AIM Gift Cards

Starting with AIMStorefront 1.31, the cart can process orders placed with physical Gift Cards purchased from your brick and mortar store. Please review all steps of this article before attempting to configure your site to use AIM Gift Cards. 

Please be aware of the following changes as you view the video/make changes

Existing App Configs

New App Configs

5/19/23

NOTE: The video tutorial is based on Gift Cards without predefined PIN numbers.

Requirements

• AIM v12
• C2B machine required
  

Here's how it works: 

Turn on Gift Cards in the website.

To turn on the feature:

- In your site /aesys console go to Configuration - Settings and search for Edition.AeGiftCardsEnabled . Change this setting to TRUE and Save.

- Next, search for GiftCards.Enabled  and set this to TRUE as well.

- Finally, be sure to click the Refresh Store button. 

*Enabling this (true) disables legacy Gift Cards. Your site cannot support both AIM Gift Cards and legacy Gift Cards at once.

Purchase your physical Gift Cards 

You can purchase either Gift Cards with predefined PINs (typically hidden by a scratch-off on the back), or those without initial PIN numbers.

Enter your Cards into AIM. 

When you receive your physical Gift Cards to sell in the store, you'll need to enter them into your AIM system. If you have questions involving getting your gift card numbers into AIM, you'll need to contact Tri-Tech support at 1-563-556-3556 (Option 2). Most AIM users will scan their cards into the system, but they can be entered manually.

In this example, we're going to start our gift card numbers with an example number of EGC000000000066 and enter 20 Cards (the number of physical Gift Cards purchased in a sequence):

*We are using an example number in our instructions. Please do not use this number in your AIM and expect it to work.

If the cards have NO predefined PIN, after entering the cards' starting number and the number of cards I have, I hit "Save". 

It will ask, "are you sure?" 

I answer, "yes."

If the cards HAVE a predefined PIN, then you need to use the "Receive E-Cards Via Internet" to retrieve the PIN numbers for each card.

Turning on the PIN

In order to use a gift card online, each customer will need to know the "PIN" associated with their gift card. For Gift Cards without a predefined PIN, they will get the PIN from the receipt you print when the card is purchased. If the Gift Cards have a predefined PIN, it will be available on the back of the card typically under a scratch-off, and it will also be noted on the purchase receipt.

In AIM, go to "Maintenance > General > System Variables". In configuration item, in the "Contains:" field, enter "PIN". Select PrintGiftCardPIN and enable it. This will make sure that the PIN is printed on the customer’s receipt.

- If the Gift Card has a predefined PIN, this will be reported on the receipt.

- If the Gift Card does NOT have a predefined PIN, one will be auto-generated and associated with the card at the time of purchase, and printed on the receipt.

Selling your Gift Cards

When you sell the Gift Cards in your store, You will scan the card or enter it through POS. The customer's PIN will be printed on the receipt. Please contact Tri-Tech support if you have any questions about how to sell Gift Cards in your store please contact Tri-Tech support at 1-563-556-3556 (Option 2).

To sell a gift card from the AIM POS, scan the barcode or manually type the full card number.

If manually typing, keep in mind that gift card numbers begin with EGC and are followed by 12 digits. If the full card number is not printed on the back, you will need to enter the appropriate number of zeros between 'EGC' and the printed card number to equal 12 digits.

After scanning/entering the gift card, you will be prompted to specify the dollar amount to be added to the card. Once you've specified an amount, the gift card should appear on your sales invoice. Proceed with collecting payment from the customer as usual.

*We are using an example number in our instructions. Please do not use this number in your AIM and expect it to work. 

Using the card for online payment. 

When a customer with a Gift Card goes shopping on your website, and they reach the final e-commerce checkout page, they will now see a spot to enter their Gift Card number and PIN right below the payment methods. Customers can check their balance and apply part or all of the Gift Card balance to the order.

NOTE: If your scanned cards have a number format such as "EGC000000001000" , then the only number the customer needs to enter for the serial number is those after preceding zeros (1000).

*We are using an example number in our instructions. Please do not use this number in your AIM and expect it to work. 

Manually editing Gift Cards

In the event that you may need to refund a purchase or for any reason adjust the total monitory amount available on a card, you will need to call Tri-Tech support. Vortx cannot help with this as refunds or adjustments are all done exclusively in AIM. 

