How do you sell more gift cards over the holidays?

A gift card is the one thing guests buy from you as a present. Most of that buying happens between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The money arrives in your busiest weeks, and the meal comes later.

Buyers are also starting earlier. Paytronix tracks card sales across its restaurant clients. On Black Friday in 2025, those clients sold $6.5 million in cards, up from $6.3 million a year before. Cyber Monday sales fell about seven percent.

Redemptions rose as well. Guests used 8.1% more cards that weekend than the year before. Many were cards they had saved for months. So the plan here is simple. Sell cards from early November, and give buyers a reason to come back in January. For the wider holiday calendar, see when to start holiday marketing.

The National Restaurant Association surveyed U.S. adults about restaurant gift cards in November 2024. The answers point one way. People want a card that pays for a whole meal, at a place they already like.

Do not skip the 36% who wanted somewhere new. They are the new guests a card can bring through the door, and your regulars hand them the card. A card that covers the meal does not cap the check, either. In a February 2026 survey by TSG and Bank of America, 44% of consumers said they usually spend more than the card is worth.

Start with what guests already load. Paytronix found that full-service restaurants averaged $63 per card on Black Friday. Quick-service restaurants averaged $29. Your own check average matters more than either number.

Offer three fixed amounts. The smallest is a stocking stuffer. The middle one covers a typical meal for two. The top one covers a family dinner and qualifies for the bonus. Keep a custom amount for buyers who want one.

Fixed amounts speed up the line at the counter. They also make the bonus easy to explain. If the bonus starts at a set spend, make that spend one of your fixed amounts.

A bonus card is a free card the buyer gets for spending a set amount. It is the classic holiday gift card offer, and it still works. The trick is the dates. The bonus should only work in your slow weeks.

The usual shape is simple. The buyer spends a set amount on gift cards before the end of December. The register prints one bonus card for that spend. The bonus card works only from early January to the end of February.

The bonus costs you nothing in December. It costs food and labor only when it is used, in weeks when your staff is already on the schedule. Keep it smaller than one main dish, so the guest still pays for most of the meal. Do not let the bonus work in December, or it simply discounts your busiest weeks.

Federal gift card rules treat a bonus card differently from a card someone paid for. A promotional card can expire quickly. But it has to say so, on the card itself.

Paid cards follow stricter rules. Under the federal rules, money on a paid card must stay good for at least five years from issue or the last reload. That is why a bonus card should never look like a paid card. Many states add their own gift card rules on top. Ask your franchisor which card template the brand uses, and check your state before you print. This is general information, not legal advice.

Sell everywhere a guest already pays you. The counter and the table come first. Every check is a chance to mention cards and the bonus.

Many buyers shop somewhere else, though. In the same November 2024 survey, more adults planned to buy restaurant cards at big stores than from the restaurant itself.

Paytronix saw third-party card sales rise to $2.6 million in its holiday study of 2025, up from $2 million. Grocery racks are usually a brand decision, not a store one. Ask your franchisor whether your cards are on them.

What you do control is your own website and your email list. Put a digital card on the site and send it by email. TSG found that 52% of consumers prefer email-only delivery for a digital card.

Employers are the bulk buyers most stores never ask. In the TSG survey, 81% of consumers said they would like gift cards from their employer. Only 41% had received one.

That gap is your pitch. Offices, clinics, car dealers and schools near each store all say thanks at year end. A stack of cards from a place the staff already like is an easy yes.

Ask each store manager to name five local employers. Send the pitch in early November and follow up once. A manager who already knows the office manager will close faster than any email.

One franchise group took the steps of this guide in the order an owner would. Its names and numbers are made up.

January is when the bonus earns its keep. Toast found January was the slowest month for restaurants in 2024. There were about 11% fewer transactions than the average for the rest of the year. Guests also spent about 3% less per transaction.

Do not wait for guests to remember. Send an email in the first full week of January. Say the bonus is live and when it ends. Put the same line on receipts and on table cards.

Make redemption easy in every channel. TSG found that between 39% and 49% of consumers are less likely to use a card when a channel is missing. A card that works in the dining room but not online will sit in a drawer.

In most franchise systems, the gift card program belongs to the brand. The brand picks the card vendor, the designs and the rules. A card sold at one store can be used at another, and the money is settled between them.

So ask before you plan a local offer. Some brands allow a local bonus within limits. Others run one offer for the whole system. Either way, you want the answers in writing before November.

If the co-op fund can help pay for the push, read how a franchise advertising co-op works before you ask.

Track a few numbers by store and by week. They tell you which channel sold, and whether the bonus brought guests back when you needed them.

Compare January with the January before. If bonus checks ran well past the bonus, the offer worked. If few bonus cards came back, send the reminder email earlier next year. To pay for promoting the offer, see how to set up Google Ads for one location.

Guests believe a bonus offer faster when they watch someone use one. In early November, a food creator can buy a card at your counter on camera and post the clip before Black Friday. CreatoRain, the publisher of this guide, books those creator visits for franchise groups. Each video is $300, and that price includes the creator’s pay.