It\u2019s been a long series of posts covering all aspects of gift vouchers\/cards and now we are in the home stretch, how to create your own. This article will cover the practical side of designing for gift vouchers and cards to present your business in the best light and make people say wow when they get them<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Logically the first step is heading over to our website and using our specialised gift voucher range<\/a>, but don\u2019t think you are limited to just that format. You can use a whole different range of options to be or present your gift vouchers to people. Let\u2019s look at a few options that you could use. We are also going to assume you\u2019ve the previous blog articles so you understand how gift cards \/ vouchers work and what should be in on them<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anything can be a gift card \/ voucher as long as it has a value, a trackable number, expiry date, and lists or links to the terms and conditions, which we explain in more detail in the previous article. So if you want to think out of the box to make something more unique and attractive you can. There are some things to consider when creating a more unique design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It must be easy to carry around, if there\u2019s more than one or you expect the customer to hold on to them for a while before. A common issue with vouchers is that they get forgotten about because they get left out of pocket for being too impractical because of the size. This has led to the rise of the loadable cards as being the common form of gift voucher for larger businesses. You don\u2019t have to think that small.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While our largest gift voucher is DL size (210×100)mm it\u2019s still easy to fold up to fit inside a credit card slot of a wallet or purse if you stick to just a heavy paper. We\u2019ve found that our midrange size of 140x70mm being roughly the size of a $20 note is the most commonly used as it gives enough space for information but isn\u2019t too bulky and stub style book still fits inside a note slot of a till draw. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s still no limit in size depending on how you want people to perceive the \u2018prestige\/value\u2019 of the voucher. People are fine with printing out pdfs on copy paper so why not offer an A5 or A4 voucher printed on premium paper that shows the real value of the gift people are giving to someone. Combine that with a printed envelope or a fancy paper one to add even more prestige to what is being given. Alternatively you can use it to create a self mailer (a sheet of paper or card designed to fold up to a mailable size and only needs tape or a mailing sticker to seal it. It gives something with more \u2018weight\u2019 to it over just an email attachment all for the cost of a flyer and postage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to have a voucher printed on a card then consider having it creased so it folds easier and takes up less space. Our greeting card range and folding flyers and creased rack card ranges can handle that sort of selection with ease. You can even create a self mailer which we explain below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s a few different ideas for gift vouchers to look at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While it\u2019s very easy to get extremely fancy with your gift voucher designs (holographic stickers, custom cut shapes, loadable plastic card, etc) all of which adds to the cost of them to your business. Remember you\u2019ll be selling your voucher at it\u2019s face value, so every expense in it being created and tracked means less profit in the end. While you could charge the cost of issuing \/ using vouchers as part of the purchasing price, most businesses do not as they want customers to have the best experience using them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n This completes our series on gift vouchers and cards. We have covered: their value of bringing in new customers, what you need to consider to see if they fit your business, how they can be integrated into the\u00a0 business, the things they need to have to work, and ideas on how they can look. It\u2019s now up to you and us to make it happen. Use our ready made gift voucher product range or get something custom designed. Need help implementing a system that works for you, we at Copy Express can work with you to make it happen<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s been a long series of posts covering all aspects of gift vouchers\/cards and now we are in the home stretch, how to create your own. This article will cover the practical side of designing for gift vouchers and cards to present your business in the best light and make people say wow when they … Continue reading “The Gift of New Cusomters through Gift Vouchers”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1774,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,1,100],"tags":[144,42],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1769"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1769"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1776,"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1769\/revisions\/1776"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.copyexpress.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What can be a gift voucher or card<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
