Creating Card Types

After Configuring Stores, you then create the gift card types. Use the Gift Card Setup wizard to add, edit, or delete gift card types. A card type has a unique name, and user defined settings that control how Aloha POS handles the gift card. You can create one gift card type for your company, or create several with unique characteristics aimed at different markets.

Refer to Working with Card Setup Wizard for more detailed information on the Gift Card Setup wizard.

To add an Aloha Stored Value card:

1.	Select Hosted Solutions Group > Card Setup.

2.	Click Add.

3.	Type a unique name for the card.

4.	Type an optional description for the card.

5.	Select the card prefix from the drop-down list.

6.	Select either This card is redeemable in all stores or This card is redeemable by the specified group. If you select the later option, select the appropriate replication group from the drop-down list.

7.	Select Stored Value for the card type.

If you are licensed for both Stored Value and Loyalty, you can make a combination card, allowing your customers the benefits of a gift card and a customer loyalty program.

8.	Select the Stored Value Settings tab.

9.

Select for Prompt for card purchase value, if the customer can specify the amount to put on the gift card. You can optionally select ‘Allow customer to add value to the card’ to allow a customer to add additional value to the card at a later time. If you select this option, do not enter an expiration date on the Date Settings tab. This option is only available when you select ‘Prompt for card purchase value.’

OR

Select Card purchase value is set to, if you want to designate the value of the gift card and type the amount in the corresponding text box.

10.	If you are allowing a customer to add value to this gift card type, select No Expiration Date; otherwise, select Expires On and specify the date on which the card type expires or select Expires In and specify the number of days after the sale of the gift card that the gift card expires.

11.	Select Allow Cards to be redeemed X days after expiration to allow customers to continue using the card after expiration. If you allow redemption of expired gift cards, enter the number of days after expiration the customer can redeem the gift card.

12.	Type the beginning sales dates in the ‘Cards can be sold starting on’ text box.

13.	Type the date to stop selling the card in the ‘Cards cannot be sold after’ text box. This step is optional.

14.	Type the date on which the card becomes available for redemption in the ‘Cards can be redeemed starting on’ text box.

15.	Select a MemberLink ePin validation setting. You can require an ePin for all cards to access MemberLink, require an ePin for cards within a range, or not require an ePin.

16.	Select a remaining card balance setting for the Stored Value card. You can choose to adjust card balance and not give cash back, give balance of card back as cash, or to not adjust card balance or give cash back. If you select the last option, the POS reports the unused balance as Not Redeemed.

17.	Continue to the next procedure, Adding a service charge, if applicable. Service charges are not legal in all states; check your local laws to determine if service charges are legal.

Adding a service charge:

1.	Select the Stored Value Service Charge tab.

2.	Select Service Charge.

3.	Read and answer the confirmation prompt appropriately.

4.	Type the amount to deduct from the gift card as a service charge.

5.	Select If the card is unused for ( ) ( ) to apply a service charge when the customer does not use the gift card for a preset amount of time. If you select this option, you can elect to reset the service charge interval once the customer uses the card.

OR

Select ( ) ( ) after the card is originally sold to apply a service charge based on the number of days after the original gift card sale.

6.

Type the date that the service charge takes effect in the ‘Begin Service Charge on’ text box. The date defaults to the current date of business; however, this setting is retroactive for existing gift cards. The system will look to see if any gift cards meet the service charge criteria and apply the service charge appropriately on gift cards already purchased.

7.	Select Store where most recent sale/add value occurred to apply the service charge to the store where the most recent transaction took place.

OR

Select Selected Store to apply the service charge to a single store and then select the store from the drop-down list.

8.	Select All Stores, if all your stores can apply service charges to gift cards sold.

Please check your local and state laws before enabling service charges for cards sold in all stores.

OR

Select Stores in this Replication Group, if you have stores in states that cannot charge service charges. You can create a replication group that contains the stores that can charge a service charge.

9.	Click Save.

After creating your card types, continue to Setting up Aloha POS.

Setting up Aloha POS

After Creating Gift Card Types, you must configure a gift card item and a gift card tender. When Aloha Insight support installs Stored Value, they configure all your settings except:

1.	Creating a Gift Card Item.

2.	Assigning a Gift Card Item to a Category.

3.	Creating a Gift Card Tender.

4.	Creating a Gift Card Balance Query.

Use the corresponding set of instructions for versions of Aloha 5.2.7.xx and higher. Contact your Aloha representative for instructions regarding versions of Aloha 5.2.5.xx or lower, and the specific versions of Aloha POS certified with Aloha Stored Value.

