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Loymax, 2024

Gift certificates

A Gift Certificate is a separate type of payment identifier with a fixed denomination and an additional set of features

The Certificate can be used to pay for goods and services (within the payments allowed by rules of the Loyalty Program). The gift certificate has some differences from gift cards. 

Contents:

Features of Using a Gift Certificate

  • The Certificate has a unique number and set of additional identifiers (see below).
  • The Certificates are classified by types.
  • The Certificate is sold at the cash register.
  • Several certificates can be sold in one purchase.
  • The denomination of the Certificate is set in the system and cannot be changed.
  • The validity from the moment the Certificate is issued is set in the system and can be changed manually.
  • When paying for a purchase with a Certificate, the writing off funds occurs through a separate type of payment in the Loymax system.
  • The Certificate can be reusable.
  • There is the possibility of a refund for the Gift Certificate when returning the products paid by it.
  • An unused Gift Certificate can be refunded.
  • Certificates cannot be used as loyalty program cards: you cannot register a Certificate for an LP Member, link to an existing account, replace the card with the certificate, and other actions.
  • Information about sold and the number of activated/used Certificates is stored in the analytics module. The link between products and unique barcodes is implemented on the Loymax side.

Certificate Lifecycle

Issuing gift certificates is carried out in the MMP. A gift certificate can have the following states in the process of the lifecycle:

  • Prepared - the certificates in the system are generated in the Prepared state. In this state, they are sent to the cash register and can be sold.
  • Activating - the certificate is added as a position (product) in the receipt which is not closed yet (in the process of purchasing).
  • Activated - the certificate is successfully sold at the cash register and ready for writing off the balance as payment for goods and services.
  • Refunding -  the certificate was not used and it is returned at the cash register (return document opened). As a result, the сertificate can be switched to the Refund or Prepared state, depending on the settings of the cash register.
  • Refunded - the certificate was not used and it was returned at the cash register.
  • Redeemed - the certificate was used at least once (one-time certificate) or the balance has become zero (reusable certificate).
  • Expired - the certificate has expired and can no longer be used at the cash register (refund/writing off funds).
  • Canceled - this state is only achievable with a manual setting. It is used, for example, if the certificate number has been compromised. From this state, the certificate can be manually set to the Prepared state.

Identifiers of Gift Certificate

New certificates are issued in the MMP interface. During generation, the following set of unique identifiers is created, which can be used to work with the certificate on the cash register SW side:

  1. Unique number printed on the certificate
  2. Unique barcode printed on the certificate
  3. Information stored in the magnetic stripe
  4. QR code printed on the certificate

Certificate identifiers are generated from a predefined set of templates. Templates are created according to specific requirements. Each set of templates is limited in capacity. Capacity determines the number of certificates that can be generated from a given set of templates.

Operations at the Cash Register when Working with the Gift Certificates

The following operations are performed to gift certificates:

  1. Sale of a gift certificate (both with the use of a loyalty program card and without it). It implies the sale of a gift certificate with linking to the sales receipt and activation of the possibility of writing off funds.
  2. Return of gift certificate.
  3. Writing off funds from the gift certificate in payment for the purchase. 
  4. Getting information about the gift certificate - product code for sale of the certificate, initial denomination, current balance, and state.

All operations are conducted in two phases. This means that any funds flow on the certificate must be confirmed by the separate operation. For example, when paying the purchase with a gift certificate the balance of the gift certificate, as well as the cash register balance, will not be changed untill the purchase is confirmed or canceled.

  1. Ability to rollback the certificate to its original state in case of failure or cancellation of the operation/purchase.
  2. Ensuring financial security.

Integration of Gift Certificates

For the possibility of using gift certificates, the cash register software is integrated according to the classical scheme of work with processing of Loymax, but with the expansion of the list of parameters/attributes sent.

Read more:

Gift Certificates Reports

In the analytics module, the following reports are available related to actions with gift certificates at the cash register SW:

  • the gift certificate number, denomination and type;
  • how many certificates were issued in the context of time;
  • in which POS, at which cash register, which legal entity issued a certificate;
  • on what day/month/quarter/year the certificate was sold;
  • account balance for certificates, i.e. how much money is left;
  • receipt number, date of purchase, purchased products, receipt amount when using a gift certificate;
  • how many certificates have been activated, used and returned;
  • in which POS/cash register the certificates were used.
Created 13/01/2021 04:41
Last edited 14/09/2023 22:51

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