Weeks 1-2: Set the stage
The first two weeks of a holiday push are staging, not the rush itself. Build a checkout display the line can see, add a gift card banner or link where the site already takes payment, and tell every closer to mention cards in one sentence. Starting early catches the shopper who plans ahead, and it means you are not teaching the offer on the day the line is out the door. Confirm the amounts. Confirm a physical card and a digital card redeem on the same till. Do this while you can still fix a button. Canadian retail owners do this staging early so holiday gift card sales are not explained for the first time when the line is out the door.
Weeks 3-4: Promote and incentivize
Once the rack and the link are up, ask for the sale. A bonus-card offer, spend $50 and get a $10 bonus card, lifts the number of cards you sell now and brings the bonus holder back later. That is two visits from one promotion, if staff can explain it without a flowchart. Put the same offer in one email and on the channels you already post to. Do not invent a richer deal at the counter than the one you published. Every closer should say the same numbers. Promote the card itself, not a vague holiday greeting.
Weeks 5-6: Capture last-minute gifters
The final days belong to people who will not be back in the store. Push digital gift cards when shipping plastic is no longer honest. An eGift goes out by email or text the same day, which is what the buyer on the day before the holiday actually needs. Keep the plastic rack for the person who still has a bag to fill and is standing at the counter. The script stays one sentence: cards are here, and a card can be sent tonight. Do not promise a mailed card you cannot deliver. December's last two days are when the digital send earns its place in the program.
January: Redemption season
Recipients arrive after the holiday with a card to spend, and they often add their own money past the balance. That visit is a new customer and a larger ticket, which is easy to miss if you only look at December sales. The redemption, the extra spend, and the unused remainder are why the breakage and spend effect shows up after the holiday, not only during it. Invite them in during January, while the card is still easy to find. See pricing if the program is not on yet, or book a demo and test a redemption before the first recipient is in line.
The gift-card counter in the last shopping week
The line is gift buyers, not regulars, and several of them ask whether a card can be sent tonight. Plastic on the rack still covers the person with a bag to fill. Digital cards cover the buyer who will not be back and the one shopping after you lock the door. The counter script is one sentence: cards are here, and a card can go out now. Use the bonus you already run, spend $50 and get a $10 bonus card, only if staff can explain it without a flowchart. Push the eGift when shipping plastic is no longer honest. That split is the digital versus physical choice for this specific week. A display nobody mentions will lose to a smaller rack every closer points at. See pricing if the program is not on yet.
What to stage before the first weekend of the rush
Put the rack where the line can see it, put the link where the site already takes payment, and tell every closer the offer in one sentence. Do that in the first two weeks, not on the day the line is out the door. Confirm denominations. Confirm both formats redeem on the same till. Brief the bonus, the $50 purchase with a $10 bonus card, so nobody invents a richer deal at the counter. Send one email that shows the card. Last-minute digital gets its own push in the final days, for people who missed the rack. Then plan January, when recipients arrive and usually spend past the balance. That later visit is why breakage and extra spend show up after the holiday, not only during it. Book a demo and test both formats before that weekend.