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Gift Cards

VMX tracks every gift card in one system: cards sold at the register, cards imported from a previous point-of-sale, and (for stores with a VMX webstore) e-gift cards purchased online. Each card carries a card number, an issued amount, and a running balance, and every sale and redemption is tied to a receipt.

All gift card operations at the register live under the Gift Card... button in the register button panel. Clicking it opens a small menu with Pay With, Sell/Return, and Usage History. (On some stores' registers this button is labeled $ - Gift Card instead — same menu.)

Store credit works very similarly but is issued from returns rather than sold — see the Store Credit page.

Sell (activate) a gift card

To sell a gift card at the register:

  1. Type the gift card amount into the register input (for example 50.00 for a $50 card).
  2. Click Gift Card... in the button panel, then Sell/Return.
  3. At the Scan gift card barcode: prompt, scan the barcode on the physical card (or key in its card number). The accepted card-number format is configured per store by VMX; if you scan a card and see INVALID GC # FORMAT, the code doesn't match your store's card format — check that you scanned the gift card and not a product barcode.
  4. The gift card appears on the sale as a line item (e.g. "50.00 Gift Card" with the card number). Take payment with any tender as usual.
  5. The card is activated when the sale is completed. The card number prints on the receipt.

Things to know when selling gift cards:

  • Gift cards are not taxed.
  • Sell one card at a time — quantity must be 1 (the register shows GC QUANTITY MUST BE 1 otherwise). To sell several cards, repeat the amount + Sell/Return steps for each card.
  • If the register shows GC ... ALREADY ISSUED or the sale fails with "A live gift card already exists with code ...", that card number is already active with a balance. Use a different card, or see "Add value to an existing card (reload)" below.
  • If you see GC ... ALREADY ON SALE, that same card is already on the current sale.
  • Some stores are configured to require a customer on the sale before selling a gift card (CUSTOMER REQUIRED), or to require a note on each gift card line.

Redeem a gift card (pay with a gift card)

To take a gift card as payment:

  1. Ring up the customer's items as usual.
  2. For a split tender (only part of the sale on the gift card), first type the dollar amount to charge to the card. To use the card for the whole remaining balance due, type nothing.
  3. Click Gift Card... in the button panel, then Pay With.
  4. At the Enter the GIFT CARD number (or blank for no number): prompt, scan the card or key in its number. For e-gift cards bought on your webstore, key in the code from the emailed gift certificate (these codes start with a "V").
  5. The tender is applied. The receipt shows the card number and the card's remaining balance after this use.

Things to know when redeeming:

  • If the card doesn't cover the amount, the register tells you exactly what it did: "The card balance ($10.00) is less than $25.00. Using $10.00" — it applies the full card balance and leaves the rest as balance due for another tender.
  • If the register says "Couldn't find gift card # ...", the number doesn't match any card in the system. Re-scan or re-key it; if it still isn't found and the customer insists the card is valid, check it on the Reports → Accounts → Gift Cards report or contact a manager.
  • Proceeding without a card number is possible at most stores (the register asks "Are you sure you want to continue without a gift card number?"), but then no card balance is deducted — only use this if your manager tells you to. Some stores disable this entirely (Card number required.).
  • A gift card can be used across multiple visits until its balance reaches zero.

Check a gift card balance

The quickest way to check a balance at the register:

  1. Click Gift Card... in the button panel, then Usage History.
  2. At the Enter GC number: prompt, scan or key in the card number.
  3. A Print? dialog pops up showing the card's history: Current balance, when the card was issued (receipt number and date), and every receipt it was used on. Click OK to print the history on the receipt printer for the customer, or Cancel to just dismiss it.

If the card exists but was never sold, the history shows NOT YET ISSUED. If the number doesn't match any card, you'll see "Gift Card not found."

You can also look up any card's balance and full history back-office on Reports → Accounts → Gift Cards — see the Gift Cards report page.

Return a gift card (refund a card the customer bought)

To take back a gift card and refund the customer:

  1. Click Return Item (so the register is in return mode). Do not type an amount — the register shows DONT ENTER AMOUNT FOR GC RETURN if you do; the refund amount comes from the card itself.
  2. Click Gift Card..., then Sell/Return.
  3. At the Enter GC # to refund prompt, scan or key in the card number.
  4. The card's balance is refunded as a negative line on the sale, and the card is zeroed out when the sale completes. Refund the money with whatever tender your store's policy calls for.

If the card has been partially used, most stores block the return and show GC ISSUED: 50.00 BALANCE: 32.50 (the original amount and what's left). A few stores are configured by VMX to allow returning a partially-used card for its remaining balance — if your store needs that, contact help@vmxllc.com.

