Gift voucher template or selling online: which do you need?
Gift voucher template in Word: what to put on it, how to track vouchers in Excel and when it pays to sell gift vouchers online instead. A guide for owners.
Need gift vouchers this week and looking for a Word template? You can sort it out in an afternoon. Here is what every printed voucher needs, a simple Excel log and an honest look at when a template is enough and when selling vouchers online pays off.
Using a gift voucher template: what to put on it
Whatever template you use, the voucher must include:
- a unique voucher number you can look it up by,
- the value in euros or a specific service, such as a 60 minute massage,
- your business name, address and phone number,
- the date of issue,
- how to redeem it and how to book,
- one line of terms, for example that it cannot be exchanged for cash.
Salons and massage studios should consider one more thing. A voucher for a service binds you even after a price rise. If you raise the price of a massage in six months, the voucher still covers the full massage. A voucher for a value, say €50, avoids this, and the recipient gets to choose.
Tracking: five columns in Excel
Log every voucher you sell. Five columns are enough: number, date sold, value, who it was for, and when it was redeemed with the remaining balance. A row might look like this: 0001 · 12 Dec · €50 · Jana K. · redeemed 10 Jan, €20 left.
At redemption, look up the number, add the date and, for partial use, the balance. Without this sheet, by March you will not know how many vouchers are still out there or how many services you have already sold in advance.
Four things a template cannot do
Prove it is genuine. A number on paper can be copied or altered. At the counter you cannot check that the voucher really came from you.
Partial redemption. If a customer spends €30 of €50, you have to note the balance somewhere and hope the note does not get lost.
Sell while you are closed. A printed voucher only sells when someone is behind the counter. Whoever remembers the gift at ten at night will not buy it from you.
Overview. Excel will not show you at a glance how much you sold, how much was redeemed and how much is outstanding, unless you update it faithfully every day.
When a template is enough and when to sell online
A few vouchers a year? A template and a spreadsheet are plenty. If you expect dozens over Christmas or want to sell through your website, a system that tracks them for you is worth it.
Rewardly gives you your own voucher shop with your logo and colours, which you can also embed on your website. Payments go to your own Stripe account and Rewardly takes no commission on voucher sales. Buyers can send a voucher as a gift with the recipient's name and a personal message. It arrives by email straight away and can be saved to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. Each voucher has its own number code and QR code, which you scan at the counter in the Rewardly app or through a connected POS. Customers can spend the credit all at once or bit by bit, and the balance updates instantly.
Prefer paper under the tree? Print the voucher or save it as a PDF, and its QR code adds it to a phone. Your overview shows sold, redeemed and outstanding vouchers. Vouchers are part of the Professional plan; see the Rewardly pricing page.
For a normal day at the counter, read how digital vouchers work in your business. Getting ready for Christmas? See our six week plan for Christmas gift vouchers.
Start selling vouchers online for €0
You can start with no upfront payment.
