Store Credits are a normal part of business. I can't believe there is no ability to issue and redeem store credits. Using Gift Certificates for a store credit is not practical and results in the wrong accounting since Gift Certificates and Store Credits are both treated and recorded differently when posting to Quickbooks.
Another common business practice these days is the ability to input a manual Gift Card/Certificate number. Many businesses have plastic gift cards that are all pre numbered according to the merchant account/gift card providers specifications. Being able to enter the gift card information into CS-Cart is vital in order to maintain a proper and useful gift card program. I have already been the route of modifications and end up paying for new mods many times there is a software update. This should be standard along with store credits.
Thank you for posting, beat. I too am in need of something similar...
We have physical cards for our retail store, which are fine for the customer to purchase online and have sent to them via postal.
But I would LOVE the ability/addon to offer a printable "card" for the customer to purchase online, download/print immediately, which would have the card value they want, and also have a number on it for our cashiers when they redeem in person at our retail store. I have tried making a downloadable gift card (PDF), but it's not possible currently to include the value or gift card number we already have (from our physical cards) available immediately and ready for the customer to print.
Icing would be if this functionality/addon would be compatible with any future CSCart releases.
Store Credits are a normal part of business. I can't believe there is no ability to issue and redeem store credits. Using Gift Certificates for a store credit is not practical and results in the wrong accounting since Gift Certificates and Store Credits are both treated and recorded differently when posting to Quickbooks.
Another common business practice these days is the ability to input a manual Gift Card/Certificate number. Many businesses have plastic gift cards that are all pre numbered according to the merchant account/gift card providers specifications. Being able to enter the gift card information into CS-Cart is vital in order to maintain a proper and useful gift card program. I have already been the route of modifications and end up paying for new mods many times there is a software update. This should be standard along with store credits.
Are you asking for the ability to generate your own gift-certificate numbers that would match a card or be importable into your store via csv?
The most common way merchants handle store credit (like from a return or customer service adjustment) is to issue reward points.
Happy to help with your issue(s) if you can specify what you want/need. You can request a quote via the link in my signature.
But I would LOVE the ability/addon to offer a printable "card" for the customer to purchase online, download/print immediately, which would have the card value they want, and also have a number on it for our cashiers when they redeem in person at our retail store. I have tried making a downloadable gift card (PDF), but it's not possible currently to include the value or gift card number we already have (from our physical cards) available immediately and ready for the customer to print.
Icing would be if this functionality/addon would be compatible with any future CSCart releases.
So the email sent for gift certificates is not adequate? You can certainly utilize your own email template to put whatever imagery or data you want in that email and could certainly create a 'print gift certificate' form.
Generally addons such as this are quite 'upgrade proof' if done correctly. Resiliance is mostly a factor when you try to modify existing templates versus using proper hooks or overrides to implement the changes. I wish I saw recurring revenue on cs-cart releases for the work I do. But alas it doesn't happen! :-)
Maybe you and @beatwear can get together and generate requirements that meet both your needs. Would cut your costs in half.
What I'd like, unless I'm missing it, is the ability to create a gift card product that the customer could purchase online and immediately print out for themselves (instead of waiting for us to send one in the mail) to redeem at our physical retail store or give to another recipient. We have physical gift cards for our retail store, and I'd like to just use numbers from those cards so that when the printable card is redeemed, it works with our processor terminals.
There are ways to do this, but it's not easy to a) have the card immediately available to print for the customer, and b ) have it available with our number printed so it can be physically redeemed when they get here, and c) offer gift cards in varying amounts, and d) have it all ready to go so I don't have to babysit the computer/office when one gets ordered.
Still working through it. Thanks as always for your presence on these forums!
1) Develop an import for the gift certificates that allow you to generate the GC codes that match your B&M environment.
2) Have the email that is sent to the customer have a link that will generate allow the customer to just print the "card" portion of the Giff Certificate.
The import is pretty straight-forward. The printing can be easy too. Maybe an image of your choice with the number transposed over it in a relative location.
Feel free to contact me via the get-a-quote link in my signature with your full requirements and I'll be happy to give you a quote. We can also open a dialog about your needs via that link.
I think what you describe is certainly the direction to go. We are pretty low volume, like, really low volume, so I was looking to do something from stock cart vs a custom mod. But, as things progress towards more digital solutions(s) as far as loyalties and gift cards, we'll have to get something done. Thank you again for your comments and input!