Gift cards your regulars can buy, give and spend

Open Gift cards, type the value, choose how the customer paid and whether the card expires after 6, 12 or 24 months or never. Add who bought it and a note such as "birthday gift for Sam" if you like. Café QR makes a code like GC-7K4M-QX9P and a card ready to print with your café's name, the value, the code and the expiry date.

Codes leave out letters and numbers that are easy to mix up, such as 0 and O or 1 and I, so a code read out at the counter still works. They can't be guessed.

• ✓Value from 1 to 5,000 in your own currency
• ✓Expiry after 6, 12 or 24 months, or never
• ✓A printable card with the code and value

At the till, choose Gift card when taking payment and type the code. If the card holds less than the bill, take what is on the card and the rest by cash or card as a split payment.

Guests can also pay with a card on their own phone, on the QR menu at the table, at the self-order kiosk and on your online order page, when the card covers the whole bill. They check the code first and see what it holds before paying.

• ✓Part-payment at the till, with the rest by cash or card
• ✓Whole-bill payment on the QR menu, kiosk and online
• ✓Two phones can't spend the same balance

• The till →
• QR table ordering →

Selling a gift card is money taken now for food and drink later, so Café QR keeps it out of your sales and tax figures until the card is spent. When it is spent, the sale counts on that day with the VAT for what was bought. A café card that can pay for hot and cold food is usually a multi-purpose voucher for UK VAT, where VAT is due when it is spent; check with your accountant if you sell something else.

Each card has its own history: when it was sold, what was spent and when, any refunds put back on it, and what is left. A cancelled or expired card can't be spent.

Gift cards sell best in December, before Mother's Day and Father's Day, and as last-minute birthday presents. A card by the till, a line on your menu and a post on social media are usually enough. Pair them with your stamp card, so the person who spends a card can join and come back.

• Customer loyalty and stamp cards →

Gift cards come in the "Gift cards and automatic deals" add-on at £4 a month, which also runs happy hours and meal deals. They are included in the POS plan (£39 per venue a month) and Multi-site.

Cards are sold by your staff from the dashboard; guests can't buy one on your online page yet. Café QR prints the card from your browser on paper or card you supply; it doesn't make plastic cards. A card used on a guest's phone must cover the whole bill; part-payments are taken at the till.