What are Groovio gift cards?
A Groovio gift card is a digital card with a balance that a student can spend at your studio. Every card has a unique code that looks like this: GC-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX.
Gift cards can be:
Sold by your team at the front desk (cash, EFTPOS, saved card, wallet and other payment methods)
Bought online by students on the student web app or mobile app
Created in bulk for markets, events, raffles and promotions
Used as payment at checkout, either on their own or together with another payment method
Moved into a student's wallet, if the student would rather have wallet credit
Note: The offline payment option that used to be called "Gift Card" is now called "Paper voucher". It works exactly as before. "Gift Card" now always means a digital Groovio gift card.
Step 1: Turn on gift cards
In the left menu, go to Gift Cards.
Scroll down to Settings.
Turn on Gift cards enabled.
Choose your settings:
Allow students to buy online: turn this off if you only want to sell cards at the desk.
Amounts: choose Preset amounts only, Custom amounts only, or Preset amounts and custom amounts.
Preset amounts, for example 25, 50, 100, 200
Minimum amount and Maximum amount for custom amounts (leave blank for no limit)
Expiry (months): how long a new card stays valid. The legal minimum is 36 months (60 months for US studios). A change only applies to cards created after you save it.
Terms: your gift card terms and conditions, shown to buyers.
Click Save settings.
Until gift cards are switched on, students can't buy or use them and your team can't sell new ones.
Staff permissions
There are two staff permissions under Roles:
Permission | What it allows |
Gift Cards | Sell gift cards, check balances, view the gift card list, resend emails, assign cards and move a card's balance to a wallet |
Gift Cards- Manage | Everything above, plus change settings, bulk-create cards, export batches, void cards and adjust balances |
Studio owners always have full access.
Step 2: Sell a gift card at the front desk
Go to Gift Cards and click Sell gift card.
Choose a preset amount or enter a custom amount.
Enter the Recipient name, and optionally their email, phone, who it's From, and a Message.
Choose how to deliver the card:
Email to recipient: choose Send now, or Schedule it for a later date (good for birthdays and Christmas).
Print / hand over: no email is sent. Write down or print the code and give it to the recipient.
Choose the Payment method: cash, EFTPOS, bank transfer, virtual terminal, Square, Venmo, other, a student's wallet, or a student's saved card.
For wallet or saved card payments, choose whose wallet or card pays.
A platform fee may apply to card payments, the same as other card sales.
Click Sell. The new code is shown on screen. Use Copy code to copy it, Open card to view it, or Sell another.
Tip: If your connection drops while you're selling, press Sell again. The student won't be charged twice.
Step 3: Let students buy gift cards online
When Allow students to buy online is on, students can buy gift cards themselves:
Student web app: on your studio page there is a Gift cards section with a Buy or redeem button.
Mobile app: in Profile, tap Gift Cards.
The gift card page has three tabs:
Buy a gift card: choose an amount, enter the recipient's details and a message, then choose how to deliver it:
Email it to the recipient
Send it on a specific date
I'll give it to them myself (we email the code to the buyer)
Redeem / check: enter a code to see its balance, or move it to their wallet.
My gift cards: every card the student has bought or received at your studio, with the balance, expiry date and delivery status.
Students pay by card. Any platform fee is shown in the payment summary before they pay. The money goes to your studio's connected Stripe account, the same as other online purchases.
The recipient gets an email with the code and a link to your studio's gift card page.
Step 4: Use a gift card at checkout
Students and staff can use a gift card as payment. Enter the code in the Gift card box at checkout and click Apply.
If the card covers the whole total, there is nothing else to pay.
If the card doesn't cover everything, the rest is paid with the usual payment method (card, wallet, or an offline method at the desk).
Students and staff can choose to use less than the full balance. The rest stays on the card for next time.
Where gift cards can be used
The cart (student and staff)
Retail orders (online and at the desk)
Classes, drop-ins and trials
Packages and memberships (the first purchase)
Services, including extra attendees
Where gift cards can't be used
Payment plans (EMI) and deferred first payments
Paying with package or membership credits
Partial payments or deposits
Bank debit (BECS/ACH) payments and "pay later" or owing balances
Membership auto-renewals and instalments
Late cancellation and no-show fees
Wallet top-ups (but a student can move a gift card balance into their wallet instead)
Online retail orders paid by wallet, bank or pay on pickup. Online, a gift card can only be combined with a card payment for retail.
Good to know: If a card payment is needed for the rest of the total, it can't be under $0.50 (Stripe's minimum). Groovio automatically uses a little less of the gift card so the card payment is at least $0.50. The platform fee is only charged on the part paid by card, not the gift card part.
