Why Gift Cards Belong in Your Black Friday Strategy

Gift cards and vouchers are perfectly positioned to meet Black Friday demand.

Buyer intent is high, as Christmas shoppers are actively seeking convenient, memorable gift experiences that they can secure early.

Whether you offer curated experience bundles or exclusive vouchers for premium products, customers enjoy the thrill of securing a great deal now, while your business benefits from immediate prepaid revenue.

Redemption takes place later, giving you greater flexibility to manage capacity, stock, and staffing throughout your busiest period.

Supported by a modern gift card system, the customer journey is seamless from purchase to redemption, across both online and in-venue channels.

1. Prepaid High-Profit Revenue

Selling gift cards and vouchers for your high-margin products and services drives immediate cashflow, as customers pay upfront, while 15-20% of gift cards on average go unredeemed, maximising profitability.

2. New Customer Acquisition at Minimal Cost

Gift cards increase brand visibility and introduce new customers to your business through gifting, without additional marketing spend. Gift card recipients are also more likely to purchase your gift cards for their friends and family, virally growing your customer base.

3. Higher Lifetime Value

Gift card recipients often spend more than the value of their gift card at redemption, and are more likely to return to your business.

4. Stronger Customer Retention

Gift cards strengthen retention, especially when paired with exclusive cardholder perks, discounts, or offers. Physical gift cards can also be reloaded instantly, encouraging repeat purchases and ongoing engagement beyond Black Friday weekend.

Launching a successful Black Friday campaign doesn’t have to be complex. Modern gift card software allows businesses to launch, manage, and optimise gift card campaigns seamlessly, without operational friction.

1. Launch Quickly

Automated gift card software lets you create compelling Black Friday offers and schedule seamlessly branded auto-promotions in minutes.

2. Streamline Operations

You can manage gift card sales, redemptions, and balance tracking in one place, simplifying workflows, eliminating errors and ensuring seamless customer experiences.

3. Optimise in Real-Time

Built-in analytics allow you to track sales performance and adjust the pricing, bundles, scarcity tactics, and messaging of your voucher offers in real-time to maximise sales.

4. Sell Everywhere

A gift card platform that integrates with your POS system allows you to sell gift cards online, in-store, and across multiple locations easily, from one unified system.

High-Impact Tactics for Black Friday Gift Card Sales

Black Friday thrives on urgency and value. With the right gift card platform, you can use built-in sales tools to maximise your gift card campaigns:

• Countdown timers: Create excitement with ticking clocks that remind shoppers your deal won’t last forever.
• Limited or capped offers: Show “Only 10 remaining!” to increase demand and prevent over-selling.
• Added value bundles: Offer extra incentive, like “Spend £100, get £120.”
• Experience packages: Go beyond products; offer dining, services, or bundled experiences to encourage meaningful gifting purchases.

These tactics make your promotions feel exclusive, engaging, and worth acting on quickly.

Seamless POS Integration for Long-term Growth

To make the most of your Black Friday gift card campaign, smooth experiences are crucial – for you and your customers.

With smart POS integration inbuilt into your chosen gift card software, your businesses can:

• Sell at the till: Issue and reload physical gift cards and vouchers directly through your POS system.
• Redeem at the till: Redeem quickly and easily at the POS, with balances updated in real time.
• Sell online: Offer vouchers through your website and social channels to capture sales 24/7.

This gives customers choice – buy online or in person – and ensures businesses don’t miss revenue opportunities, no matter where customers are shopping.

Black Friday shoppers are already looking for deals. By planning ahead, you can:

• Identify, create, and schedule irresistible, ready-to-go offers that maximise conversions.
• Tease upcoming offers across email, social media, and in-store channels to build anticipation and whet your customers’ appetite.
• Capture attention early and stand out from competitors before promotional channels become overcrowded.

Head to our Black Friday Hub for a complete guide to seamlessly integrated, powerful Black Friday gift campaigns.

Whether you manage a hospitality group or retail chain, or operate a boutique hotel, restaurant, café, spa, or salon, gift cards and vouchers can give you a tangible competitive edge this Black Friday weekend.

Combine the urgency of limited-time deals with long-term customer loyalty, repeat visits, and higher overall spend.

With VoucherCart, setting up your offers is quick – and buying them is even quicker for your customers.

This year, don’t just discount. Sell smarter. Make gift cards and vouchers a core part of your Black Friday strategy, and turn seasonal shoppers into year-round customers.