Refund onto a new gift card

When you're refunding a customer (any return with money owed back), you can put the refund on a gift card instead of cash:

  1. Complete the return so the sale shows a negative balance due.
  2. Type the refund amount, click Gift Card..., then Pay With.
  3. Leave the card-number prompt blank (and confirm when the register asks "Are you sure you want to continue without a gift card number?"). The register then asks: "Need GC# for return. Issue new 25.00 Gift Card instead?" — click OK and a new gift card for the refund amount is added to the sale. (Stores configured to always require a gift card number at the prompt can't leave it blank — see "Redeem a gift card" above.)
  4. Complete the sale and give the customer the receipt (it carries the new card number), or a physical card if you activated one.

Alternatively, issue store credit tied to the customer's account instead of an anonymous gift card.

Add value to an existing card (reload)

By default, a gift card number can only be sold once — selling a card that still has a balance is blocked with GC ... ALREADY ISSUED. Reloading (topping up) an existing card — selling the same card number again so the new amount is added to its current balance — is enabled per-client by VMX. If you'd like your registers to support reloading gift cards, contact help@vmxllc.com.

Where reloading is enabled, the flow is identical to selling a card: enter the amount, Gift Card... → Sell/Return, scan the card. The new amount is added on top of the card's existing balance when the sale completes.

Gift cards sold on your webstore (e-gift cards)

Stores with a VMX webstore can sell gift cards online. Depending on how your shop is configured, customers can buy an e-gift card (a gift certificate emailed to the recipient, optionally on a scheduled delivery date) and in some cases order a physical card. Online-sold cards land in the same gift card system as register-sold cards:

  • The emailed certificate carries a card code (starting with "V"). The recipient can print it or show it on their phone.
  • Staff redeem it exactly like any other gift card: Gift Card... → Pay With, then key in the code.
  • Online sales appear on the Gift Card Activity report like register sales.

Webstore gift card sales (and whether e-gift, physical, or both are offered) are configured per-client by VMX — contact help@vmxllc.com to set up or change online gift card sales.

Import, update, or export gift cards in bulk (Gift Card Import/Export tool)

Admins can bulk-load and maintain gift cards from a spreadsheet using the Gift Card Import/Export tool: go to Admin → Tool Box and open Gift Card Import/Export (under Customers & Gift Cards). This is the tool for migrating cards from a previous point-of-sale system, correcting balances in bulk, or downloading all card data. It requires admin access.

The tool has three tabs:

Import New (load gift cards from a file)

  1. On the Import New tab, upload a CSV or Excel (.xlsx) file — drag it onto Drop file here or click to select and click Upload File.
  2. On the Map Columns step, match your file's columns to the fields. Required: Card Code (the unique card number) and Balance. Optional: Issue Amount, Type ("Gift Card" or "Store Credit"), Customer # (for store credits), Note, Expiration Date, and Legacy ID.
  3. Click Validate & Preview. Every row is checked; the preview shows counts of rows ready to import, errors, and warnings. All errors must be resolved before importing.
  4. Optionally tick Dry Run - Simulate without making changes to rehearse the import with no changes.
  5. Click Import Gift Cards. A progress bar and import log show results row by row, with a summary of successful and failed records at the end.

Update Balances (bulk-change existing cards)

  1. On the Update Balances tab, upload a CSV or Excel file containing card codes plus the fields you want to change.
  2. On the Map Columns step, map Card Code plus at least one field to change: New Balance, Expiration Date, or Note. (To update expiration dates without touching balances, map only Card Code and Expiration Date.)
  3. If you mapped New Balance, choose the Update Mode: Set Balance (Exact Value) replaces each card's balance with the value in your file; Adjust Balance (+/-) adds or subtracts the value (e.g. +25.00 or -10.00) from the current balance.
  4. Click Validate & Preview, review the Current Balance → New Balance changes, optionally tick Dry Run, then click Execute Updates.

Export (download card data as CSV)

On the Export tab, choose a Type Filter (Both Gift Cards & Store Credits, Gift Cards Only, or Store Credits Only), a Balance Filter (All Balances, Non-Zero Only, or Zero Balance Only), an optional date range and customer number, then click Export to CSV. Useful for periodic backups or handing data to your accountant.

Gift card reports

Back-office reporting on gift cards lives under Reports → Accounts:

  • Gift Cards — every card with its balance, issue details, last use, and expiration. Also reachable as Store Credits (same page filtered to store credits).
  • Gift Card Activity — a date-range feed of every card issued and redeemed.

Both are covered in detail on the Gift Cards report page. Your Z-report also prints a GIFT CARDS section summarizing cards issued or returned in that register session.