How to create memberships, packages, and gift cards

The fastest way to steady your cash flow is to get paid before the visit, not after. Memberships, packages and gift cards do exactly that — they turn a one-time booking into recurring revenue, prepaid visits and sellable credit. This guide shows you how to set up all three in Opraly so they redeem automatically at checkout, with nothing to reconcile by hand.

Which one should you use?

Each tool solves a different problem. Pick by the behaviour you want to encourage:

Memberships — recurring charges (monthly or yearly) that bundle perks: included visits, member pricing, priority booking. Best for loyalty and predictable revenue.
Packages — a prepaid bundle of visits or services bought up front, then drawn down over time. Best for course-of-treatment and “buy 5, get 6” offers.
Gift cards — stored value a customer buys for someone else (or themselves) and redeems against any service. Best for new-customer acquisition and holiday sales.

Tip: you do not have to choose just one. A clinic might sell treatment packages and a VIP membership; a salon might run a membership and push gift cards in December.

Before you start

Make sure your services and prices are set, and that you are working in the right site if you run more than one — see managing multiple locations in one account. You will also want card-on-file switched on, since memberships rely on a saved card to bill automatically. If the buttons below are missing, your role may not include managing products — an owner can adjust that in staff roles & permissions.

Step 1: Create a membership

Open Settings → Memberships and select New membership.
Name it the way customers will see it (“VIP Monthly”, “Unlimited Classes”).
Set the billing cycle — monthly or yearly — and the price.
Choose the perks: included visits or classes, member pricing on specific services, or priority access to slots.
Decide how it bills: Opraly charges the saved card-on-file automatically each cycle, so there is no invoice to chase.
Save and add it to your branded booking page if you want customers to sign up themselves.

When a member books and checks out, their included visits and member pricing apply automatically — no codes, no manual discounts.

Step 2: Build a package

Open Settings → Packages and select New package.
Choose what the package contains: a number of visits, a set of services, or a credit amount.
Set the price (this is where “buy 5, get 6” lives — charge for five, grant six).
Optionally set an expiry so credit does not sit on your books forever.
Save. The package is now sellable at checkout or on your booking page.

At each visit, Opraly draws one unit from the package and shows the customer how many remain. The capture timing is simply prepaid — the work is already paid for, so checkout just confirms it.

Step 3: Sell and redeem gift cards

Open Settings → Gift cards and turn them on.
Set the denominations you sell (fixed amounts, custom amounts, or both).
Choose whether customers can buy them online from your booking page.
Save. Staff can now sell a gift card at checkout, and customers can buy one online as a gift.

To redeem, the recipient’s balance is applied at checkout against any service. Partial redemptions leave the remaining balance on the card for next time.

How they show up at checkout

All three are designed to be invisible at the moment of payment — the credit is just there. When you close out a visit, Opraly applies the right membership perk, package draw-down or gift-card balance before charging anything else. For the full payment flow, see how to accept payments and tips at checkout.

A quick comparison

Feature	Memberships	Packages	Gift cards
Paid up front	Recurring	Yes	Yes
Best for	Loyalty, recurring revenue	Courses, bundles	Gifting, acquisition
Redeems automatically	Yes	Yes	Yes
Capture timing	Recurring billing	Prepaid	Prepaid
Shareable / giftable	No	No	Yes

Pricing them so the math works

The point of all three is to trade a small discount for cash up front and repeat visits. A few rules of thumb keep the margins healthy:

Memberships — price the included visits slightly below your walk-up rate, but count on members visiting more often. The discount is the cost of predictable monthly revenue.
Packages — a “buy 5, get 6” bundle is roughly a 17% discount; reserve that for services where the extra visits genuinely cost you little to deliver.
Gift cards — sell at face value. The win is the new customer who walks in to redeem one, not a margin on the card itself.

Set an expiry on packages and prepaid credit where it makes sense, so balances don’t sit on your books indefinitely.

Let customers buy them online

The easiest sales are the ones you don’t have to make in person. Each of these can sit on your branded booking page:

A gift card is a one-click purchase a customer can send to someone else.
A membership can be signed up for at booking, with the card saved for recurring billing.
A package can be bought up front and then drawn down at each visit.

Because the customer record, card-on-file and balances are shared, anything bought online redeems exactly the same as something sold at the counter.

Watch the impact in your reports

Recurring revenue and prepaid balances change how your numbers read, so check in regularly. Reporting & analytics shows membership revenue, outstanding package credit and gift-card liability alongside daily sales and retention. For help reading those views, see how to read your reports and dashboard.

Memberships, packages and gift cards work the same across every vertical — a fitness studio sells class packs, a clinic or med-spa sells treatment plans, and a salon sells gift cards by the dozen each December.

Ready to turn bookings into recurring revenue? Start free and create your first membership today.