How to Offer Discounted Gift Cards in PhotoBiz

Overview

PhotoBiz allows you to offer discounted gift card promotions using your built-in ECommerce tools. This is a great way to run holiday specials, customer appreciation offers, or limited-time promotions where clients receive more gift card credit than they pay for.

To set up a discounted gift card promotion, you'll create an ECommerce Service with different gift card amounts, then apply a coupon code to discount the purchase price. After a customer completes their purchase, you'll manually generate and send a gift card for the full value they selected.

This guide walks you through creating the promotional service, configuring your discount, adding the offer to your website, and delivering the gift card.

Before You Begin

You'll need an active payment merchant connected to your PhotoBiz ECommerce account to accept online payments.

You'll also need Gift Cards enabled in your ECommerce settings so you can create and deliver gift cards after customers purchase your promotion.

If you haven't enabled Gift Cards, follow our How to Enable Gift Cards in PhotoBiz guide.

Important: This promotion uses an ECommerce Service rather than the standard Gift Cards Block. Gift cards purchased through this promotional service are not generated automatically. You'll create and deliver each gift card manually after the purchase.

STEP ONE

Open Your ECommerce Dashboard

This opens your ECommerce Dashboard, where you can manage services, coupons, gift cards, and online orders.

STEP TWO

Open Your ECommerce Services

At the top of your ECommerce Dashboard, hover over SELL ONLINE and click SERVICES from the dropdown menu.

This opens your ECommerce Services, where you can create your promotional gift card offer.

STEP THREE

Create Your Gift Card Service

Click NEW SERVICE to create your promotional offer.

Enter a service name such as Gift Card Special or Holiday Gift Card Promotion.

In the description, explain your promotion, include the coupon code customers should use, and let them know their gift card will be delivered separately after their purchase.

Set the Base Price to $0.00. You'll assign the actual gift card amounts using service options.

Set Sales Tax to NO. Sales tax should not be charged when customers purchase a gift card. Applicable sales tax is calculated when the gift card is redeemed toward taxable products or services.

Complete the remaining required service settings and save your new service.

STEP FOUR

Add a Gift Card Amount Option

Open your new service and click the OPTIONS tab.

Click ADD NEW OPTION to create an option that allows customers to select their gift card amount.

This option will contain the different gift card denominations you're offering.

STEP FIVE

Configure Your Gift Card Option

Click the pencil icon next to your new option to edit its settings.

Name the option Gift Card Amount so customers understand what they're selecting.

Set Display Price to NO. You'll define the individual prices using sub-options rather than the main option.

Click SAVE CHANGES to save your settings.

STEP SIX

Add Your Gift Card Amounts

Click NEW SUB-OPTION to add your first gift card denomination.

Under Sub-Option Name, enter the amount customers can purchase, such as $25 Gift Card.

In the Additional Price field, enter 25.00. This sets the regular price before the promotional coupon is applied.

Click CREATE SUB-OPTION to save your first denomination.

Repeat this process for every gift card amount you'd like to offer, such as $50, $75, $100, or $200.

Because your Base Price is $0.00, the Additional Price assigned to each sub-option determines the regular purchase price of that gift card.

STEP SEVEN

Create Your Gift Card Discount Coupon

Return to your ECommerce Dashboard, hover over PAYMENT, and click COUPONS from the dropdown menu.

Click NEW COUPON to create your promotion.

For a discount on one gift card purchase, select % Off Single Item for a percentage discount or $ Off Single Item for a fixed-dollar discount.

If your promotion requires multiple qualifying gift card purchases, PhotoBiz also provides % Off Group of Items and $ Off Group of Items coupons with additional quantity requirements.

Click CONTINUE to configure the coupon.

Enter your Discount Code, such as GIFT20, and the Discount Amount you want to offer.

Enter the Begin Date and Expiration Date for your promotion. You can also add a description and configure a maximum number of uses if needed.

For a percentage discount, enter the percentage as a whole number. For example, enter 20 for a 20% discount.

Click NEXT CHOOSE ITEMS to select the purchases eligible for the discount.

Choose Specific Items and select the Gift Card Special service you created earlier.

This ensures the coupon applies to the promotional gift card service rather than unrelated purchases.

Complete the coupon setup and click CREATE COUPON.

