Best Way to Send Gift Cards Online: 7 tips & a simple guide
In today’s fast-paced world, sending gift cards online has become a popular and convenient way to reward employees, recognize achievements, or express gratitude.
In fact, 52% of North American companies plan to increase their gift card budgets in 2024, underscoring their value as a go-to option for corporate incentives.
For businesses, the digital gift card offers an ideal solution: it’s fast, customizable, and hassle-free. Whether it’s for an employee incentive program, client appreciation, or holiday rewards, sending a digital gift card is just a few clicks away.
Here are seven essential tips to help you send gift cards online smoothly and effectively.
How to Send Gift Cards Online Through Toasty
Step 1: Load Funds To Your Account
Before you can begin sending gift cards to your recipients, you will need to load funds to your account.
Toasty offers two convenient options for adding funds to your account: Credit Card and Invoice. Credit cards are convenient for when you need funds to be added as soon as possible, but they do have the caveat of the 3% surcharge.
Alternatively, clients can utilize the Invoice feature to send funds via EFT (ACH, Wire) for no surcharge. This method can be a little slower, as it takes time for the EFT to arrive.
Step 2: Select the Gift Card and Amount
Once you’ve chosen your platform, browse through the available gift card options. Whether it’s a specific retailer like Nike or our signature Toasty Choice Card, select the brand that best suits your recipient(s).
Then, choose the gift card amount. Whether you are sending $5 or $500, there are no up-charges or fees.
Only Spend What you Send
Maximize the efficiency of your budget by only paying the face value of the cards you send. With Toasty, there are no up-charges, hidden fees, or added costs.
Step 3: Personalize the Gift (Optional)
Toasty gives you the opportunity to personalize the gift. Add the recipient’s name and include a custom message to make the gift more meaningful.
With Toasty, you can also create templates with your company’s logo and color scheme to give your reward a more personal field.
Utilize Merge Fields
With merge fields such as First Name and Last Name, you can give your gift a personal touch even when uploading recipients in bulk.
Step 4: Input Recipient Details
You may need to provide the recipient’s email address, depending on how you wish to deliver the eGift card. Double-check the details to ensure the gift card reaches the correct person.
This is crucial because mistyped email addresses can delay or misdirect your gift.
Step 5: Track and Confirm Delivery
Once the order is completed, the gift card will be sent to the recipient via their email. Toasty provides tracking options so you can confirm when the card has been received.
Mistype an Email?
No problem! With Toasty, you can easily update emails and resend rewards at no additional cost.
7 Tips For Sending gift cards online
1. Choose the Right Digital Gift Card Provider
When selecting where to send your gift cards from, it’s essential to choose a reliable digital gift card provider that matches your business’s needs.
As a digital gift card company, we offer straightforward tools that let businesses send and manage gift cards, giving recipients the flexibility to choose from hundreds of popular brands.
Our Toasty Choice Card stands out by allowing recipients to select their preferred retailer, ensuring they get something they truly want.
Other providers, such as Amazon, Google Play, or Visa also offer customizable options that let you send gift cards online.
However, by choosing a specialized service like ours, you can ensure that your business needs are met with bulk sending options, detailed analytics, and seamless integration.
2. Personalize the Experience
One of the benefits of sending gift cards online is the ability to personalize the recipient’s experience.
Adding a custom message, choosing a design that fits the occasion, or even including your company’s branding makes the gift feel more thoughtful.
Customizing the card can enhance the gift’s impact, especially when it’s for clients or employees, showing that you’ve put in extra effort to make it special.
At Toasty, we provide custom branding options for businesses, allowing companies to incorporate their logos and unique messaging into the gift card, which reinforces brand recognition and makes the experience memorable.
3. Ensure Instant Delivery
One of the biggest advantages of digital gift cards is the immediacy of delivery.
In just a few minutes, your gift can be in the recipient’s inbox, activated and ready to use. This speed is especially important for last-minute gifts, employee recognition, or timely incentives.
Through our platform, you can ensure gift cards are delivered instantly or scheduled for future dates.
With just a few clicks, gift cards can be sent to multiple recipients at once—saving your business time and ensuring that rewards are delivered promptly.
4. Secure the Delivery Method
Security is paramount when sending digital gift cards online. Sending gift cards through a secure platform ensures the recipient will receive their card without issues, and the code is less likely to be lost or stolen.
Email is the most common and secure way to send digital gift cards and avoids the headache of lost packages.
We recommend sending eGift cards through Toasty’s secure email delivery system, which guarantees that the recipient gets their card safely. Our platform also allows you to monitor and track deliveries, so you’ll always know if a gift needs to be resent.
