 Hi, I'm Darlene from GoDaddy's How To. And I'm Emma from The Journey, and we wanna talk about why you should create gift cards that can be purchased from your site. A gift card can be the secret weapon for your business. Whether it's during this difficult time or throughout the rest of the year, gift cards are one of the most popular gift options available. Yeah, you can take your gift card offering to the next level by providing your customers with a way to purchase through your website online. So let's talk about why every small business needs a gift card. They are the ultimate driver of customer loyalty. When someone purchases a gift card, they're either guaranteed they'll be back or they care enough about your brand to share that passion with their friends or family. That's huge. Contactless payment is highly encouraged during a health crisis, right? And so make sure you let your guests know that they'll be able to pay virtually when advertising your gift cards. It's often not considered a perk, but reducing human interaction as much as possible is so important right now. With an eGift card program and especially with the reloadable eGift card, you have the opportunity to connect with gift givers and receivers in a whole new way with multiple touch points. Recipients may visit your website to activate the gift card, check the balance, reload the card, see what's on sale, check store hours, and so forth. If the card is also tied to a loyalty program, then you can reward customers with each visit, purchase and reload. Rewards tailored to customer buying habits lead to repeat business and brand fan. Yeah, so how to choose the gift program that's right for you. There's a wide range of web-based gift card apps that allow you to sell eGift cards online, including on social media and your company website. However, most eGift card companies that sell eGift cards may charge a small monthly fee or charge a percentage-based fee for each gift card sold. Yeah, if you're evaluating different systems to offer gift cards, you might consider switching to one of the top SMB POS systems as they are all great overall point of sale systems in addition to their gift card functionality. Shopify, Square, Toast, and Clover are some examples of eGift card companies or apps for small businesses. If you have websites plus marketing, you can add gift cards to your site like this. We're gonna start on your websites plus marketing dashboard. Click Edit Site to begin editing your website. Add a section and then look for gift card. In the gift card menu, select Gift Card Settings. In a separate tab or window, find your preferred eGift card provider account and copy your digital gift card URL. Back in your websites plus marketing site, paste the URL that you copied into the gift card URL field. Edit the rest of your section settings and remember to publish your site to make your changes visible. Here are some crucial things to think about before you decide to implement a gift card program at your small business. Number one, can you accept gift cards using your current POS software and equipment? Two, if your POS doesn't accept gift cards, would you consider upgrading to one that does? And three, are you willing to pay a monthly fee to include gift card functionality? If so, how much? There are so many options for accepting gift cards at your business, but if you weigh all of the above considerations, you should be well on your way to figure out what kind of gift card program you need. So how do you incentivize gift card sales? Well, to get started selling your gift cards online, it's important to grab your customer's attention on your business's website. They should know that you offer gift cards early in their visit. There are many ways to do this. You can place the banner on your website pages, create a separate page for your website navigation or use pop-ups. Yeah, your website is the place where your customers can purchase your gift card. However, you should also use other resources online to push your gift card option. Social media is another great way to advertise any and all promos. So if you've just launched a buy one, get one free gift card promotion, post it on your social media channels. Social media is also a place where you can be transparent with your customer base, especially during a health crisis. People are searching for ways to help support the industry. If you can use your social channels to convey how important every last gift card and dollar spent with your business is, your customers will hear you, appreciate you and hopefully help you out. When the doors to your brick and mortar business suddenly close, it can be a scary and unnerving time. Hopefully with these tips, you found ways to spark customer engagement and generate revenue during a difficult time. Stay safe. Stay healthy.