QR Code Gift Cards: A Step-By-Step Guide for Creating and Giving Them

Buying gifts for your friends and loved ones can be a lot of fun, but coming up with ideas isn’t always easy. Thankfully, you can’t go wrong with a gift certificate that lets them purchase whatever they want.

The only problem is that they sometimes don’t make for the most exciting gift. There’s no package to open, no surprise involved, and little room for creativity.

For these reasons, more and more people are choosing to create QR Code gift cards instead. In this guide, we’ll show you how to use QR Code Generator PRO to create high-quality custom QR Code gift cards that your friends and family will love!

The rise of digital gifts: Why QR Codes?

Across the board, there is a rapidly growing market for digital goods and services. 

QR Code gift cards are digital products themselves, but they allow people to purchase either digital or physical e-commerce products. As it turns out, there are several reasons why you may want to choose QR Codes rather than plastic cards.

QR Code vouchers bring both convenience and innovation to the gift card industry. They reduce waste, offer instant gratification, and make it easy to send to anyone in the world without the expense and hassle of shipping.

One of the biggest benefits of QR Code gift cards is that they offer plenty of options for customization and personalized experiences.

With the right templates and high-quality tools, you can create QR Codes with style,  incorporating fun features like personalized greeting cards, video messages, cute animations, and a wide range of other customizable features.

QR Code on a blue Anna Cafe gift card lying on a blue table decorated with colorful confetti and party blowers

Advantages of QR Codes for gifts

71% of consumers say that they’re interested in digital gift cards versus other gifts. Here are the top reasons why QR Code gift cards have become popular:

Instant gratification

When you send a QR Code gift card to someone, it arrives in their inbox nearly instantaneously. There’s no checking tracking codes and waiting for a shipment to arrive. 

Personalization

Plastic gift cards can come in attractive designs, but unless you pay extra, they usually don’t offer many personalization options. 

With QR Code gift cards, you’ll have plenty of options to create memorable, customized gifts—like modifying the QR Code’s design or linking it to a sentimental message or video.  

Versatility

QR Code gift cards have many use cases, so they’re easy to customize for the individual you’re gifting to. They can be used for products, experiences, subscriptions, and more. In fact, giving gifts is just one of many creative ways to use QR Codes!

Safety

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, people have heightened awareness regarding the spread of infectious diseases. As a result, contactless solutions are now popular across several industries.

With a QR Code gift card, everything can happen electronically, so you don’t necessarily need to worry about physical touch. This helps reduce the spread of infectious diseases through physical contact and makes the gift-giving process safer for everyone involved.

Eco-friendliness

The global gift card market is valued at $899.3 billion USD—so it’s no surprise that this results in a staggering number of plastic cards produced each year. And unlike credit and membership cards, most people throw out gift cards rather quickly after use.

With QR Code gift cards, this negative impact on the environment is almost nonexistent. Combine this benefit with the fact that these special gift cards don’t require shipment by plane or automobile, and you can see how they are an extremely eco-friendly gift option. 

Step-by-step guide to creating QR Code gift cards

If you want to make a custom and personalized QR Code gift card, the process is simpler than you might think! Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use QR Code Generator to create gift cards your friends and family will love:

1. Choose the gift

Choosing the gift is the first step in any gift-giving process, and QR Code gift cards are no exception. Whether it’s an online shopping voucher, a subscription to a box service, or a ticket to an event, you can create QR Code gift cards for just about anything imaginable.

2. Create your QR Code 

Once you’ve chosen the gift you’d like to give, it’s now time to create your QR Code gift card. If you want to generate custom QR Codes quickly and easily, there’s no better tool than QR Code Generator.

With a user-friendly platform, you’ll have access to high-quality templates and simple, point-and-click commands to quickly create and customize QR Codes for any number of purposes.

3. Customize your QR Code

Not every tool for creating QR Codes gives you the option to customize them. However, QR Code Generator offers numerous design options and customization tools that you can use to turn your QR Code gift card into a more personalized and meaningful gift. You can add special colors, designs and frames to create QR Codes with style.

4. Link the gift

The process for linking a gift to a QR Code can vary depending on what you’re linking and the platform you purchase the item from. However, it typically involves just a few simple steps.

Most websites that allow you to purchase digital vouchers will provide a unique code or URL associated with them. Once you have this code or URL, you can use QR Code Generator to easily link the QR Code to the gift.

After scanning the QR Code, the recipient will see the URL associated with the QR Code (or the code they need to enter on the website) so they can access their gift. 

5. Test the QR Code

QR Codes are incredibly reliable and don’t tend to malfunction, but human error (such as entering the wrong link) can sometimes create issues.

Before you send a QR Code gift card to someone, it’s a good idea to verify that it works. You can do this by simply scanning the QR Code yourself to ensure that it takes you to the desired landing page.

6. Print or share digitally

The final step is to send your custom QR Code to its recipient. Print the code or send it electronically via email or social media messaging. 

Clever ideas for presenting QR Code gift cards

There’s a reason why we wrap gifts in paper and bows; the presentation and experience that comes with receiving and opening a gift is half the fun!

You can wrap a QR Code gift card if you choose to print it, but there are also plenty of other enjoyable and creative ways to present it. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Embedded in a greeting card or e-card

It’s common practice when giving a gift card as a gift to put it in a greeting card, and you can do the same thing with QR Code gift cards.

If you want to give a physical greeting card, you can print your QR Code and include it with the card.

Or, you can embed the QR Code in an e-card. With e-cards, you also have the option of adding special:

  • Messages

  • Images

  • Videos

  • Animations

In a wearable gift

By putting your QR Code on a wearable item, you can make the presentation itself another part of the gift. For example, putting a QR Code on a bracelet is one great way to make your QR Code gift card creative and unique.

With a tool like QR Code Generator that lets you customize the way the code looks, you can make it a part of the item’s design.

In a video message

Including a video message with your QR Code gift card is a great way to personalize the gift and make it memorable.

You can record your own message or use video clips you find online. Either way, creating a Video QR Code is quick and easy when you use QR Code Generator PRO.

Within a themed gift box

If you want to include a QR Code gift card as part of a larger collection of gifts, assembling a themed gift box is a fun option to consider. Here are a few examples of the different types of themed gift boxes you can create:

  • Movie night gift box with popcorn, candy, and a QR Code gift card for a movie rental or streaming service

  • Book-lover’s box with a novel, a bookmark, a cozy blanket, and a QR Code that links to an exclusive interview with the author

  • Cooking gift box with utensils, an apron, and a QR Code voucher for a meal delivery service

By putting QR Code gift cards within a themed gift box, you can create an entire experience surrounding the digital card and give your friends and family a creative present they won’t soon forget!

Get creative with your next gift with QR Code Generator

It isn’t the monetary value that makes a gift meaningful, but the thought and effort you put into it. If you’d like to get creative with your next present, there are plenty of different ways to create a memorable experience using QR Code gift cards.

To start generating custom QR Codes for gifting and a broad range of other purposes, sign up for QR Code Generator PRO today!

Author
Tobias Funke

Tobias Funke is Bitly’s Vice President of Product. With a background in software engineering, he has a decade of combined experience in product development and the QR Code space. Tobias leads a team that developed one of the most successful and popular QR Code generators available. His entrepreneurial and growth mindset helps build products that continuously disrupt the market. You can connect with Tobias on LinkedIn.

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