5. Use It for a Range of Occasions
One of the reasons why businesses love eGift cards is their versatility. From celebrating work anniversaries to rewarding employees for hitting key milestones, digital gift cards can be customized for a wide range of occasions.
Whether it’s a holiday gift or an appreciation token for a job well done, gift cards offer the perfect balance of practicality and personalization.
At Toasty, we cater to corporate events, end-of-year recognition programs, customer acquisition campaigns, and more. With so many options, gift cards can be tailored to fit any business goal.
6. Track Gift Card Usage and Performance
For businesses, it’s important to know that your gift cards are being used and appreciated. Having detailed tracking and reporting on gift card usage can give insight into how well your incentive or recognition program is working.
Toasty provides a full analytics dashboard for businesses, allowing you to monitor delivery rates and the impact of your gift card program, so you can measure the ROI of your corporate gifting efforts.
7. Be Aware of Fees
When sending gift cards online, it’s important to consider any associated fees. Some providers may charge processing or transaction fees, which can add up, especially if you’re sending cards in bulk.
Toasty offers transparent pricing with no hidden fees, ensuring that your budget is spent on the gift, not on unnecessary charges. Always review fee structures ahead of time to ensure you’re getting the best value for your business.
This adjustment keeps the focus practical and relevant to the other business-focused tips in the guide.
Toasty
Why Send Gift Cards Online Through Toasty?
Being able to send gift cards online is more than just a modern convenience—it’s a powerful way for businesses to connect with their employees, clients, and partners in meaningful ways.
If you’re unsure where to start, look no further than Toasty. Our digital gift card platform is designed with businesses in mind, offering instant delivery, personalization options, detailed tracking, and a wide variety of redemption options for the recipient.
Plus, our Toasty Choice Card provides the ultimate flexibility, allowing recipients to choose from numerous brands and services. Sending a gift card online has never been easier, faster, or more rewarding—both for you and the recipient.
Sending a gift card online has never been easier, faster, or more rewarding—both for you and the recipient with Toasty.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How quickly is the gift card delivered?
In less time than it took you to read that sentence! You can send gift cards online instantly, or they can be scheduled for a later date and time.
Is Net 30 an available payment option?
No. Funds must be received before you start placing orders. We are a pre-pay only service and do not offer credit terms.
Can I personalize An online gift card?
Yes! You can include your company logo, a personal message along with a festive design, and you can even match the color scheme to your branding.
Can I send a gift card Online to multiple recipients at once?
Yes! There are several convenient options for sending out rewards in bulk. You can upload a spreadsheet to upload all recipients at once.
Alternatively, if you have already sent cards to the recipients, you can create Groups within the Toasty portal. The next time you need to send them all cards, simply select the group you created.
How Will I know the gift card was received?
When using Toasty to send gift cards online, you will have visibility into any emails that bounced or were undeliverable. You can easily update any emails that need to be updated — at no cost.
Can digital gift cards be used in store?
It depends. If using a branded gift card (such as a Walmart or Target card), it depends on the rules set by that specific merchant. It is recommended that you check with the store to see if they accept digital gift cards on-site.
If using a digital Visa card, you can add the gift card to a mobile wallet such as Apple Pay or Google Pay to use it at any store that accepts that form of payment.
Is it safe to send a gift card online?
Yes! It is actually safer to send gift cards online than it is to buy a physical gift card. Toasty utilizes industry leading technology to ensure that your rewards are delivered securely and quickly to your recipients.
On the other hand, physical gift cards can get lost or stolen (even in-transit!), which can lead to long delays and headaches.
Can’t I buy gift cards at the grocery store?
Yes, but there are some things you need to be aware of. Most grocery stores will have restrictions on purchasing gift cards, such as limiting purchases to nominal amounts (typically less than $500) or requiring you to use physical cash (no credit cards).
Additionally, grocery store gift cards are popular targets for scammers. They can make you can’t even tell the package was opened after they skim the info. The end result is: they get your money, your recipient gets nothing, and the store likely won’t be able to assist.
Can I send Gift Cards Internationally?
Yes! Toasty allows you to send gift cards online to recipients in 92 different countries, with that number growing each day.
What Happens if the recipient doesn’t receive the gift card?
You can resend gift cards and even update email addresses if necessary. If the recipient still does not receive their gift card, advise them to check their spam folder as some email services are over-zealous.
I received a Digital Visa Gift Card. Can I use it on Amazon?
Yes! We wrote a handy guide for transferring Visa gift cards to your Amazon balance.