If you are using CDM, you can create the item and the tender and update your stores.

Creating a Gift Card Item

First create the gift card item, and then add the item to a button to appear on the FOH.

To create a gift card item:

1.	Log in to Aloha Back-of-House.

2.	Select Maintenance > Menu > Items.

3.	Type an unused number in the Number drop-down list. Do not use a number between 30100 and 30299 as an ID number for your gift card item.

4.	Press Enter on your keyboard.

5.	Type Gift Card in the ‘Short Name,’ ‘Chit Name,’ and ‘Long Name’ text boxes.

6.	Select the appropriate Primary Tax.

You must attach a tax record to all items. Generally, gift cards are not taxable items; therefore, select a tax record without a tax percentage. You may need to create a “no tax” record, if one does not already exist. Refer to your Table Service or Quick Service Reference Guide for more information regarding taxes.

7.	Select Price.

8.	Type the price of the gift card if it is a pre-denominated card; otherwise, leave it at zero for open-value cards and add value cards.

9.	Select Miscellaneous.

10.	Select Gift Card, but do not select ‘Ask for Price’ and ‘Ask for Description.’

11.	Select Print.

12.	Select Print on Check.

13.	Click Save

To display the gift card item in the Table Service Front-of House:

1.	Select Maintenance > Menu > Submenus.

2.	Select the submenu to contain the gift card item.

3.	Double-click an available position. The Submenu Item dialog box appears.

4.	Select the gift card item from the ‘Item’ drop-down list.

5.

Click OK.

6.	Repeat steps 3 through 5 until you add all necessary gift cards.

7.	Click Save.

After adding the gift card item to the submenu, verify you can access the gift card item on the submenu in the FOH.

Refer to the Aloha Table Service User Guide and the Aloha Quick Service User Guide for more information on creating the Front-of-House buttons to sell and redeem a gift card.

To display the gift card item in the Quick Service Front-of-House:

1.	Access Panel Editor.

2.	From the Commands menu, select Open Existing Panel > Button Functions to place the buttons on an existing panel.

3.	Select a panel containing menu items.

4.

Click OK.

5.	Select New Button from the Commands menu. The Edit Buttons - Quick Service dialog box appears.

6.	Select Order Item from the Function drop-down list.

7.	Select the gift card item from the ‘Item’ list box.

8.	Complete the text, background, and bitmap options using the Preview window as a guide.

9.	Click OK to return to the panel with the new button.

10.	Repeat Steps 5 through 9 until you add all necessary gift cards to the panel.

11.	Select Save All Panels from the Commands menu and exit the Panel Editor function.

Refer to the Aloha Table Service User Guide and the Aloha Quick Service User Guide for more information on creating the Front-of-House buttons to sell and redeem a gift card.

Continue to Assigning a Gift Card Item to a Category.

Assigning a Gift Card Item to a Category

You must assign all items to a category.

To assign a gift card to a category:

1.	Select Maintenance > Menu > Categories to display the Categories function tab.

2.	Select the category and press Enter.

3.	Select the gift card item from the right list box.

To select multiple items in a row, hold down the Shift key, select the first item and the last item to include in the category.

4.	Click Include. The items appear in the left list box.

5.	Click Save and exit the Category function.

Continue to Creating a Gift Card Tender.

Creating a Gift Card Tender

When you create a gift card tender, you perform the following:

•	Establish gift card tender properties.

•	Define the gift card host.

•	Establish how you authorize gift cards.

•	Add the tender to the Front-of-House (FOH) terminal.

To establish gift card tender properties:

1.	Log in to Aloha Back-of-House.

2.	Select Maintenance > Payments > Tenders.

3.	Enter an unused number.

4.	Press Enter.

5.	Type Gift Card in the Name text box.

6.	Type an available button position on the FOH Close screen or select First Available Button to allow the system to place the tender button in the first available position of the FOH Close screen. Refer to Adding a Tender Button in Quick Service, to add a tender button in Panel Editor.

7.	Click Save.

8.	Select Gift Card from the Report As drop-down list.

9.	Select Active.

10.	Select Track.

11.	Select Allow Tips to enable you to apply part of the gift card amount to tips; otherwise, the tip must be paid with cash.

12.	Type the Maximum Tip % to specify how much of the gift card you can apply to tips.

13.	Type the Tip Refund% to recover a percentage of credit card tips from employees to cover the standard credit card processing fees, if necessary.

