InComm Payments has described two ways retailers can sell gift cards online: a co-branded storefront through eCaaS Lite and a more integrated ecommerce service using its API. The February 2024 article explains how the models differ in checkout, fulfilment and the work required from the merchant.

With eCaaS Lite, the retailer places a link on its website that takes shoppers to a co-branded page at The Gift Card Shop. InComm manages the gift card assortment, which can include the retailer's own card and selected third-party brands.

InComm acts as merchant of record for those orders, taking payment and fulfilling the cards. The gift card purchase is separate from the retailer's own shopping basket, and TheGiftCardShop.com appears on the customer's billing statement.

Tori Campbell, director of business development, said a site could be ready for sales in about four to six weeks. The company described a simple pricing structure and a dedicated account management team, without publishing a standard price in the article.

The broader eCaaS offering is more extensively merchant-branded and supports an integrated basket through an API. A shopper can buy a gift card alongside other retail items in one basket, with the retailer fulfilling its merchandise and InComm fulfilling the card.

Vice president of business development Jaime Yeager said smaller and mid-sized merchants could lack the internal ecommerce expertise needed to build those services independently. InComm presented its offering as a way to add gift card purchasing to the online channels shoppers already used.

The article named McDonald's and Sheetz among businesses whose gift card ecommerce presence InComm was supporting. It also described Meal Train's use of a link to The Gift Card Shop, allowing people to send gift cards when they could not provide a meal in person.

The two models give merchants different levels of integration. eCaaS Lite directs the customer to a separate co-branded gift card purchase, while the API-based service can combine gift cards with the retailer's other products at checkout.