Check a gift card's balance
On the Gift Cards page, use Check a code. Type the full code (GC-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) and click Check to see its balance, status and expiry date.
Students can check their own cards under Redeem / check or My gift cards.
Manage a gift card
Click any card in the list (or Open card) to see its details and its full History: every sale, spend, refund, adjustment and wallet transfer.
From the card you can:
Action | What it does |
Resend | Send the gift card email again. You can change the recipient email first. |
Assign to a student | Link the card to a student. You can also lock it so only that student can use it. |
Unlock | Remove the lock so anyone with the code can use it. |
Reassign | Move the card to a different student. This removes any lock. |
Move to wallet | Move all or part of the balance into a student's wallet. |
Adjust balance (Manage) | Add (positive) or remove (negative) balance. A reason is required. |
Void (Manage) | Cancel a card. Only cards that have never been used can be voided. |
What happens when you void a card
Bought online by a student: the purchase is refunded in full to their card.
Paid from a wallet: the amount goes back to the purchaser's wallet.
Paid by cash, EFTPOS or another offline method: nothing is refunded automatically. Refund the buyer yourself if needed.
Card statuses
Status | Meaning |
Active | Not used yet |
Partially redeemed | Some of the balance has been used |
Redeemed | The balance is fully used |
Expired | Past its expiry date |
Voided | Cancelled by the studio |
You can filter the list by status, or search by code, recipient or purchaser.
Bulk create gift cards (Manage)
Use this for markets, events, giveaways or prize packs.
On the Gift Cards page, click Bulk create.
Enter How many (1 to 500), the amount, a Batch label (for example "Christmas market 2026"), and how the cards were Paid by (cash, EFTPOS or other).
Click Create cards.
Click Export CSV to download the list of codes, amounts and expiry dates to print or share.
Moving a gift card to the wallet
A student can move their gift card balance into their wallet at your studio. They can move all of it or just part of it. Your team can also do this from the card's details using Move to wallet.
Once it's in the wallet, it works like any other wallet credit.
Refunds
When you refund a purchase that was paid partly or fully with a gift card:
Refund to the original payment method: the gift card part goes back onto the gift card, and the rest goes back to the card or wallet as usual. For partial refunds, the card or cash part is refunded first and the gift card part last.
If the gift card has expired, the gift card part goes to the student's wallet instead.
Refunds that always go to the wallet (a student cancelling their own booking, removing a student from a class, deleting a schedule) refund the whole amount to the wallet, the same as card-paid bookings.
Voiding a transaction that used a gift card puts the gift card amount back on the card.
Expiry and reminders
Each card gets an expiry date based on your Expiry (months) setting when it's created.
The recipient is emailed a reminder 30 days and 7 days before the card expires.
Cards expire automatically overnight on their expiry date. Any unused balance is shown as expired.
Reporting and accounting
Gift cards are counted as revenue when they're sold, the same as a wallet top-up.
Sales appear in your transaction history, End of Day report and dashboard revenue as a "Gift card" purchase.
Spending a gift card is not counted as revenue again. In the End of Day report, a purchase paid with a gift card shows the gift card part as a separate Gift Card payment row that isn't counted as revenue.
Moving a card to the wallet isn't counted as revenue either.
Xero: gift card sales sync with the item code GIFTCARD. Purchases paid with a gift card only sync the amount paid by other methods. Sales paid from a wallet don't sync again, because the wallet top-up was already counted.
The top of the Gift Cards page shows:
Tile | Meaning |
Total sold | Number of cards sold (not counting voided cards) |
Sold amount | Total value of cards sold |
Active cards | Cards with a balance still available |
Outstanding liability | The unspent balance on all live cards: what your studio still owes in classes and products |
Total redeemed | How much has been spent using gift cards |
FAQs
Can a gift card be used at another studio? No. A gift card only works at the studio that issued it.
Can a student use more than one gift card on one purchase? No, one gift card per checkout. They can move extra cards into their wallet and pay the rest with wallet credit.
The student lost their code. What do I do? Search for the card on the Gift Cards page by the recipient or purchaser's name, then Resend the email or copy the code from the card's details.
Can I change the amount on a card? Yes, with the Gift Cards- Manage permission. Use Adjust balance and enter a reason.
Someone bought the wrong amount online. Can I refund it? If the card has never been used, Void it and the student is refunded in full. If it has been used, it can't be voided. Use Adjust balance or contact support.
Why can't I void a card? Only cards that have never been used can be voided. Once any balance has been spent, held or moved, voiding is turned off.
Is SMS delivery available? Not yet. Cards are delivered by email or handed over in person.