To define the gift card host:

1.	Select Type.

2.	Select Gift Card.

3.	Select Aloha Stored Value from the adjacent drop-down list.

4.	Select Expiration to automatically prompt for an expiration date, if necessary.

5.	Select Verify Expiration to check the expiration date against the system date for verification, if necessary.

6.	Select Print Expiration to print the expiration date on the guest check, if necessary.

To establish how you authorize gift cards:

1.	Select the Identification subtab.

2.	Select Require Identification.

3.	Type GC# in the Prompt text box.

4.	Type the maximum number of digits for the gift card in the ‘Maximum Length’ text box.

5.	Select Print on Check.

6.	Select Numeric Only.

7.	Click Save.

Adding a Tender Button in Table Service

When you create the tender, select the button position or use the ‘First Available Button’ feature to display the tender on the Tender screen.

Adding a Tender Button in Quick Service

To display the gift card tender in the Front-of-House on Quick Service:

1.	Select Maintenance > Menu > Panel Editor.

2.	From the Commands menu, select Open Existing Panel > Button Functions to place the buttons on an existing panel.

3.	Select a panel containing tenders and click OK.

4.	Select New Button from the Commands menu. The Edit Buttons - Quick Service dialog box appears.

5.	Select Tender from the ‘Function’ drop-down list.

6.	Select the gift card tender from the ‘Tender ID’ list box.

7.	Complete the text, background, and bitmap options using the Preview window as a guide.

8.	Click OK to return to the panel with the new button.

9.	Select Save All Panels from the Commands menu and exit the Panel Editor function.

Refer to the Aloha Table Service User Guide and the Aloha Quick Service User Guide for more information on creating the Front-of-House buttons to sell and redeem a gift card.

Continue to Creating a Gift Card Balance Query.

Creating a Gift Card Balance Query

To enable you to query the balance of a gift card for a guest, you must add the Query Gift Card button to the FOH. For Table Service, add the button to either the configurable bottom row of the Order Entry screen or to a FOH floor plan in use. For Quick Service add the Query Gift Card button to a panel that is available in the FOH. The balance of the gift card prints to the local receipt printer and does not display on screen.

To provide the Ability to query a gift card in Table Service on a Floor Plan

1.	Select Maintenance > System > Floor Plan > Panel Editor.

2.	From the Commands menu, select Open Existing Panel > Button Functions to place the button on a floor plan, or Open Existing Panel > Order Screen to place the button on the configurable bottom row of the Order Entry screen.

3.	Select a panel for editing.

4.	Select New Button from the Commands menu. The Edit Buttons - Table Service dialog box appears.

5.	Select Query Gift Card Balance from the ‘Function’ drop-down list.

6.	Complete the text, background, and bitmap options using the Preview window as a guide.

7.	Click OK to return to the panel with the new button.

8.	Select Save All Panels from the Commands menu and exit the Panel Editor function.

To provide the ability to query a gift card in Table Service using the Action Item Area

When you replace the Action Item area of the Order Entry screen, keep in mind that you must add a button for every function you wish to access from this panel, including the standard functions you want to retain. The standard functions are Delete, Modify, Hold, Quantity, Recipe, Item Lookup, Print Receipt, Reprint Check, and Repeat. You can add any number of buttons at any size, and place them in this area; however, you cannot move the panel to another location on the screen.

To create a customized Action Item panel:

1.	Select Maintenance > System > Floor Plan > Panel Editor and create an Order Screen panel.

2.	Create a new button, and select Query Gift Card Balance from the ‘Function’ drop-down list.

3.	Complete the text, background, and bitmap options using the Preview window as a guide.

4.	Click OK to return to the panel with the new button.

5.	Continue adding all your Action Item area buttons, such as Delete, Modify, Hold, Quantity, Recipe, Item Lookup, Print Receipt, Reprint Check, and Repeat.

6.	Select Save All Panels from the Commands menu and exit Panel Editor.

7.	Create an event, using the Set Order Screen Panel event type, to activate the Action Item area replacement panel on the FOH.

Providing the ability to query a gift card in Quick Service

1.	Select Maintenance > Menu > Panel Editor.

2.	From the Commands menu, select Open Existing Panel > Button Functions to place the buttons on an existing panel.

3.	Select a panel and click OK.

4.	Select New Button from the Commands menu. The Edit Buttons - Quick Service dialog box appears.

5.	Select Query Gift Card Balance from the ‘Function’ drop-down list

6.	Complete the text, background, and bitmap options using the Preview window as a guide.

7.	Click OK to return to the panel with the new button.

8.	Select Save All Panels from the Commands menu and exit the Panel Editor function.

Updates do not reflect on the Front-of-House until an end-of-day processes. If you need to force the update, you can select Utilities/Refresh Data. Remember this brings down the Front-of-House until the refresh completes.