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Why Digital Gift Cards Fail (And How to Fix Them)

December 17, 2025

Brought to you by UpStage’s CEO, Drew McManus

Gift cards for arts and culture experiences should be an easy revenue win. Yet most organizations struggle because traditional systems create friction at every step.

The Real Problem

We’ve all seen it: buyers forced to create accounts, recipients juggling redemption codes, and staff digging through order lists to resend lost emails. Every point of friction costs revenue and damages relationships.

When we designed digital gift cards, we started with a different question: What would it take to make gifting effortless?

The answer became very straightforward: don’t build a gift card, removed every reason not to give one.

Three Stakeholders, Zero Friction

  1. For Buyers: No account required. Choose an amount ($20-$5,000), add recipient details, write a message, schedule delivery. Done in under a minute.
  2. For Recipients: One email, one link, one click. No codes to copy. No verification steps. Credit appears automatically at checkout and never expires. Want to pass it along? Just forward the email.
  3. For Staff: A dedicated dashboard where every problem gets solved in seconds. Resend emails, fix typos, check status, all at a glance. Turn support calls into customer service wins.

Why This Matters

Smart design isn’t about offering features like some sort of checklist. It’s about removing reasons to hesitate.

You want a platform that identifies every friction point so they can be eliminated: account creation, redemption codes, credit expiration, complex support workflows, translates directly to more completed purchases and happier patrons.

Once those hurdles are removed, giving feels natural, everything else follows: deeper engagement, increased revenue, stronger community connections.

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