Sending a gift card lets your practice issue a prepaid credit directly to a patient without them buying anything first. It's a fast way to make good on a service issue, reward a loyal patient, or gift a VIP without running a transaction. You send gift cards from Payments > Gift Cards in Aesthetix CRM.
Sending a gift card creates a one-time, prepaid credit and delivers it to a chosen recipient by email, SMS, PDF, or QR code, without requiring the contact to purchase it first. This is different from a patient buying a gift card themselves at checkout: here, your practice issues the value directly.
Redemption happens on any Aesthetix CRM checkout that accepts gift cards, including your store, funnels, forms, invoices, payment links, and calendars where products are attached. The Send flow currently works only in Live Mode, so every gift card you send is real and fully redeemable (Test Mode support is planned for a future release).
Service recovery: Issue a gift card instead of a manual refund or credit when a patient had a scheduling mishap or a treatment didn't meet expectations.
Loyalty and rewards: Thank patients for referrals, milestones, or renewing a membership or package.
Promotions and gifting: Run giveaways, holiday gifting, influencer partnerships, or VIP perks.
Bulk manual distribution: Gift a prepaid balance to VIP patients or event attendees.
Internal testing: Your team can test the redemption flow on a live checkout before rolling out a promotion.
Confirm the following first:
A Gift Card Product exists in your store.
The Gift Card Product is Active (not Deactivated or Archived).
The recipient has either a valid email address or a phone number on file (for SMS delivery). Without one of these, no delivery method is available and the send cannot go through.
Log in to your Aesthetix CRM account.
Go to Payments > Gift Cards.
Create a Gift Card or select an existing one from the All Gift Cards list.
On the gift card you want to send, click the Send button to enter the Send flow.
Select an existing contact from your list, or Add a Contact before sending.
Click Continue.
Write a custom greeting, special instructions, or a note of appreciation, choose from a pre-populated message, or generate one with Write with AI. Click Continue.
Choose one of the preset dollar amounts configured for the gift card product.
Only methods supported by the recipient's contact information (email or phone) will be enabled. Pick one:
SMS
QR Code (delivered via email)
PDF (delivered via email)
A gift card's available delivery window is determined by its expiry settings. If the gift card has an expiry date, the delivery date must fall between today and that expiry date. If it has no expiry date, it can be scheduled for any future date.
Choose one of the following:
A preset: deliver immediately, tomorrow, or after one week.
A custom future date.
Click Continue.
Before confirming, review the automatically generated email or SMS preview, which includes the gift card amount, your custom message, expiry date, redemption instructions, and artwork. Click Send Gift Card.
Method | What the recipient gets |
|---|---|
Full visual gift card with artwork, plus expiry, balance, and a redemption link. Recommended for most cases. | |
SMS | A clean text message with the gift card link. No artwork, due to SMS formatting limits. |
PDF (via email) | A downloadable, printable PDF. Good for in-store gifting, physical wrapping, or events. |
QR Code (via email) | A scannable code that opens the gift card. Handy for in-person gifting or events. |
Once sent, the gift card appears under Payments > Gift Cards > Gift Card Orders.
Each Gift Card Order shows:
Recipient details
Delivery method
Delivery timestamp
Denomination
Expiry
Remaining balance
Status: Scheduled, Active, or Inactive
A hidden gift card code
Redemption of a sent gift card runs through whatever checkout the patient uses, your store, a funnel, a form, an invoice, or a calendar with products attached. Make sure your practice's payment provider is set up correctly for those checkouts. AX Pay is Aesthetix CRM's own built-in payment provider and offers better rates than Stripe. See the AX Pay article for setup details.
The Send flow works only in Live Mode.
You can send one gift card to one customer at a time. Bulk sending is planned for a future release.
No payment is collected in the Send flow, this is a direct issuance, not a sale.
Directly sent gift cards do not appear under Payments > Orders since there's no transaction. Only purchased gift cards show up there; sent cards live exclusively under Gift Card Orders.
Gift cards issued via Send are fully redeemable everywhere gift cards are accepted, and can be used fully or partially.
You must have the recipient's email or phone number on file to deliver a gift card.
The email and SMS templates used for delivery are system-generated and not currently editable.
The recipient always sees your practice's business information as configured in the email/SMS templates. Anonymous sending isn't available yet.
For setting up the Gift Card product itself, denominations, and how patients purchase gift cards at checkout, see your Payments collection guides on products and checkout setup.
When will a scheduled gift card actually be delivered? At 12:00 AM (midnight) on the delivery date you selected.
Can I send gift cards while my account is in Test Mode? Not yet. The Send flow only works in Live Mode. Test Mode support is planned for a future release.
Why can't I send a gift card to a particular patient? The contact must have a valid email address or a valid phone number on file. If neither is present, no delivery method is available and you won't be able to send.
Can I send the same gift card to multiple patients at once? Not currently. Each Send flow issues one gift card to one customer. Bulk sending is planned for a future release.
Are gift cards I send redeemable everywhere? Yes. They work on any checkout that supports gift card redemption, including your store, funnels, forms, invoices, payment links, and calendars where products are supported.
What state is a gift card in before its scheduled delivery time arrives? It stays in a Scheduled state, but it's already active and valid for use even before the delivery timestamp hits.
Can a patient redeem a scheduled gift card before its official delivery time? Yes. If someone has the gift card code, it will work at checkout even before the scheduled delivery time.
Can I customize the email or SMS message template before sending? Not currently. Templates are system-generated. Editable email and SMS templates are planned for a future release.
Do gift cards I send show up under Payments > Orders? No. Only purchased gift cards appear there. Sent gift cards appear exclusively under Gift Card Orders.
Can I send a gift card without revealing my practice's identity? Not currently. The recipient always sees your practice's business information as set in the delivery templates.
