Set up, sell and redeem hotel gift vouchers

Choose voucher type and finance logic

Agree whether the property sells multi-purpose, single-purpose or both. Multi-purpose value remains open until service; single-purpose requires tax and revenue account at issuance. STRYK keeps sale amount, face value, carrying value and redemptions traceable.

Publish the online shop and property branding

Maintain corporate design centrally under Settings → Property. The shop uses logo, colours and font for public page, secure digital view and A4 PDF. Voucher products, custom limits, introduction and terms belong in the shop. Review the draft; only a controlled publish creates the public snapshot used by the website snippet.

Control issuance and delivery

Online purchase uses idempotency to prevent duplicates and issues only after full online payments confirmation. Email is durably queued while secure digital access remains independent. Ambiguous SMTP outcomes stop for manual review instead of risking duplicates. Front desk records cash only when actually received.

Use camera, handheld scanner and manual entry

Camera scanning requires a browser camera, secure HTTPS and permission. If detection is unsupported, use a standard USB or Bluetooth keyboard-mode scanner, which enters the code and usually presses Enter. Manual entry always remains available. Every route is followed by validation of property, state, expiry, currency and balance.

Handle redemption, cancellation and refund correctly

Direct booking revalidates code and amount at completion. A fully covered amount due today needs no second method. Manual bookings and walk-ins use the same booking context; a later invoice inherits evidence without consuming value twice. Uninvoiced booking cancellation can reverse redemption. an online payment refund automatically cancels only a fully unused voucher; partial or used cases remain for Finance review.

Resolve operational issues without creating duplicate financial evidence

When a buyer returns from online payments, the browser may arrive before the provider has confirmed the final capture. Refresh the persisted order state and explain that payment is still being verified, but never compensate by issuing another voucher manually. Only a verified provider capture may move the order into issuance. If the state remains pending, compare the exact order identifier, payment reference, amount, currency and provider timestamp. A repeated redirect, status request or webhook must continue the same idempotent order. It must not create a second payment intent, a second voucher number, another liability posting or another email job. When the provider shows a terminal failure, keep the order failed and let the buyer start a new checkout with a new idempotency key rather than mutating the old financial evidence.

For email delivery, distinguish queued, sending, accepted, failed and manual-review evidence. A timeout after SMTP submission does not prove that the recipient received nothing; blindly retrying can produce confusing duplicate messages. First confirm the recipient address, inspect the property mailbox and read the latest immutable delivery event. The secure digital order view and authenticated PDF download remain the preferred immediate support paths. If the outcome is ambiguous, record whether the hotel confirmed delivery or confirmed non-delivery before starting a new request. Do not rotate a redemption code merely because an email was delayed. Rotate only when the code itself may have been exposed, and remember that code rotation creates a new document version while the previous code becomes invalid.

When scanning fails, separate camera access, image recognition and voucher validation. Confirm that the workstation uses HTTPS, that camera permission belongs to the current STRYK domain, that no other application holds the camera and that the complete QR code is sharp and well lit. Then switch to a keyboard-mode handheld scanner or manual entry without abandoning STRYK validation. If STRYK can read the code but rejects it, do not rely on the last four characters or the visual appearance of the PDF. Read the specific property, status, expiry, currency or balance outcome. Escalate with voucher number, property, time and error state, but never paste the full redemption secret into an unrestricted ticket, chat or email subject.

Approve go-live and operate the voucher channel with repeatable controls

Before public launch, run a documented low-value transaction through the real property website and the intended live online payment connection. Start from the published shop rather than an internal draft preview. Confirm that the selected product or custom value, currency, document language, recipient information and terms are correct before payment. After capture, prove that the system has exactly one order, one payment intent, one active voucher number, one immutable PDF document and one durable delivery request. Open the secure digital view from the delivered fragment-based link and compare property name, logo, colours, font, recipient, amount, expiry, message, voucher number and redemption code with the PDF. Verify that normal browser history, referrers and STRYK paths do not expose the access token or redemption code. Record order number, voucher number, time and result in the acceptance log, but never copy the complete code into an unrestricted document.

Next, use that voucher in a controlled test booking. Validate it once through camera scanning, once through a keyboard-mode handheld scanner and once through manual entry so that every front-desk fallback is proven. Redeem only part of the face value. The booking payment state, amount still due, voucher remaining face value, carrying amount and append-only redemption history must update to the same cent value without reloading or entering a parallel discount. Continue with the property’s chosen scenario: either create the invoice and confirm that it inherits the booking redemption without consuming the voucher twice, or cancel the uninvoiced booking and confirm that the active redemption is reversed and the balance becomes available again. If the property sells single-purpose vouchers, repeat with an approved tax rate and revenue account. Repeat document review for every enabled document language and test both desktop and mobile public layouts before approval.

After go-live, include vouchers in the recurring finance and operations control. Reconcile open face value with carrying value and accounting liability, review redemptions by booking or invoice, inspect failed and manual-review delivery states and resolve provider refund cases. Remove voucher permissions promptly when a team member leaves or changes role. Recheck camera and keyboard scanners after browser, device or domain changes. Keep terms, expiry rules, custom amount limits, products and translations current. Changes to shop copy, product configuration or corporate design are reviewed in draft and become public only through another controlled Website publish. Keep evidence of each periodic review so an operator can explain every material balance movement without relying on browser memory or private notes.

For every recurring review, retain the period, responsible operator, reconciled totals, unresolved exceptions and the next review date.