Tri-Tech's support line: 1-563-556-3556 (Option 2) 

Monday through Friday : 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM Central Time

New Page: AeManageGc

This adds a new page to AIMStorefront at (site.com)/aeManageGc which allows you to check your card balance. (This feature requires a connected v12 AIM instance)

• Edition.AeManageGc.Header Default: Check Your Gift Card Balance - Displayed above the Pin/Serial entry form.
• Edition.AeManageGc.Header Default: Check Card Balance - Displayed on the "check balance" button.
• Edition.AeManageGc.Placeholder.Pin Default: PIN - Displayed as placeholder text for the pin entry field.
• Edition.AeManageGc.Placeholder.Serial Default: Gift Card Number - Displayed as placeholder text for the serial number (gift card number) entry.

New Topics

• Edition.AeManageGc.Intro - Displayed at the top of the /AeManageGc page.
• Edition.AeManageGc.Outro - Displayed at the bottom of the /AeManageGc page.

Sample link to the new page, to be included in the top navbar, site header and/or footer:

<a href="/aeManageGc">Manage My Gift Cards</a>

Existing App Configs

• GiftCards.Enabled - Must be set to true to enable any Gift Card support in checkout (Legacy or AIM). By default, uses ASPDNSF legacy Gift Cards.

New App Configs

• Edition.AeGiftCards.Enabled- Enable true to allow AIM Gift Cards. 
  • Enabling this (true) disables legacy Gift Cards. We do not support both styles of Gift Cards at once in this iteration of the feature.

New Prompts

• Edition.AeGiftCard.Apply  Default: Apply  - Label for the button that applies your gift card to the cart total in checkout.
• Edition.AeGiftCard.Error.Balance.APIFailure  Default: We could not retrieve your gift card balance. Please make sure your gift card number and pin are correct. - Displayed when there is an API failure retrieving the balance.
• Edition.AeGiftCard.Error.CardNotFound  Default: Card Not Found - Displayed when the card information is invalid and the shopper tries to check the balance.
• Edition.AeGiftCard.Error.Charge.APIFailure  Default: We could not charge your gift card. Please make sure your gift card number, pin, and charge amount are correct. - Displayed for an API failure charging the card.
• Edition.AeGiftCard.Error.Charge.MissingInfo  Default: We could not charge your gift card. Please make sure you have entered the gift card number, pin, and charge amount.- Displayed for invalid characters and unexpected data (whitespace, weirdness) in the gift card number and Pin fields.
• Edition.AeGiftCard.Error.Data  Default: We are unable to accept your Gift Card. Please make sure the information you have entered is correct. - Displayed for unexpected, rare errors that occur due to an invalid AIM connection.
• Edition.AeGiftCard.Header  Default: Gift Card - Used for the header of AIM Gift Cards in checkout.
• Edition.AeGiftCard.Label.ChargeAmount  Default: Amount to Charge - Label for the amount which the customer wants to charge from their card during checkout.
• Edition.AeGiftCard.Label.CheckBalanceButton  Default: Check Card Balance- Label for the button to check the current balance of the entered gift card number and pin.
• Edition.AeGiftCard.Label.Checkbox  Default: Pay up to my full balance - Label for a checkbox which allows the customer to "fire and forget" their Gift Card, charging the maximum balance possible/needed for the order.
• Edition.AeGiftCard.OrderNotes  Default: AIM Gift Card # - Displayed in the order notes after successful checkout. This allows you to track which AIM Gift Card was used for payment of an order.
• Edition.AeGiftCard.Placeholder.Pin  Default: Pin - The PIN required for charging a Gift Card.
• Edition.AeGiftCard.Placeholder.Serial  Default: Serial - The gift card number value required for charging a gift card.

Gift Card Processing NOTES

• When performing a REFUND on an order that used a Gift Card, the funds are not automatically allocated back to the Gift Card. Once the order has been pulled into AIM, you can perform the refund as per your store policy. For the regular "gift cards", there is no option for returning funds to the card; however, if the "renewable cards" have been purchased, then there is the ability to refund the amount to the card.
  

Gift Card TYPE NOTES

• "Gift Cards" are transferrable (can be sold to one customer but used by any other customer), whereas Renewable Cards are tied to one specific account.
• Value cannot be added to Gift Cards but can be added to Renewable Cards. Once depleted, Gift Cards cannot be re-used/re-sold. 
• "Renewable Cards" tend to be used by stores that have lesson programs. Parents may choose to get a card for their kid so the student can use the card to pay for their lessons or supplies they need.