Digitale Geschenkkarte mit QR in Odoo POS: der praktische Leitfaden für den spanischen Einzelhandel 2026

In summary. Odoo POS allows for the issuance of digital gift cards with QR codes from the POS or from the online store, to control the balance in real-time and redeem them at any store in the chain. The accounting treatment of the advance payment is automatic according to Spanish tax regulations, and full traceability is recorded for VeriFactu and the AEAT.

The gift card has been one of the star products of retail in Spain for decades. The problem has always been the physical support: plastic that gets lost, uncontrolled balance, manual redemption that opens the door to fraud. In 2026, any SME with a point of sale can offer digital gift cards with QR codes redeemable instantly, without friction and with complete traceability.

Odoo POS natively integrates this process. No external software or third-party gateway is needed. Issuance, redemption, balance control, and accounting all reside in the same place.

Why has the digital gift card stopped being a luxury?

A few years ago, offering gift cards was something reserved for large chains. The cost of producing physical cards, installing readers, and maintaining a proprietary balance system was unfeasible for a medium-sized shop. Today that barrier has disappeared.

The customer always carries their mobile phone. A QR code in an email or on the phone screen is enough to complete the redemption at the till. There is nothing to print, nothing to laminate, nothing to send by post.

From the merchant's point of view, the digital card offers something the physical one never could: total traceability. You know who bought the voucher, in which store, at what time. You know if it has been redeemed and how much balance remains. You know if it expired without being used. That information, well utilised, is gold for understanding your customer's behaviour.

Furthermore, the digital gift card activates a very valuable recurrence cycle. The recipient visits the shop to redeem it and, in many cases, spends more than the voucher's value. It is one of the few new customer acquisition mechanisms that has an almost zero direct cost for SMEs.

How does the gift card work in Odoo POS?

Odoo manages gift cards within its loyalty system and loyalty programmes. The design is flexible: you can create pure gift card programmes (with a fixed or customisable amount), or combine them with loyalty points if your strategy requires it.

When a gift card is sold, Odoo generates a unique QR code linked to that voucher. The code is automatically sent by email to the buyer or the gift recipient. There is no manual intervention. There is no spreadsheet to record the balance.

The QR contains all the necessary information to validate the redemption: unique identifier, original amount, available balance, expiry date, and voucher status. All that travels in the code. The POS reads it in less than a second.

The important thing for a Spanish SME is that this does not require contracting anything additional or depending on an external gift card provider. It is a native functionality that comes with Odoo.

How to set up the gift card programme step by step?

Without going into technical menus, the setup process is simple and can be managed by the shop manager themselves or the team at Nextdoo during implementation.

The essential parameters you define when creating the programme are the following:

• Programme type: gift card, not points or direct discount.
• Available amounts: you can pre-configure common values (for example, 25, 50 or 100 euros) or allow the customer to choose any amount within a range.
• Expiry: Spanish consumer regulations do not set a mandatory minimum period for gift cards in general commerce, but it is common in Iberian retail to offer between one and two years from the issue date. Always consult your legal adviser to adapt this to your sector.
• Reloadable or not: if you enable reloading, the customer can add balance to the same QR in the future.
• Usage channel: you can restrict redemption only to the physical POS, only to eCommerce, or allow both.

Once the programme is configured, it appears as a sellable product in the POS and in the online store. There are no additional technical steps for the till team.

Issuing the gift card: from the POS and from the online store

Issuance can occur in two ways, and both generate the same result: a valid QR associated with a real balance.

Issuance from the POS

The assistant adds the gift card as another line item in the sale. The customer pays the amount in cash, by bank card, or any other available method. At the time of payment, Odoo generates the QR code and sends the delivery email.

If the buyer wants to personalise the voucher (for example, to indicate the recipient's name or add a message), this data can be collected at the time of sale. The email received by the recipient includes this personalisation.

The till receipt reflects the sale of the voucher like any other transaction. The difference lies in the accounting treatment, which we will discuss later.

Issuance from the eCommerce

In the online store, the customer selects the gift card, chooses the amount and decides whether to buy it for themselves or for another person. In the latter case, they enter the recipient's email and an optional message.

Odoo automatically sends the QR to the recipient with the personalised message. The buyer receives their own proof of purchase. Everything happens without human intervention.

This method is particularly interesting for Christmas, Sant Jordi, Mother's Day, or any mass gift-giving occasions. Retailers can promote the digital card as a friction-free alternative to having to physically go to the store to buy the voucher.

How to redeem the QR at the till smoothly for the customer and with control for the merchant?

The moment of redemption is where the difference from manual systems is noticeable. The process from the POS is as follows:

1. The customer selects their products and goes to the till.
2. In the payment method, the shop assistant selects the voucher or gift card option.
3. The POS scanner reads the QR from the customer's mobile phone.
4. Odoo validates in real-time: the code exists, is active, has not expired and has sufficient balance.
5. The amount is discounted from the total. If the balance covers the entire purchase, the transaction is closed. If not, the customer pays the difference with another method.

That complete process takes seconds. There is no call to an external server, no waiting time, no possibility of human error when typing a barcode manually.

For a chain with several stores, validation works at any point of sale within the same Odoo instance. A customer who bought their voucher in the Madrid store can redeem it in the Barcelona store without any problem.

How to manage partial balance and common retail scenarios?

One of the points that generates the most questions from retailers before implementing a voucher system is what happens when the balance does not exactly match the purchase amount.

