How do restaurants make money from gift cards?

Immediate Revenue The purchaser of the gift card buys the card in advance, so if the gift card is lost somewhere (or the recipient simply decides never to redeem it), your restaurant will continue to receive payment in advance. The other side of the coin, of course, is that if the gift card is used or when it is used, the revenues have already been recorded. If you want to reach an even wider audience, publishing gift cards on an aggregation platform like Rally for Restaurants or working to have your restaurant appear in a local publication is a great way to boost business.