Buyer's guides
Best gift card platforms by industry
Guides for shortlisting a gift card platform. Each one covers the criteria that matter in that segment, the platforms operators there usually end up comparing, and where each fits.
Best gift card platform for restaurants
A buyer's guide for restaurants and cafes, what to look for, the leading platforms compared, and a decision framework for choosing the right fit.
Read the guide
Best gift card platform for retail stores
A buyer's guide for retailers and apparel brands. POS-and-eCommerce sync, refund-to-credit, and the platforms worth shortlisting.
Read the guide
Best gift card platform for hospitality groups
A buyer's guide for multi-venue hospitality groups, what unified-balance-ledger really means, and which platforms scale across venues cleanly.
Read the guide
The five questions that decide it
Every one of these guides works through the same evaluation, applied to a different segment. If you would rather run it yourself than read a guide, these are the questions in the order that matters:
- Does it natively integrate with the systems you actually run? Not "supports", integrates. Ask what syncs, and whether redemption is real time or batched. Without this, every transaction becomes manual reconciliation.
- One balance, or one per channel? A card should be sold once and redeemed once regardless of where the customer is standing. Per-channel ledgers are the root cause of most gift card failures at the till.
- Which instruments do you need? Cash gift cards are universal. Experience vouchers and store credit are not, and retrofitting them later is harder than choosing for them now.
- Can finance close on the reporting? Outstanding liability, broken down by channel and aged by last activity. If your finance team cannot get that without a spreadsheet, the program will stay small.
- What does migration look like? Both in and out. Ask how existing cards are imported, and how you would export the ledger if you left.
When your POS's built-in gift cards are enough
One site, one POS, no online store, and a plain cash-value card is all you sell. Your POS's built-in gift cards will do the job. One vendor, no extra subscription, nothing extra at the counter.
Just know what you're trading away. Built-in gift cards are a dollar balance and nothing more: no experience vouchers, no refund-to-credit, no Apple or Google Wallet, no scheduled delivery or personalised messages, no branded gifting storefront, no bulk or corporate gifting, and no liability reporting your finance team can close on. You don't need a second sales channel to want any of that. Most merchants hit one of these before they ever open a second site.
The comparison pages go deeper on individual matchups, and the alternatives shortlists cover moving off a platform you're already on.
Choosing a gift card platform: frequently asked questions
- What is the best gift card platform?
- It depends on two things: how many places the card has to work, and what you want it to do. If you run one site on one POS and only sell a plain cash-value card, your POS's built-in gift cards will do. You need a platform above the POS as soon as either changes: a second venue, an online store, or wanting experience vouchers, refund-to-credit, mobile wallet, a branded gifting storefront or liability reporting your finance team can close on. Most merchants hit the second one first.
- How do I shortlist gift card platforms?
- Five questions settle most of it: does it natively integrate with your actual POS and eCommerce, does it hold one balance across them or one per channel, does it support the instruments you need (cash cards, experience vouchers, store credit), does it produce liability reporting your finance team can close on, and what does migration of your existing cards look like. Anything else is detail.
- What can a gift card platform do that my POS cannot?
- Built-in gift cards give you a dollar balance on one system. A platform adds the things a dollar balance can't do: experience vouchers sold as a dated, scannable product; store credit and refund-to-credit so returns keep the revenue; Apple and Google Wallet; scheduled delivery and personalised messages; a branded gifting storefront on your own domain; bulk and corporate gifting; and liability reporting broken down by channel. It also keeps one balance across every till and store you run, rather than one per system.
- What does a gift card platform cost?
- Wrapped starts at $49/month (Basic), $99 (Pro) and $199 (Plus) in USD, with annual billing saving 20% and a monthly activation allowance on each plan. Competitors vary widely: some charge per activation with no subscription, some bundle gift cards into a wider POS contract, and enterprise processors quote per deployment. Compare total cost at your expected volume rather than headline price.
- Should I switch platforms if I already have gift cards?
- Only if the constraint you are hitting is structural. Switching costs staff retraining and a migration of outstanding balances, which is real work. If your problem is that cards do not work across channels or venues, no amount of configuration on your current platform will fix that. If your problem is a missing feature, ask your incumbent first.