What are gift cards?
With Bookura, your customers can buy digital gift cards directly through your booking page. They choose an amount, optionally add a personal message, and the recipient receives the gift card by email — ready to use for their next appointment. Learn how gift cards can boost your salon revenue.
How customers purchase a gift card
Customers follow these steps on your booking page:
- Select the gift card option
- Enter the desired amount (any value)
- Optionally add a personal message
- Choose delivery: directly to the recipient's email, or to themselves
- Complete payment via Mollie (iDEAL, card, PayPal, etc.)
Immediately after payment, the gift card is sent by email with a unique code in the format XXX-XXX-XXX-XXX.
How customers redeem a gift card
When booking an appointment online, customers can enter their gift card code at checkout. Bookura automatically handles three scenarios:
- Gift card covers full amount — No additional payment needed, the appointment is confirmed immediately
- Gift card covers partial amount — The customer pays the remaining balance via Mollie
- Gift card has more value than the booking — Only the needed amount is deducted, the rest stays on the card
Gift card validity and balance
Gift cards are valid for 2 years from the purchase date. The remaining balance is tracked automatically and shown to customers when they enter their code. Each gift card also has a unique shareable link where the current balance can be viewed.
Gift card statuses
In your dashboard under Gift Cards, you can see all sold gift cards with their status:
- Pending — Created but awaiting payment
- Active — Paid and ready to use
- Depleted — Balance has been fully used
- Expired — The 2-year validity period has passed
- Cancelled — Payment failed or was cancelled
Automatic refunds on cancellation
When an appointment paid with a gift card is cancelled, the balance is automatically restored to the gift card. If the card was fully depleted, it becomes active again. All transactions are logged for transparency.
Emails that are sent
Bookura sends automatic emails at these moments:
- After purchase — The buyer receives a confirmation with the gift card details
- Gift delivery — If a different recipient email was provided, they receive the gift card with the personal message
- After redemption — The booking confirmation shows that the gift card was used as payment
Requirements
To sell gift cards, you need to have Mollie connected to your Bookura account. Gift cards are sold via online payment and cannot be created manually.
Good to know
- Customers who buy a gift card are automatically added to your client list
- Gift cards can be combined with additional online payment in a single checkout
- You can view the complete transaction history of each gift card in your dashboard
Learn more
Read more about the gift cards feature and explore how they can help grow your business.