How to Sell Gift Cards on Clover POS (Step by Step)

The seven steps

Every gift card program on Clover follows the same path. Steps one and two run in parallel — you can be approving artwork while your app is being installed.

1. Choose a gift card app from the Clover App Market

Gift cards are not a core Clover feature you switch on in Setup; they come from an app. Clover publishes its own Gift Cards app, and third-party providers publish theirs. Compare on the five things that cost you money or time later:

• Minimum card order — 50 cards versus 100 changes what a single location can justify.
• Design fee — some programs charge $100 for custom artwork, others include it.
• Monthly software fee and any per-transaction or activation percentage.
• Whether it supports e-gift, loyalty, and multiple locations on one shared balance ledger.
• Support hours — December and Mother's Day do not respect business hours.

Our comparison of Clover gift card apps puts the common options side by side with sources, and Clover gift card cost breaks down the fees.

2. Get your cards designed and printed

Send a logo and, ideally, a brand color. A designer returns a proof, you approve or request changes, and the cards go to print. Practical notes from thousands of orders:

• Order in the quantity you'll actually give away. Fifty is enough to test; 250 is the sweet spot for a single busy location heading into the holidays.
• Keep the back clean and functional: balance-check URL, your phone number, and a short terms line. Leave the number and stripe unobstructed.
• Order card carriers or envelopes at the same time. A card in a sleeve reads as a gift; a bare card reads as a receipt.
• Plan roughly two weeks from approval to delivery, longer in November.

3. Install the app on every device

Install on each Clover device that will take payment, not just the front register. A Station at the counter and a Flex on the floor both need the app or staff will hit dead ends. If you run multiple locations, confirm during setup that all locations share one balance ledger so a card sold at one store redeems at another.

4. Activate a card at the register

1. Open the gift card app (or add the gift card item to a ticket).
2. Choose Activate / Sell and key the amount the customer is loading.
3. Swipe, scan or key the card number.
4. Take payment as usual — cash, credit or any Clover tender.
5. Hand over the card; the receipt shows the loaded balance.

Reloading an existing card is the same flow with Reload instead of Activate, which is how you turn a one-time gift into a repeat customer.

5. Redeem the card as a tender

This is the step to drill with staff. A gift card is a payment method, not a discount. Ring the order normally, go to payment, choose the gift card tender, then swipe or key the card. If the balance covers the ticket, you're done. If not, the card pays what it has and Clover prompts for the remainder on another tender — split payments are normal and need no manager override. Any leftover balance stays on the card.

6. Check balances and read your reporting

Staff can check a balance in seconds at the register, and customers can check theirs on a balance-check page you link from your website. In your dashboard you'll want three numbers regularly: cards sold, cards redeemed, and total outstanding balance. See how to check a balance on Clover and gift card liability and reporting.

7. Turn on e-gift

E-gift is the cheapest volume you'll ever add: a branded page where customers buy a digital card, the recipient gets an email with a code, and the code redeems at your register on the same balance ledger as plastic. Link it from your website header, your Google Business Profile, and your Instagram bio. December 22nd through 24th is almost entirely e-gift. See how e-gift works on Clover.

Clover's built-in gift card app vs a third-party app

Both sell and redeem cards on the same register, so the difference is in the edges. Clover's native program is bundled and simple: physical and digital cards, redemption in person, typically a 100-card minimum and a design fee for custom artwork, with support through Clover or your reseller.

Merchants add a third-party app when they need something the built-in program does not cover: a smaller first order, free custom design, existing balances migrated from a previous provider, gift and loyalty on one platform, a shared balance across locations, or a support line that answers on a Sunday in December. If none of those apply to you, the built-in app is a perfectly reasonable choice — we say so plainly in does Clover have gift cards.

Where Factor4 fits

Factor4 is a Clover App Market partner that runs steps one through seven as one program: free custom design, a 50-card minimum, native activation and redemption on every Clover device, e-gift on the same balance ledger, optional loyalty, and balance migration if you're leaving another provider. If you operate more than one site, the shared ledger and per-location reporting are covered in multi-location gift cards. Restaurants can start with how restaurant gift cards work on Clover; salons and spas with commission splits. Support is US-based, seven days a week — 484-471-3963.