Every December, someone wants to give a day on the water, a weekend on bikes, or a sauna raft for the evening. They can’t book it for the other person, because they don’t know when that person is free. So they buy something else.
A gift card fixes that. The buyer pays now, and the person who gets it books later, on a date that suits them.
A gift card is a booking from someone who doesn’t know the date yet.
That’s why gift cards suit a rental business better than most shops. Here’s how to sell them on TWICE Commerce, the quick workaround if you’re in a hurry, and the part that catches people out.
Why gift cards fit rentals so well
A rental is an experience, and experiences are what people give when they don’t want to give more stuff. But an experience has a date, and the giver rarely knows it.
The gift card moves the date decision to the person who will actually use it. You get the money in November or December. They book in spring or summer, when the weather is right for them.
Gift cards sell best in November and December. A rental business without them is invisible in the busiest gift-buying weeks of the year.
Does TWICE Commerce have gift cards?
Not as a built-in feature. There is no gift card type with a balance in TWICE Commerce.
What it does have is discount codes: a fixed amount, a usage limit, validity dates, and rules for what the code can be used on. You can build a basic gift card out of those.
The quick workaround: one code per card
- Create a sales listing called Gift card with prices like 25, 50 and 100 €. Add no stock rule: it’s not a physical item, so nothing should be reserved.
- When someone buys one, create a discount code by hand: Fixed, the card’s value, Usage limit 1, and the validity you want.
- Email the code to the buyer.
It works for a handful of sales. If you sell five gift cards a season, this may be all you need.
Where it falls short
The leftover money disappears. A discount code can never take an order below zero. If someone uses a 50 € code on a 32 € rental, the code is spent and the other 18 € is gone. You can make the code reusable, but then it stops being worth 50 € in total, and nothing tracks what’s left.
Every sale is manual. Someone has to create the code, send it, and remember it. The week before Christmas is when you have the least time.
There’s no balance to check. The customer can’t see what’s left, and neither can you, except from a spreadsheet you keep yourself.
A gift card that keeps its balance
This is the version we built: a gift card that still works as a code in TWICE Commerce, but keeps its own balance.
- The customer buys the card in your store. Once it’s paid, the code holds the card’s value.
- They use 6 € today and 44 € next month. The same code keeps working until the balance is zero.
- After each use they get an email with what’s left, and they can check the balance on a page of its own.
- It works in the web store and for orders you take in the shop through the admin.
- If the code is taken off an order, or the order is removed, the money goes back on the card.
Printed cards with a QR code and a unique code are optional — handy if you sell gift cards at your counter.
You can try it yourself on a real TWICE Commerce test store from the gift cards page.
The part that trips everyone up: it’s not a payment
In TWICE Commerce, using a gift card shows on the order as a discount, not as a separate payment method. That’s how both versions work: the workaround and ours.
That matters for your bookkeeping. The money arrived when the card was sold. When the card is used, the order looks discounted, not paid with a gift card. Your accountant needs to know which gift card sales match which redemptions.
VAT adds one more question. In the EU, a gift card that can only buy things at one VAT rate is usually taxed when it’s sold. One that can buy things at several rates — rentals and sales of goods, say — is usually taxed when it’s used. Which one yours is depends on what you let it buy.
Decide what the gift card can buy before you sell the first one — it decides how you book it.
Ask your accountant once, before Christmas, not after.
What to decide before you start
- Values. Three is plenty: 25, 50 and 100 € cover most gifts.
- Validity. How long the card works. Pick something clear and print it on the card.
- What it can buy. Rentals only, or rentals and products? This is also the VAT question above.
- Printed or digital. Digital is enough for most. Printed cards with a QR code suit a counter or a partner shop.
- Your staff. Show them how to take a gift card on a shop order before the first customer brings one in.
- Visibility. Put it on your front page in November. A gift card nobody sees doesn’t sell.
Common mistakes
Starting in December. Setting up gift cards properly takes one to two weeks. If you want them for Christmas, start in November.
One-time codes for big values. With the workaround, a large card used on a small rental loses the rest. Fine for a 25 € card, painful for a 200 € one.
Not telling the accountant. Gift cards look like discounts in the order data. Without a note, the numbers won’t match at year end.
A few common questions
Does TWICE Commerce have gift cards? Not built in. You can use discount codes as one-time gift cards, or add gift cards with a real balance as a custom solution.
Can a gift card be used for a rental? Yes. It’s a code in TWICE Commerce, so it works on anything the code is allowed for, rentals included.
What happens if the customer uses only part of it? With a plain discount code, the rest is lost. With a gift card that keeps a balance, the rest stays on the card for next time.
Do gift cards expire? You decide. Set a validity period that’s long enough for someone to wait for summer.
How fast can it be ready for Christmas? The workaround takes an afternoon. A gift card with a balance usually takes one to two weeks.
The One-Sentence Summary
If you remember one line:
A gift card lets someone give a rental without knowing the date — TWICE Commerce can do a basic version with discount codes, but only a card that keeps its balance stops the leftover money from disappearing.
We set up gift cards with a real balance on TWICE Commerce stores, with printed QR cards if you want them. Try the demo and see if it fits your store.