How to Sell More Restaurant Gift Cards

About 64% of restaurant goers are discovering new restaurants by receiving a gift card. Restaurant gift cards aren’t just thoughtful presents—they’re a powerful tool for driving revenue and growing your customer base. Whether it’s the holiday season or a special occasion, it’s important to market your gift cards effectively to turn them into a profitable revenue stream.

Let’s dive into how restaurant gift cards work, who buys gift cards, and the average return for a restaurant gift card. Then, we’ll share some tips for how to market your gift cards to increase sales.

How do restaurants make money from gift cards?

Gift cards are a fantastic way to generate immediate revenue while driving customer loyalty.

Gift cards bring multiple benefits to restaurants. They help keep regular guests coming back, introduce new patrons to your establishment, and even encourage higher spending. According to a study by Blackhawk, 59% of consumers surveyed typically spend more than the card's value when using a gift card.

Additionally, gift cards can lead to unexpected profits. A survey by CreditCards.com found that 47% of U.S. adults have at least one unused gift card, voucher, or store credit, adding up to a “remaining balance” of $21 billion nationwide. While this includes all types of gift cards, not just restaurants, it highlights how a portion of gift cards may never be redeemed, contributing directly to your bottom line.

In summary, restaurants make money from gift cards because they:

• Provide immediate revenue without impacting inventory.

• Encourage larger purchases when redeemed.

• Are sometimes never redeemed, resulting in pure profit.

To learn how to optimize your restaurant gift card accounting and bookkeeping check out this guide.

Who buys gift cards?

People of all ages, backgrounds, and socioeconomic statuses buy gift cards. But, according to data from SaveMyCent, Millennials are the main demographic, accounting for 37% of gift card purchases. They’re followed by Gen-Xers at 28% and baby boomers at 25%.

In short, you should cast a wide net when marketing your restaurant gift cards because you never know who will be interested in making a purchase!

When do people buy gift cards?

A compelling, though not surprising, statistic when it comes to restaurant gift cards is that interest in them spikes around the holiday season. Take a look at this graph from Google Trends:

According to this data, there’s a spike in searches for the term “restaurant gift card” every year, beginning around early November and lasting through mid-January. While there are also blips in the data around other holidays, such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, the vast majority of gift card sales are made at the end of the year. 

What other gift card preferences do people have?

A 2024 survey by Toast outlines guests’ gift card preferences further. Although gift cards are becoming increasingly more digital, 54% of respondents prefer physical gift cards. About 41% of respondents prefer to learn about gift cards on a restaurant’s website. This is a great reminder to advertise your gift cards on your restaurant website and post them on social media.

For more insights check out the full survey here.

Now, let’s discuss what you can do to increase your gift card sales year-round. After all, the holiday season only comes once a year — but there’s a birthday every day! 

How can I increase gift card sales?

Whether your restaurant already offers gift cards or you’re looking to add them to your restaurant’s offerings, there are some common strategies to sell more gift cards.

Here are five quick tips to help you sell more restaurant gift cards:

1. Sell your gift cards online

Remember, 41% of respondents prefer to learn about gift cards on a restaurant’s website.

Although physical cards are more popular, 46% of guests still prefer digital. Offering digital gift cards online is a simple way to make it easy for your guests to make a purchase. Plus, digital gift cards allow you to offer restaurant gift cards without requiring the hassle of keeping any inventory on hand. 

The team at Bueno Malo, a popular Mexican restaurant in Andover, MA, makes it easy for guests to purchase a gift card by adding a link to their e-gift cards in their website navigation. This way guests can easily checkout and send their gift cards immediately. Check out their gift card post on Instagram here. 

Plus, when you use a restaurant gift card platform, like Toast, guests can easily customize their gift card order with a gift message and even schedule the card to be emailed or texted to the recipient at a specific time and day. 

By making it easy to purchase gift cards from your restaurant, you’re more likely to boost gift card sales and keep your customer base happy (and coming back for more)!

2. Take advantage of the spike in gift card sales near the holidays

There’s no denying the power of the holiday season when it comes to gift card sales. 

As mentioned above, Google searches for “restaurant gift cards” spike every year between November and January. So, during this peak gift card season, be sure to market your gift cards to guests! Update your website with your gift card offerings, post on social media, and mention it to guests in-store. Consider offering promotions like buy $100 get $25 for free for a guest’s first time.

Having a restaurant marketing plan in place can help make this easier. By determining your target audience, potential budget, and marketing goals, you can see even greater success in the holiday gift card rush. 

3. Make your gift cards available year-round

While the holidays are the true meat and potatoes of gift card sales, offering gift cards year-round will allow guests to purchase your restaurant gift cards for their loved ones’ anniversaries, birthdays, and other milestone events such as graduations. After all, there’s something to celebrate every day of the year! 

If you’ve only been offering gift cards, or even paper gift certificates, during the holidays, take this as your sign to make the pivot to year-round digital gift cards. 

4. Promote them everywhere

You can have the greatest food and the best promotions, but if you don’t let anybody know, it's doomed to fail. 

Let customers know about your gift card program. The following platforms can be effective ways to make your gift card availability known:

• In-store card display (at the hostess stand, in the waiting area, at the cash register, etc.)

• In-house signage, posters, and displays

• Menu call-outs

• Email marketing campaigns

• Messages on receipts

• All social media channels you have a presence on (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.)

• Server suggestion/upselling

• Table tents

• Direct mail

• Storefront signs

• In-store video screens

• Local sports and event programs

• Menu inserts

• Your website

• Your restaurant mobile app

In short, make sure that your guests know you offer gift cards, no matter how, where, or when they’re accessing your restaurant. Having a solidified gift card marketing strategy will lead to a better bottom line for your restaurant.

5. Offer gift card deals or bundles

In order to encourage more gift card sales, consider implementing some sort of discount. This can take the form of a percentage off, a free gift card with a larger gift card purchase, or a discount for bulk gift card purchases. 

While this tactic will be especially successful during the holiday season, it can also help boost your restaurant’s bottom line during the slower season. You can also implement a gift card sale during the busy season to take advantage of the increased foot traffic. 

Use your restaurant technology and POS 

Toast’s all-in-one platform is built specifically for restaurants. By implementing Toast in your restaurant, you can offer online ordering, loyalty programs, sell gift cards online, and strengthen your restaurant brand. 

Want to learn more about how Toast can help your restaurant? Request a free demo with a specialist.