The problem
Riding lessons and pony days are popular presents at Christmas and birthdays, but paper vouchers from the office mean phone calls, posting and a book of numbers to check. Parents shopping late at night buy an experience voucher somewhere else. A school selling 150 vouchers a year by phone at 15 minutes each spends 37.5 hours a year on it, about 3.1 hours a month.
What the AI does
Square Gift Cards has no monthly fee and costs nothing to set up for digital cards. Square's page lists an eGift card ordering page that buyers pay on by card, at 1.4% + 25p for UK cards, and says cards are redeemed through Square's point of sale with no fee to redeem. Set amounts that match a lesson, a block of lessons and a pony day, link the ordering page from your website and Christmas posts, and take the card at the office's Square till when the rider comes. Lessons still need booking as usual.
A worked example
A riding school in Kent sells about 150 gift vouchers a year, averaging $60£45€54A$86C$85 about 40 of them in December. The office already takes card payments on a Square reader.
Before
About 150 vouchers a year sold by phone at 15 minutes each: about 3.1 hours a month
After
Most vouchers bought online at any hour, an assumed 30 extra a year, and about 0.6 hours a month on the few phone sales
What it's worth
About $157£118€140A$227C$222 a month, averaged over the year, against about $17£13€15A$25C$24 in card fees. That is $90£68€81A$131C$128 in profit from an assumed 30 extra vouchers a year at $60£45€54A$86C$85 ($1,796£1,350€1,607A$2,592C$2,538 a year, at an assumed 60% margin, $1,077£810€964A$1,555C$1,523 divided by 12), plus 2.5 hours a month of phone calls and posting saved at an assumed $27£20€24A$38C$38 an hour, $67£50€60A$96C$94. Card fees, if all 180 sales a year go online at 1.4% + 25p, are about 88p each, $210£158€188A$303C$297 a year, about $17£13€15A$25C$24 a month.
How to set it up
- Set up Square Gift Cards from your Square account and create eGift cards in amounts that match a lesson, a block of lessons and a pony day.
- Link the eGift ordering page from your website, Facebook page and Christmas posts.
- Write the terms: what the card can be used for, that lessons still need booking, and any age or weight limits for riders.
- Show office staff how to take a gift card at the Square till and check a balance.
- In January, check how many December cards have been booked in and plan instructor time for the rush.
What goes wrong
- Square's page says the cards don't expire, so a voucher bought now may be used after a price rise. Decide whether it buys a lesson or an amount.
- Gift cards are only redeemed through Square. If lessons are paid through a booking system, take the card at the Square till and mark the booking paid.
- The person given the voucher may not meet your age or weight limits. Say on the page how you'll handle it.