ApproveThis manages your Gift Up! Integration approvals.

Why Approval Workflows Matter for Gift Cards

Let's cut to the chase: gift cards are money walking around in disguise. Whether you're a retail chain approving employee discounts or a SaaS company issuing customer credits, every gift card creation or redemption needs oversight. But manual approvals via email chains? That's how $10,000 "oopsie" credits happen.

This is where ApproveThis and Gift Up! become your new best friends. Gift Up! handles the digital gift card logistics, while ApproveThis slaps guardrails on the process. Together, they turn "Who approved this?!" moments into "Yep, we've got a record of that" confidence.

How This Combo Works for Teams That Mean Business

ApproveThis isn't just another checkbox tool - it's built for companies where multiple teams touch financial decisions. Here's the kicker: approvers don't need Gift Up! licenses. Your external vendors can approve gift card batches via email, your CFO gets SMS alerts for high-value redemptions, and nobody's fighting over software seats.

Real-World Scenarios

Take a 200-employee ecommerce company:

• Customer Support: Approve loyalty credits in Gift Up! without jumping into the admin panel
• Finance: Auto-flag gift cards over $500 for manual review

Or a 1,000-person restaurant group:

• HR: Route employee gift card requests through regional managers first
• Legal: Audit every approved/denied request from last quarter in two clicks

Three Ways to Connect Gift Up! to ApproveThis via Zapier

Using Zapier, these integrations take 15 minutes to set up and don't require IT involvement. Here's where teams get the most mileage:

1. Gift Card Creation Oversight

The Problem: New gift cards get created in Gift Up! daily - employee rewards, customer refunds, promo campaigns. Without oversight, you're one typo away from issuing $1,000 instead of $100.

The Fix: Auto-create approval requests in ApproveThis whenever a new Gift Up! card is made. Route based on:

- Dollar amount thresholds
- Department budgets
- Campaign expiration dates

Example: A marketing agency automatically flags any gift card over $250 for director approval before it's sent to clients.

2. Order Approval Chains

The Problem: High-volume gift card purchases (think corporate clients buying 500+ cards) need multi-layer checks - sales approval, finance sign-off, legal review.

The Fix: Trigger approval workflows in ApproveThis when Gift Up! orders come in. Use sequential approvals where:

1. Sales verifies order details
2. Finance confirms payment
3. Legal checks terms compliance

Example: A hotel chain requires property managers + corporate procurement to co-sign bulk gift card orders for event planners.

3. Post-Approval Actions

The Problem: Approved gift cards need activation, denied ones require follow-up. Manual hand-offs between systems create delays and errors.

The Fix: Connect approval decisions back to Gift Up! automatically:

- Approved? Trigger redemption
- Denied? Notify the requester with reasons
- Revised? Update Gift Up! balances automatically

Example: A fitness franchise auto-redeems approved member reward cards but flags denied requests to branch managers for member outreach.

Setting This Up Without Losing Your Mind

Here's the no-BS guide to getting started:

1. Create your free Zapier account
2. Connect Gift Up! as your trigger app
3. Choose ApproveThis as your action app
4. Map these fields:
   - Gift card amount → Approval threshold
   - Recipient email → Approval group
   - Expiration date → Approval deadline
5. Test with a $1 gift card approval

Pro tip: Use ApproveThis' calculated fields to auto-flag requests that exceed department budgets or seasonal promotion limits.

Why This Isn't Just Another Integration

Most approval tools make you choose between flexibility and control. ApproveThis + Gift Up! through Zapier gives you both:

For Finance Teams:
- Real-time dashboards showing pending gift card liabilities
- Automatic escrow calculations for large unredeemed balances

For Operations:
- Vacation coverage rules so approvals never stall
- Custom SLAs (e.g., "All gift cards under $100 approved within 2 hours")

For Customer-Facing Teams:
- Branded approval emails matching your Gift Up! portal
- One-click approvals from any device

When to Consider This Combo

If any of these sound familiar:

- You've had gift card fraud incidents (even small ones)
- Accounting complains about monthly gift card reconciliation
- Managers waste hours approving trivial gift card requests
- Customers sometimes receive invalid/unapproved credits

This integration acts as both guardrail and accelerator - preventing mistakes while speeding up legitimate requests.

Common Questions (Without the Marketing Fluff)

Q: Can approvers use their existing email?
A: Yes. ApproveThis works through email/SMS approvals - no new logins for approvers.

Q: What if we need to change approval rules seasonally?
A: Duplicate workflows in ApproveThis. Run "Holiday Promo Approvals" Nov-Jan, switch back automatically.

Q: How does this affect our current Gift Up! setup?
A: Zero changes. The integration layers on top through Zapier.

Next Steps for Sane Approvals

If you're manually reviewing Gift Up! activities or dealing with approval bottlenecks:

1. Book a 15-minute demo showing your specific use case
2. Try the free tier with one Gift Up! Zapier integration
3. Stop explaining to auditors why that $5k gift card wasn't approved

Because let's face it - you didn't get into business to babysit gift card approvals. Automate the grunt work, focus on what matters.