Most salons, hair salons and beauty salons sell gift vouchers around Christmas, Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. The rest of the year? They sit in a drawer. That is a missed opportunity, because gift vouchers are one of the most effective and affordable marketing tools you have all year round.
Most clients who redeem a gift voucher spend more than the amount on the voucher. They bring new faces into your salon that you would never have reached otherwise. And they generate revenue at the moment you need it most: in the quieter periods between peak months.
In this article we explain how to use gift vouchers strategically all year round, which moments lend themselves to it and how to set them up so they really work, even when it is not a holiday.
Why gift vouchers are more than a holiday tool
Gift vouchers have three properties that make them unique as a marketing tool. First, they generate cash flow at the moment of purchase, before a single treatment has been delivered. Second, they bring new clients into your salon that you would never have reached via advertising or social media. And third, redeemers on average spend more than the value of the voucher, which automatically raises the average transaction value.
Clients who redeem a gift voucher are already in the salon, they already plan to do something, and the threshold to book an extra treatment or take a product home is much lower. That uplift effect makes a gift voucher more profitable than a discount promotion: you are not giving anything away, you are attracting extra spending.
The problem is not that gift vouchers do not work outside the holidays. The problem is that most salons simply do not promote them then. They are there, but nobody knows. And what clients do not see, they do not buy.
Which moments outside the holidays work
You do not need Christmas or Mother's Day to promote a gift voucher. All year round there are moments when people look for a meaningful, personal gift and are willing to pay for it. You just have to spot them.
Birthdays
Birthdays are the biggest and most continuous gift moment of the year. Every week someone in your clients' network has a birthday. A targeted email or SMS to your client list with "Is someone having a birthday soon?" in the subject line has a surprisingly high open rate, because it connects with something the recipient is thinking about at that moment.
Anniversaries and special occasions
Wedding anniversaries, retirement, graduation, a new job: these are moments when people want to give something that means more than a standard gift. A gift voucher for a beauty salon or hair salon fits perfectly in that category. You do not have to frame it as "something for everyone", you can position it as a thoughtful, personal gift for someone who deserves to be pampered.
Seasonal transitions
Summer holidays, the start of the new school year, autumn. Every seasonal moment is an opportunity to highlight gift vouchers with a seasonal theme. "Start summer fresh" or "Give yourself a fresh start after the holidays" are simple messages that work without a real holiday being involved.
Corporate gifts
An underestimated segment: business owners and HR managers looking for corporate gifts or end-of-year gifts for their staff. A gift voucher for a hair salon or beauty salon is a valued, personal alternative to the classic bottle of wine. If you actively target this with a separate offer for businesses, you reach an audience that buys multiple vouchers in one go.
Gift vouchers as an entry point for new clients
A gift voucher someone receives is one of the warmest introductions your salon can get. The giver knows your salon, trusts it and thinks it is good enough to recommend. The recipient does not walk in as a sceptical new client, but as someone who already has a positive expectation.
That makes the first visit of a voucher holder especially valuable. If you get that first experience right, you have a strong chance they become a regular. And that starts with the first contact: make redeeming the voucher as simple as possible, via online booking or a clear phone process, without the client having to explain who they are or how the system works.
Treat a new client with a gift voucher exactly as you treat every new client: with an intake conversation, good notes in client management and CRM and automatic follow-up after the visit. They now have a reason to come back. Give them an incentive too.
Gift vouchers as a buffer in quieter periods
Every salon has quieter periods. January after the holiday rush, the summer holidays when clients are away, a weekday morning with gaps in the diary. Gift vouchers help cushion those dips in two ways.
First, they create cash flow at the moment of sale, not at the moment of redemption. If you sell vouchers in November and they are only redeemed in January, you have a double benefit: revenue in November and occupancy in January. That is exactly the combination that makes quiet months less painful.
Second, you can actively use gift vouchers alongside your waitlist. Someone who has a voucher but no appointment yet has a concrete reason to book when they are offered an opened slot via the waitlist. The motivation is already there. All you have to do is offer the moment.
Salons that actively promote gift vouchers outside the holidays see vouchers making a structural contribution to annual revenue. That is a stable income stream, not a seasonal peak.
How to organise it in practice
Gift vouchers only work if clients can find them and buy them easily. That sounds logical, but many salons only put the voucher on a card at the reception desk and leave it at that. Visibility is everything.
Available online, always
A digital gift voucher that can be purchased via your online booking system or website is available 24/7. That is exactly when people look for gifts: in the evening, at the weekend, the moment a birthday suddenly comes to mind. If they cannot buy then, they drop off.
Promote actively in your existing communication
Add a standard mention of gift vouchers to your automatic messages, in the confirmation email after an appointment, in your reminder for the next booking. Something as simple as "Did you know you can also buy our gift vouchers online?" is enough. Clients who have just had a great treatment are exactly at the moment most likely to buy one for someone else.
Track what is outstanding
A good overview of sold and redeemed vouchers is not a side issue. It is a financial obligation. Gift vouchers are prepaid revenue that you may only recognise at the moment of redemption. Via insights and analytics in Salontailor you automatically track which vouchers are still outstanding, so you are never caught out and always know what you have actually earned versus what you expect to deliver.
Conclusion: the calendar is your ally, not your limitation
Salons that only link gift vouchers to holidays leave most of the potential untapped. All year round there are moments when people want to buy a voucher, new clients who come in via a voucher and quiet weeks that can be filled with redeemers who have already paid.
The key is visibility and ease. If clients know you have vouchers and can buy them easily online, they sell themselves. You just need to set up the system properly and then reap the rewards.