Pay it forward

[dkhtodd]

We are doing a pay it forward board at our shop.  A customer can come in and pay for an item for someone else.  We ring it up as a normal purchase and the buyer pays. 

When someone comes in and picks a free coffee from the pay it forward wall we ring it up as usual, so it goes to the KDS, but we comp it so no one pays.  

Is there a better way since comp appears as part of gross sales and then it looks like we sold 2 coffees instead of just 1. 

Thanks

[AshleyK · Accepted solution]

@dkhtodd This is a great question!! My immediate go-to would be to start sending eGift Cards to your customers when they have a "pay it forward" given to them. That way, it will show as a gift card redemption rather than a discount or comp. 

I'm going to tag some of our Super Sellers with coffee shops or similar businesses to see what they have used. 🙂

@londontea @MAXSDELI @MichiganFarmsta @Donnie-M @pieous @pessosices @porktaco @ryanwanner @sugarlab @vinesandrushes

[AshleyK · Accepted solution]

@dkhtodd This is a great question!! My immediate go-to would be to start sending eGift Cards to your customers when they have a "pay it forward" given to them. That way, it will show as a gift card redemption rather than a discount or comp. 

I'm going to tag some of our Super Sellers with coffee shops or similar businesses to see what they have used. 🙂

@londontea @MAXSDELI @MichiganFarmsta @Donnie-M @pieous @pessosices @porktaco @ryanwanner @sugarlab @vinesandrushes

[ryanwanner · Accepted solution]

Hey @dkhtodd !

I think @AshleyK 's solution is good, but instead of using eGift Cards, we use our physical gift cards. If they want to pay it forward, we have them buy a card for whatever amount they want to put forward. We don't have it set up where people can "shop" for what drink they want (where the PIF board has various drinks available)... we found that to be too cumbersome in a busy environment.

But if they want to pay it forward, they just tell us how much and we load a card. Since PIF works just like gift cards would in the way that the money isn't technically ours until it's redeemed, we found this is best.

The other idea would be to create a Pay It Forward item on your POS. A guest "loads" the PIF item with however much they want, and you jot it down on a card or pad next to the register. (or on a PIF board if you prefer). When it is redeemed, you can use the Other Tender Type->Gift Certificate option for cash out. The biggest thing you'll have to keep track of in the office is that the PIF items aren't technically sales in: your bookkeeper or accountant will have to take the PIF sale out of the daily sales. (Very similar to how a gift card would work)

[AshleyK]

@ryanwanner I love those suggestions. Thank you so much!!! 

[pessosices]

@ryanwanner 

This is such a great and easy way to do it!

Just have 1 Plastic Gift Card for Pay it Forward, load it up, swipe it to redeem, and done!

If it runs out, it automatically splits, rather than having to split it manually with cash under the register.

Genius.

[Valentina]

Thanks for your +1 here @pessosices!

@ryanwanner - I'm sure others will appreciate this pay it forward idea ✨
Thank you again for taking the time to write this up and share it with everyone here!

[RoasterChica]

Hey Quick question 👋 

We are not planning to return to accepting cash and want to smooth the transition for the small minority of folks that don’t come with a credit card. I like this PIF idea as a solution. My question is, for the physical gift card I imagine we should load all the PIFs onto ONE gift card that would function as the go-to for credits and debits?  I can’t see the benefit of blowing thru many gift cards and not even remembering how much may be on them. 

[ryanwanner]

@RoasterChica yes, I would definitely only use one card for PIF. In the chaos that is a shop, I couldn’t imagine how much of a pain it would be to manage multiple cards. 

[sayra]

Hey @RoasterChica - I agree with you and @ryanwanner. This sounds like the best way to organize your physical cards. 

Good luck 🍀. Let us know if you have any other questions. 

[MichiganFarmsta]

I know its not very elegant. We set the amount in cash under the register. Then ring up the sale.

[ryanwanner]

@MichiganFarmsta won't lie... that's the easiest way. Then nothing is rung in until the actual cash transaction.

[PinkLBar]

That is a very good iea. I love it