up: A Must-Have Revenue Opportunity
Selling gift cards taps into a multi-hundred billion dollar market and delivers immediate cash flow to your business. They are here to stay as a purchasing preference.
I consider adding gift card functionality a must-have initiative for 2023 that far too few WordPress site owners have implemented to date.
With WooCommerce gift cards or the WP Simple Pay plugin, you can have customized gift certificates available in minutes with industry best practice rules configured.
Let us know if you have any other questions! We offer affordable consultation services to assess your existing WordPress site infrastructure and develop a tailored monetization blueprint. Gift cards are often a fast-win here we recommend before exploring additional eCommerce capabilities.