With digital printing there is no problem adding serial numbers and value information to anything we print here at Copy Express. Since gift vouchers are gifts, why not make your gift vouchers look like the card you attach to one. Using greeting card sizes you can make it a surprise for people to receive. We can create a custom design just for your business with the type of tracking information you need on it (Not just serial numbers but serial barcodes if you require it.) You can also add to the gift look with a nice envelope with a printed message.<\/li>
For a POS system voucher system, why not put it inside a folder or envelope. A 2 DL folded down to DL card or even an A4 folded to DL is the right size to hold most POS gift vouchers printed on standard 80mm wide EFTPOS roll. To attach the docket to the folder can be as simple as stapling or taping the two together. If you want a cleaner look we can sell you speciality glue dots or sealing labels, or even get the design custom cut to hold the paperwork in place. Another alternative is to have a nice DL envelope, printed with the business logos and information on it so it provides a bit more wow to the gift.<\/li>
For those businesses that make use of loyalty cards, why not have a gift voucher that works the same way.\u00a0 They work best with a fixed dollar value and on the back have a grid marking smaller units of the total value. For example a coffee kiosk could issue a $50 voucher with 10 $5\u00a0 or 25 $2 check values. Every time the customer uses the card, the staff marks off so many of the squares equal to what is spent. When all the squares are filled in the card can be thrown away.\u00a0 If the total doesn\u2019t match a whole value, the kiosk could decide that either the spend total is rounded up to the nearest checkbox value, or the customer pays the difference. The choice doesn\u2019t matter as long as that is spelt out on the card before it\u2019s used.<\/li>
If you want to use a fixed value voucher, why not consider the idea of a multipart voucher. Using the same idea as the Loyalty Gift Card, but instead of being boxes to be checked off there are perforated sections on the voucher that get torn off as they are spent and put into your till draw. So a $50 voucher has 10 tear off sections of $10 each and each has its own sub serial number (i.e. 10001-1, 10001-2, 10001-3, etc.)<\/li>
If you have an online system and want to do something more than just emailing a pdf. Use a preprinted flyer or rack card designed to have blank spaces that you can print the voucher details using your own printer. This will give you the best of both worlds, the flexibility of on demand printing and the cost effectiveness of commercial printing. We can easily customise any of our flyers and rack cards to match the output of your system’s voucher template.<\/li>
Self mailers are designed to be easily printed on a small office printer but are pre-creased to easily fold up into a DL or A6 size for standard postage. NZ post rules are flexible enough to allow for this sort of printed material as long as the address is easy to read by their sorters. Using the same process as the previously listed Pre-printed blanks, Copy Express can set up a pre printed voucher design that will be easy to load into your printer and pre-creased ready for folding when printed.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Things to consider when choosing your Gift Voucher \/ Card format<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
While I have suggested you can go from sizes as small as a business card to a full sheet of a4, there are sizes that best fit the way they voucher is to be used. Restaurants and retail shops use note sized vouchers as the spending process is a considered act. Bars and cafes use the business card sized vouchers as they want customers to have it with their wallet or fit inside a phone fold. Retail and service industries can go for the greeting card and large size forms as they are a destination store where people make a choice to spend time with their purchasing decision.<\/li>
We covered this in the previous article<\/a> saying it\u2019s acceptable to have the full terms and conditions available on your website or on a sign instore. Just keep the most important ones on it, in easy to read text on the voucher \/ card itself.<\/li>
The type of paper and card can effect how your finished voucher will look and \u2018feel\u2019 to a customer when they receive them. You should at least match the branding \/ style of your existing business material. Idealy you want it to feel even more impressive than the normal material, to show how valuable it is. That is why our gift vouchers default paper choice is silk finish 170gsm paper which is heavier and thicker than the normal 130gsm you find with normal brochures and flyers.<\/li>
This is where you weigh up the cost of the voucher production against the value being issued. Beyond a simple rectangle of 4 colour printed paper or card, you add extra production costs that will not be justified if you are ordering only a 100 DL sized vouchers. Instead consider different types of paper or card to add \u2018value\u2019 to the feel of the voucher without adding much to the cost.<\/li>
You may have seen gift vouchers with holographic plastic strips or stickers, embossing, or watermarking as forms of security. This type of security system is both very expensive to add to a print run, it is also largely unnecessary. While it is far easier to make fakes of vouchers with a modern home printer and the right paper, no one does. This is because a well implemented gift voucher system will track all vouchers back to the point of issue instantly. Even if you are using an old school manual process you can always look up the original stub or notebook entry to see when it was issued.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n