Gift Cards | Selling vs Issuing

Gift cards reach customers two ways — and confusing them causes most gift-card muddles.

Selling (the storefront product)

A gift card product is something customers buy like anything else: “Lumen & Oak Gift Card — £50”. Create it as a product of type Gift Card (see Products | Product Types); on payment, the card is generated and emailed to the recipient automatically. This is your December revenue.

Issuing (you, directly)

Gift Cards → Issue gift card creates a card from the dashboard without a sale:

1. Set the amount.

2. Add the recipient — email, name and a personal message — or skip it for a card you will hand over yourself.

3. Set an expiration date, or leave it empty for none.

4. Issue gift card. It is active immediately.

When to issue rather than sell

• Goodwill after a service failure (“so sorry — £25 on us”).

• Refunds you would rather keep as store credit.

• Competition prizes, influencer seeding, staff perks.

Tips

• Issued cards are real money — treat the Issue button like the till. Whoever has access should be deliberate.