I’m guessing you’ve clicked into this blog article because you know of the great potential ROI of having an eGift Card system setup on your website.
First thing to do when considering getting an eGift Card System is how do you want buyers to pay for the card:
- Option A. Do you want them to be able to buy the eGift Card directly online using a website online shop payment system?
- Option B. Or do you just want the buyer to be able to place their order, so you get notified so that you can then contact them, sort out payment over the phone (eg. direct bank transfer or taking credit card details over the phone the correct way by complying with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DDS) — read this article to find out more if you’re not familiar with this) and then send them a link to download the eGift Card or post it to them in the mail?
In most cases, Option B is cheaper and faster to setup. it is the best option if you are only expecting a handful of eGift Card orders per month (as in, less than 30).
Setting Up an eGift Card System – Method 1
You could use a 3rd party system like https://vouchercart.com/ . You’ll need to create an account, pay the license fees (for as long as you want to use it) and then setup and configure it.
Once you’ve fully set it up, you can then get your website designer/developer to promote it on your website and also create a link to it. Then start work on creative ways to draw attention to it and get as many potential customers to know about it. Even send it out to loyal customers perhaps. Reward them with an eGift Card maybe.
No matter which method you choose, I highly recommend reading about this software on their website… including this page. There are SOO many ways eGift Cards can be setup on your website and within your Business Marketing Action Plan. You could have year-round eGift Cards, seasonal only eGift Cards, eGift Cards rewards points systems, as an online shop checkout ‘upsell’ and soo much more!
Getting an eGift Card System Setup on your Website using WooCommerce – Method 2
If your website is using the WordPress.org website engine, then you could get your website developer to setup WooCommerce and then the WooCommerce Gift Card System. Speak with your website developer about the various ways this can be setup and if you want people to be able to purchase the eGift Card(s) from your website or just place an order.
Another WordPress Plugin you could try is called Gift Up.
The Cheap Option – Method 3
This option is the fastest and simplest method to setup, so is the cheapest. Just ask your website person do the following:
- Setup a simple but attractive pop-up on your site (including an opt-in form). Make sure the pop-up is non-intrusive to your site visitors but still gets their attention. There are many good way to do this – some are mentioned here.
- Also setup a dedicated webpage (including an opt-in form). Ask your website designer to set it up. Ensure it contains all your eGift Card options (assuming you have more than 1) and make sure it is an attractive webpage to look at, is mobile phone friendly and is enjoyable and interesting to read.
Make sure it is sharable on social media too and has Facebook OpenGraph Meta Tags setup as well — more info about them is here. You’re definitely going to want to share this webpage on your social media channels… and allow site visitors to be able to quickly share it on theirs too. - Anyone who then orders an eGift Card from your website becomes a lead for your business. You can get your website person (developer/ designer) to link the above mentioned opt-in forms to your List Management System (eg. MailChimp, Builderall, Clickfunnels, Convert Kit, Active Campaign or whichever lead generation/ lead management and online sales funnels system you use)
- Then when someone fills out the opt-in form), their name and email address are stored in your lead management software, you get a notification to your email. You can then use ‘option 2’ to process the order.
Summary
Each option has its advantages. Choosing the right method will really depend on how many sales you expect to do each month initially and how much each eGift Card purchase will be (assuming you provide eGift Card amount options).
Personally if I had a low traffic website (less than 300 unique visitors per month), I’d start with Method 3 and then focus on RAMPING UP my numbers of quality unique website visitors per month to over 10,000 using ‘online traffic driving strategies’ that require digital marketing, SEO and digital advertising expertise using platforms like Google, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Facebook Marketplace, Facebook Groups and probably LinkedIn and Pinterest.
Then as I increase the traffic to my website, my eGift Card sales will of course also increase. Once I’m getting heaps of orders each month I would definitely NOT want to keep processing them manually over the phone. I’d then upgrade the system to Method 1 or 2 and have it setup so the buyer can purchase the eGift Cards online, so it becomes a fully automated system and I won’t need to be involved in phoning people to organise payment anymore.
Just like anything online and in life, there is more than 1 way to do it. I personally choose methods that are cost-effective for the here-and-now, and then upgrade them to something more automated when the setup cost can be justified… where I am FULLY confident of gaining excellent Return On Investment by doing so.
To me business is all about:
- Strategy and strategic thinking
- Keeping your competitors guessing
- Pivoting, diversification and targeting
- Offering best value to those you serve (or sell to)
- Finding out what options are available when wanting to introduce a new system into your business (eg. eGift Cards)
- Testing (as in, market testing; testing a hypothesis to ensure a strategy is going to be worthwhile and effective — I do this by running my own experiments to get proof from the market I server or sell to)
- Working in stages and investing correctly at the right times.
These are just 2 methods to setup an eGift Card System on your website. There are others. If you know other good ones, please let us know in the below comments. Similarly, if you have additional ideas or feedback, I’m more than happy to read them.
Jay Daniells has been doing advanced Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) work for clients since 2010. He is an SEO specialist. He first started doing SEO work in 2005. He has also been creating websites full-time since 2003. Amongst things Jay is also a graphic designer, digital marketing consultant and creative person. His focus is helping businesses, community groups, clubs, charities, organisations and other entities achieve their goals. He is the owner of Green Valley Digital.
Thanks for sharing!
No worries :). Thanks 🙂
Hi is there any gift card app that integrates with wix? I have wix premium and am doing the sight myself. (First tine but in figuring it out ). They no longer have a wix gift card app, I’ve just learned.
Hi, thanks for your msg. Unfortunately, Wix is not a website platform we endorse, support or use. We have trialed it in the past but find it expensive, ineffective and problematic to gain good Search Engine Optimisation results with.