Odoo handles both scenarios automatically:

Purchase lower than the voucher balance. The remaining balance remains associated with the same QR. The customer uses it on the next visit without needing to do anything. They can check their available balance in the online store or ask at the till.

Purchase higher than the voucher balance. The voucher covers what it can and the customer pays the difference with any other payment method available at the POS. There is no limitation or friction in this flow.

In fashion, electronics, or home décor retail, where average basket values vary greatly, this flexibility is fundamental. The customer does not have to adjust their purchase to the exact voucher balance, and this improves the experience and usually increases the final basket value.

Furthermore, from the back office, the store manager can view the list of issued vouchers, their status, and the aggregated pending balance at any time. This allows for estimating the liability of unredeemed vouchers, which is important for both business management and accounting.

What is the tax treatment of gift cards in Spain?

This is where many SMEs make mistakes, and it is worth dwelling on.

When you sell a gift card, you are not generating an accounting income at that moment. You are receiving an advance or deposit. The real income occurs at the moment of redemption, when you deliver the good or service.

This has direct implications for VAT. According to the doctrine of the Spanish Tax Agency, the VAT on restricted-use gift cards (redeemable only for goods or services with a known tax rate) accrues at the time of issuance. For multi-use cards, accrual occurs at redemption. The specific circumstances are relevant and depend on your type of business.

Odoo, with the Spanish fiscal localisation activated, correctly reflects this treatment in the accounting system. The advances account records the amount at the time of sale of the voucher, and the income is recognised upon redemption.

This also affects periodic VAT declaration forms (Modelo 303 and annual summary Modelo 390). If you have a significant volume of issued and unredeemed vouchers at year-end, it is essential that your tax advisor or accounting firm reviews the specific accounting treatment applied in your case.

With VeriFactu and the upcoming mandatory verifiable invoicing system for most Spanish companies, the automatic traceability offered by Odoo in each voucher transaction is, in addition to being convenient, necessary to comply with the AEAT's requirements.

Digital gift card as a loyalty tool

Beyond the specific use case of gifting between individuals, the digital gift card fits perfectly into a broader loyalty strategy.

Some retailers use gift cards as a purchase incentive: for example, whoever reaches a certain accumulated amount in the quarter receives a courtesy voucher for their next visit. Odoo allows combining these types of rules with the points and rewards system, all from the same loyalty programme.

Others use them as a retention tool after an incident: instead of refunding the amount in cash, they offer an equivalent voucher that encourages a new visit. This is especially useful in hospitality and experience retail.

The key in all these cases is that the system is transparent and reliable for the customer. If the QR always works, if the balance is always correct, and if the query is straightforward, confidence in the programme grows, and the customer uses it. If there are frictions, the voucher is forgotten at the bottom of the inbox.

Odoo fulfils that promise of reliability because everything is centralised. There are no synchronisations between systems, no separate databases. A single source of data, accessible from any point of sale or from the online store.

Frequently asked questions

Can the gift card expire and the customer lose the balance? Yes, if the merchant configures it that way. It is common in Spanish retail to establish a validity period of between one and two years from issuance. After this period, the voucher becomes inactive, and the balance is not redeemable. Spanish consumer regulations do not generally impose a minimum mandatory period, but it is advisable to review the regulations of your autonomous community and consult legal advice if you have doubts. In any case, the expiry date must be clearly informed to the buyer at the time of issuance.

Can an already issued gift card be topped up? It depends on how you have configured the programme. If you activate the top-up option, the customer or the shop assistant at the till can add balance to the same existing QR. The top-up history is recorded. If the programme is not configured as rechargeable, each purchase generates a new independent QR.

What happens if the customer loses the email with the QR? From the system, the store manager can locate the voucher by the buyer's name or email and resend the QR. The voucher cannot be duplicated or used twice: the code is unique, and Odoo controls its status in real-time.

Does it work in all stores in the chain? Yes, as long as all stores operate within the same Odoo instance. The QR is validated centrally, so a voucher issued at any point of sale is redeemable in the rest without any additional configuration.

How does the gift card affect the till closure and sales reports? Voucher sales and redemptions appear in the POS sales reports in a differentiated manner. The till closure records the amount collected for the sale of the voucher as another transaction. Redemption discounts the amount from the total sale but does not generate a cash or bank card payment. The reports allow viewing the live balance of issued and unredeemed vouchers at any time.

Is Odoo prepared to comply with VeriFactu for voucher transactions? Odoo is actively working on adapting its Spanish localisation to the VeriFactu requirements for AEAT compliance. Voucher issuance and redemption transactions are recorded with full traceability in the system. To confirm the exact status of VeriFactu integration in your Odoo version, consult with Nextdoo before implementation.

Conclusion: start selling digital vouchers before the next campaign

The digital gift card with QR is not a feature of the future. It is a tool available today in Odoo POS that any Spanish retailer can activate within a reasonable timeframe.

The benefits are concrete: you eliminate the cost of physical support, reduce fraud, improve customer experience and gain full traceability over the voucher's lifecycle. Automatic accounting treatment prevents errors in your VAT declaration and prepares you for the upcoming VeriFactu environment.

If you have a physical shop, a chain or a combination of physical and online channels, Nextdoo can help you set up the gift card programme within your Odoo implementation or as an upgrade to an existing installation. The starting point is always an analysis of your specific case to dimension the actual scope.

Indicative information. Actual deadlines, costs and scopes are confirmed after a personalised analysis. JLM Business Solutions SL · B16842831.