Your promotional coupon is now ready to use.

For additional coupon options, see How to Create a Coupon in PhotoBiz ECommerce

STEP EIGHT

Add Your Gift Card Promotion To Your Website

Click WEBSITE in the left-side menu to open your Website Builder.

Open the page where you want to promote your discounted gift cards.

Locate the Services Block in the right-side panel. Click it to add the block to the bottom of your page, or drag it to your preferred location.

Choose the Services Block layout you want to use and click SELECT.

In the block settings, choose the option to display individual services and select the Gift Card Special service you created.

Click SAVE CHANGES to apply your settings.

Your promotional gift card service will now appear on your website, allowing customers to select a gift card amount and complete their purchase.

For detailed instructions, see How to Add an ECommerce Services Block to Your PhotoBiz Website

FINAL STEP

Create and Send The Purchased Gift Card

After a customer completes their promotional purchase, you'll need to create their actual gift card.

Open ECOMMERCE, hover over SELL ONLINE, and click GIFT CARDS.

Click NEW GIFT CARD to open the gift card creation panel.

Enter the full redemption value of the gift card the customer purchased, not the discounted amount they paid.

For example, if a customer purchases a $100 gift card using a 20% discount, they pay $80. You should create their gift card for the full $100 value.

Enter a description for your internal reference and click ADD GIFT CARD.

Your new gift card will appear in your Gift Cards list with its unique gift card number.

Click RESEND, enter the customer's email address, and send the gift card. You can also copy the gift card number and share it manually.

Once delivered, your customer can use their gift card toward eligible purchases through your PhotoBiz account.

For complete instructions, see How to Create a Gift Card in PhotoBiz

Example: Offer 20% Off Gift Cards

Let's say you want to run a holiday promotion offering 20% off gift cards.

You create a promotional service with gift card denominations of $25, $50, $100, and $200, then create a coupon code called GIFT20.

Here's how the discount works:

Gift Card Value	Customer Pays	Customer Saves
$25	$20	$5
$50	$40	$10
$100	$80	$20
$200	$160	$40

When a customer purchases a $100 gift card using GIFT20, they pay $80 at checkout.

After receiving their order, you'll manually create a $100 PhotoBiz Gift Card and deliver it to the customer.

The customer can then redeem the full $100 value toward eligible purchases. Applicable sales tax is calculated on taxable purchases when the gift card is redeemed, rather than when the gift card is purchased.

What Your Clients See

When customers visit the page containing your promotional Services Block, they can view the gift card offer and select one of the available amounts.

After adding their selection to the shopping cart, they can enter your promotional coupon code during checkout.

If their purchase meets the coupon requirements, the discount is applied to the qualifying item and their checkout total updates.

No sales tax is charged on the promotional gift card purchase because you've configured the service with Sales Tax set to NO.

After completing their purchase, customers receive their standard ECommerce order confirmation.

Their actual gift card is delivered separately.

Once you manually create and send their gift card, they'll receive a branded PhotoBiz email containing the gift card amount and unique gift card number.

Customers can use that number during eligible checkout transactions through your PhotoBiz ECommerce store, Client Galleries, or Scheduler.

When customers use their gift cards, applicable sales tax is calculated based on the taxable order subtotal before the gift card balance is applied.

Gift cards cannot be redeemed toward Invoice or Form payments.

Helpful Notes

Manual fulfillment is required: Purchasing your promotional ECommerce Service does not automatically generate a gift card. You'll need to create and send a gift card for each completed purchase.
Use the full redemption value: Always create the gift card for the denomination purchased, not the discounted amount paid.
Do not charge sales tax on the gift card service: Set Sales Tax to NO when creating the promotional service. Applicable sales tax is calculated when customers redeem their gift cards toward taxable purchases.
Include your coupon code: Display your promotional code in the service description or marketing materials so customers know how to receive their discount.
Review coupon restrictions: Single Item coupons discount one qualifying item. Group of Items coupons provide additional options for promotions involving multiple qualifying items.
Only one coupon per order: Customers cannot combine multiple coupon codes during checkout.
Check your promotion before advertising: Review your gift card amounts, coupon settings, expiration dates, and checkout pricing to make sure everything works as intended.

Related Guides

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