Gift Card Management

Issue, track, and manage gift cards for your jewelry store.

Accessing Gift Cards

Navigate to Gift Cards > Gift Cards.

Creating a Gift Card

• Code — Unique gift card code (auto-generated if blank, format: GC-YYYYMMDD-XXXXXXXX)
• Initial Amount — Face value of the gift card
• Current Balance — Remaining balance (auto-set to initial amount)
• Status — Active (default), Used, Expired, Cancelled
• Purchaser Customer — Who bought the gift card
• Recipient Customer — Who receives/uses the gift card
• Sale — Linked to the original purchase sale
• Issued By — Staff member who created the card
• Activated At — Auto-set to creation time
• Expires At — Optional expiration date
• Metadata — Additional data (JSON)

Gift Card Statuses

Gift Card Lifecycle

Created (Active, full balance)
    ↓
Partial Redemption (Active, reduced balance)
    ↓
Full Redemption (Used, zero balance)
    or
Expired (if expiry date passes)
    or
Cancelled (manually by staff)

Validation Rules

A gift card is valid (isValid()) when:

1. Status is "Active"
2. Current balance > 0
3. Not expired (no expires_at or expires_at is in the future)

Operations

Redeem

redeem(amount, sale, user, notes) — Deduct amount from balance during a sale:

• Validates the card is valid and has sufficient balance
• Reduces current_balance
• Changes status to "Used" if balance reaches zero
• Creates a GiftCardTransaction record (type: "redemption")

Refund

refund(amount, sale, user, notes) — Add amount back to the card:

• Increases current_balance
• Reactivates "Used" cards to "Active" if balance > 0
• Creates a GiftCardTransaction record (type: "refund")

Cancel

cancel(user, notes) — Cancel the gift card:

• Sets status to "Cancelled"
• Creates an adjustment transaction zeroing the balance

Expire

expire() — Mark as expired:

• Only works on "Active" cards
• Sets status to "Expired"
• Creates an expiration transaction

Dashboard Integration

The Gift Card Stats Widget shows:

• Active gift cards count
• Total outstanding balance
• Recently issued cards
• Cards expiring soon

Soft Deletes

Gift cards use soft deletes — they can be archived without losing historical data.

Best Practices

1. Set expiration dates — Encourage redemption with reasonable expiry periods
2. Track both purchaser and recipient — Important for customer relationship management
3. Monitor outstanding balance — Understand your liability
4. Review expiring cards — Notify recipients before expiration
5. Use unique codes — Auto-generation ensures uniqueness