The online restaurant gift card landscape is expanding, with payment processing, POS, and marketing companies ready and willing to help out.

Purchasing an online gift card from your favorite restaurant — whether it’s a digital gift card delivered via email, or physical gift card mailed to you or a friend — has never been easier. And for restaurants, they’re a great way to [1] diversify the base-level revenue stream, [2] increase customer volume, and [3] secure immediate revenue, all factors that are essential as the industry continues to recover in 2022.

At the time this article was written, an estimated 15% of multi-unit restaurant concepts with 2+ physical locations in the US or Canada were using at least 1 of 22 detectable gift card providers on their website.

Here’s a look at the data:

Conclusions

From a marketing perspective, restaurant operators often use gift cards as a way to increase brand awareness, as well as attract new customers. In terms of business, they’re a great way to secure up-front cash while boosting overall sales. And for consumers, gift cards are a great way to support the businesses they love, and perhaps share a favorite experience — food, atmosphere, service — with friends, coworkers, and family.

Notes About Our Data

Restaurantology currently collects and analyzes public multi-unit restaurant data for the US and Canada. Restaurantology insights are intended to help our customers have a better, more strategic understanding of the hospitality industry. Our data can help reduce the time from insight to action via a unified body of knowledge that customers can search, browse, and use as they see fit.