So you want to sell gift vouchers on your website? Maybe elsewhere too. Here we’ll discuss some top tips and give you the tools to get you off to a great start.

There are many reasons why gift vouchers are a great way to generate revenue for your business. They represent the most profitable item any business can sell for a couple of key reasons. Because some 15% of gift voucher sold are never redeemed. Secondly, your business gets paid up-front for something you have not yet provided or shipped to the customer.

That’s right! Payment in full and in advance for something you actually only ever provide 85% of the time on average. So…It’s time to sell gift vouchers on your website.

1. Use an automated voucher sales tool like VoucherCart.

I work for this company so needless to say I’m going to plug our software, but the truth is…it just works, and I’ve worked with a range of new sign-ups from restaurants and hotels to off-road driving schools where we’ve seem massive growth in sales. Not 10-20%, but figures in the hundreds, and yes, even thousands where our client has no real voucher sales strategy to speak of when we start working with them.  Right now one of my clients recorded sales in 1 month which exceeded sales for the whole year in 2014, so when I say I’m a BIG fan of this system, that’s because I’ve seen the results first hand and I love delivering results and seeing our clients as excited as we are.

VoucherCart turbo-charges sales by making them viral. It’s all about automation too, so geared towards setting up your gift vouchers once and you’re done. It’s a monthly subscription service ($40/month or £25 in the UK – so pretty cheap + 6% or 3% on sales) which allows you create, promote and sell gift vouchers for anything you like for your business through your website, social media accounts and email. It’s low cost, very easy to use and offers great support if you ever need it. It’s nothing like Groupon or Living Social etc. It’s a system you use to sell your own gift vouchers in whatever way you want through your own channels so your business gets the benefit. I’ve seen just about every voucher sales system on the market and can safely say VoucherCart sits apart as the clear leader. It’s just very powerful, and very flexible. Great technology, a solid team of talented programmers and developers and good support. OK, enough of the sales pitch..

2. Link to your voucher sales page from the main navigation area of your website.

Website users expect to see what they are looking for without having to dig around in drop-down menus, or sub-navigation on lesser traffic pages. Make sure that all those elements of your site which allow the user to purchase anything or otherwise make payment for products and/or services are clearly visible at all times, and as the most profitable commodity your business can sell this includes your gift voucher sales at the top of the list.

Make it easy for your website users by adding a top-of-page or main navigation link direct to your gift voucher sales page. Right next to the Contact Us main navigation link is as good a place as any. Add it to your website footer and make sure it’s in your sitemap as well.

3. Offer seasonal gift vouchers

Your buyers will expect to see relevant gift vouchers for sale. Big sales windows are Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Easter and Summer, so make sure you tailor your gift vouchers to be relevant to the time of year. Systems like VoucherCart make this easy because you can set up each gift voucher to display on your website and be auto-posted to your Facebook and Twitter Accounts using the Promotion Engine’s calendar. This allows you to create all your gift vouchers if you wish for the whole year and set the dates they should be visible for sale and promoted on your website, Facebook, Twitter and Email. Just set it up in advance so it’s your promotions are all pre-scheduled and fully automated and it all just runs on it’s own hands-free:)

4. Ensure your gift vouchers offer some additional perceived benefit or extra to the buyer

Add in some little extra (which is something you can cost-in to the overall gift voucher price) like a free bottle of Champagne, rose petals in the room, chocolates etc.) Remember, benefit to the buyer is all about perception. What the buyer perceives as a benefit and what may indeed represent a real, tangible benefit for them does not have to be at an additional cost to your business. It can be something you provide easily and at little or no extra cost to your business.

5. Tweet your vouchers at appropriate times to maximise revenue potential

Use VoucherCart to set-up each gift voucher in advance to display on your website and be auto-posted to your Facebook and Twitter Accounts using the Promotion Engine’s calendar at the appropriate times for each type of Gift Voucher.

Take a Valentine’s Day Romantic Meal for 2 Gift Voucher as an example. Create the voucher quickly in VoucherCart and set it to appear on your website from 1st to 13th February. Then in the Promotion Scheduler, set it to be posted to Facebook and Twitter every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday between those dates. Voila – You’re done! You’re voucher will be promoted through all your media at the optimum times to generate most sales. It will appear and disappear for sale at the right times and you can even set the same schedule to repeat each year. Fully automated! Fully hands-free!

Once you’re done creating all your gift vouchers and scheduling their promotion, you can sit back and let the system do everything. Just get paid.

6. Post your gift voucher links on Facebook

As above, either promote your vouchers by auto-schedule or manually. Just remember to do it, or better use VoucherCart to set-it and forget it for all your gift vouchers. Job Done!

7. Make your vouchers time sensitive

This does not apply to all gift vouchers. It’s rarely a good strategy to discount everything, but it’s great for when you are creating packages/deals or special offers. The perception in the mind of the buyer is that availability is limited (and well…if you set a count-down timer on your gift voucher offers then they are) so this helps drive sales. Get smart with this strategy and post to your social media and notify your existing customers by email that the offers are time-limited so they get in and grab their deal fast. Done well, this works fantastically and gets great sales results.

8. Add loyalty to your vouchers

Get smart with loyalty on your vouchers. VoucherCart offers the option to add loyalty to your gift vouchers so that when a buyer buys a voucher for a friend or family member, they (the buyer) get a loyalty tick (point) and the voucher recipient gets the same. This works like magic with viral effect because not only is the buyer incentivised to come back and get a reduction on future gift voucher purchases for other friends or family members, but the person they bought the voucher for is likely to do the same, for their friends/family, and so on…and so on…ad infinitum. Gift vouchers with loyalty is a killer combination for sales growth.

This really comes into it’s own when you’re offering some great deal or promotional offer. Buy a voucher for $50 and get $100 value, 30% reduction on all meals for two or more people. You get the idea. Good news in the world of deals travels FAST, and with viral promotion and loyalty you can get big sales traction and quickly. Just be careful you don’t over-sell! Run these big discount promotions carefully and in a structured way for example with a limited sales window or usage window. Not a bad problem to have however.

9. Send Notifications of new vouchers via email to your customers

Tell your customers about new products and services by sending them notifications of your new gift vouchers available for those same products/services. Again the timing here is key, so keep it seasonally relevant and mix them in with your other newsletter emails so your customers don’t get overwhelmed.

10. Use gift vouchers to monetize your standard services and products

Many businesses can sell their products/services as Gift Vouchers, and if your business is one of those, then take advantage of it. Take a step back and look at everything you sell. Ask yourself, “Can we sell that as a Gift Voucher?” or get creative and think which of the services you offer go well together when packaged as a set to form an experience for the buyer eg.  “Can we package a meal for 2 with an overnight stay in one of our luxury lodges?”. Yes? Great, so do it!

These are just some of the tips we’ve seen over the years from successful businesses making huge revenues from Gift Voucher Sales. You’ll be surprised how easy this is to implement and with great new systems on the market like VoucherCart it’s easier than ever.