When should I start planning a holiday gift card campaign?

Four weeks before the holiday. Finalize budget and headcount first, then prepare your employee list and gift card values. Create and test the batch one to two weeks ahead. Schedule delivery for your target date.

Can I schedule holiday gift card delivery for a specific date?

Yes. BatchCard's scheduled delivery lets you create the batch now and have notification emails sent at a specific date and time. Gift cards are created immediately in Shopify, but emails are held until the scheduled time. Requires the Pro plan.

How do I personalize holiday gift cards?

Use custom code prefixes (like HOLIDAY) for branding, add recipient names via spreadsheet import for personalized email notifications, and include a custom message in the notification email. Each card gets a unique code with your chosen prefix.

Holiday Gift Card Campaigns for Your Team

A holiday gift card campaign involves finalizing your headcount and budget, creating a batch of gift cards with a custom prefix like HOLIDAY25-, preparing your employee list from HR data, and scheduling email delivery for two to three business days before the holiday. The entire process takes under an hour with a bulk creation tool.

Holiday gift cards are the most common bulk use case for good reason: every employee, one reward, same timeline, minimal logistics. But "simple" doesn't mean "last minute." The difference between a smooth campaign and a stressful one comes down to planning, and this guide walks through exactly how to run it.

Planning Timeline

4 Weeks Before the Holiday

Finalize the budget. Get approval for the total amount. A simple formula: (number of employees) x (card value). Don't forget to account for new hires between now and the distribution date.

Decide on values. Common holiday gift card amounts range from $25 to $100. Some companies scale by tenure ($25 for employees under one year, $50 for one to five years, $100 for five years and above). Pick your approach and document it.

Confirm your employee list. Pull the current roster from your HR system. This is a draft. You'll finalize it closer to distribution.

Before the holiday rush, review your app options. Our gift card app comparison helps you pick the right tool for high-volume seasonal campaigns.

2 Weeks Before

Finalize the employee list. Check for departures, new hires, and employees on leave. This is the list you'll use for creation, so it needs to be current and accurate.

Prepare your spreadsheet. If using CSV import, prepare the file now. Include email addresses, amounts, and any notes. Run quality checks: no duplicates, no missing emails, correct values.

Choose a custom prefix. A prefix like HOLI25- or HOLIDAY- makes these cards instantly identifiable in your records. It also helps with year-over-year comparison when you run the same program next December.

Set up the batch. Create the gift cards and schedule delivery for the target date. By doing this two weeks early, you have time to fix any issues.

1 Week Before

Test delivery. If your tool supports it, send a test card to yourself and one or two colleagues. Confirm the email arrives, the code works, and the redemption process is smooth.

Coordinate the announcement. If your CEO or HR lead is sending a company-wide email to accompany the gift cards, align the timing. The announcement should go out slightly before or simultaneously with the gift card delivery.

Prepare a backup plan. What if email delivery fails for some employees? Have a process ready: maybe a direct message with the code, or a printed code in their next paycheck.

Distribution Day

Monitor delivery. Check that all emails were sent. Follow up immediately on any failures.

Handle late additions. Someone inevitably gets added last minute ("We forgot about the contractor team"). Have a process to create and deliver individual cards quickly.

Personalizing with Custom Prefixes

Custom code prefixes add a human-readable tag to every gift card code in the batch. This serves two purposes:

Organization. Months later, when you're looking at gift card data, HOLIDAY25-a3f9-b2c8-d4e7 immediately tells you what the card was for. A random code doesn't.

Year-over-year tracking. Use a prefix that includes the year: HOL24-, HOL25-, HOL26-. This lets you compare program metrics across years without digging into batch metadata.

Keep prefixes to 6-8 characters. They're a label, not a sentence. See our guide on code management best practices for more on prefix strategy.

Scheduling Delivery

Scheduled delivery is essential for holiday campaigns. It lets you create cards now and deliver them later, all at the exact same moment.

Choosing the Right Date and Time

Don't deliver on the actual holiday. December 25th delivery means the email competes with family time. Deliver 2-3 business days before the holiday instead.
Morning delivery works best. Cards delivered at 9:00 AM feel like the first thing of the day. Cards delivered at 4:45 PM feel like an afterthought.
Account for time zones. If your team spans multiple time zones, pick a time that falls during business hours for the majority. 11:00 AM Eastern (8:00 AM Pacific) works for most North American teams.

What to Include in the Delivery

The delivery email should feel warm but not overwrought:

A clear subject line: "Your Holiday Gift Card from [Company Name]"
The gift card code and value
A link to your store for redemption
Brief, genuine appreciation (two sentences, not a paragraph)

The company-wide holiday message from leadership goes in a separate email. The gift card delivery should stand on its own.

Handling Remote Employees

Remote and distributed teams don't get the benefit of in-person celebrations. Gift cards bridge this gap, but a few adjustments help:

Email delivery is the default. No office mail room, no desk drop. Email works for everyone regardless of location.

Confirm email addresses. Remote employees sometimes use personal email or have different email setups than office-based staff. Verify that the email in your HR system is the one they actually check.

Consider local holidays. If your team spans multiple countries, the holiday calendar varies. December 25th isn't a holiday everywhere. Adjust timing or messaging to be inclusive.

Follow up individually. In an office, you can tell if someone didn't get their card because they'll mention it at the coffee machine. Remote teams don't have that visibility. Proactively follow up a few days after delivery to ensure everyone received theirs.

After the Campaign

Export and Archive

Export the batch immediately after creation. Store the export file securely. This is your record for financial reporting, tax documentation, and resolving any "I didn't get my card" situations.

Track Redemption

Check redemption rates at 30, 60, and 90 days. For holiday gift cards, expect most redemption in January (people shopping after the holidays). If redemption stays below 70% after 90 days, send a reminder.

Collect Feedback

A two-question survey after the holidays tells you everything you need:

Did you receive your gift card? (Catches delivery issues)
How would you rate this as a holiday reward? (1-5 scale)

Use the feedback to improve next year's program.

Document for Next Year

Write a one-page rundown: what you did, what worked, what didn't, and what to change. Include the timeline, the values, the batch naming convention, and any issues. Future you (or your successor) will appreciate it.

For a broader view of employee gift card programs, see our complete guide to employee gift card programs. See how other merchants run holiday campaigns with BatchCard. For step-by-step instructions on creating your first batch, check out the getting started guide and the scheduling delivery guide.