The Christopher Michael Salon & Spa in the San Francisco Bay area is far more than just a place to get a hair cut. It's a brand new, full-service salon and spa offering all of the latest services, ranging from seaweed body wraps to aromatherapy. This innovative salon even has a section dedicated exclusively to children, making the salon a popular choice for families.

The company's founders, Christopher Neves and Michael Brandon, both have extensive experience in the health and beauty industry. They carefully planned all aspects of the customer's experience in the salon, including a convenient option for gift purchases: gift cards. The gift card solution reflects the salon's cutting-edge approach to doing business.

Neves and Brandon opted to use the gift cards instead of paper certificates because they recognized the popularity and promotional value of gift cards, and saw the cards as another way to differentiate their salon from the competition.

With programs designed especially for small to medium-sized merchants, Smart Transaction Systems (STS) had the expertise to provide the best program for Christopher Michael. The STS Small Business Program gave Christopher Michael the flexibility to design their own unique gift cards and bring their gift card program online in a simple, streamlined process. "The Christopher Michael gift card is one of the most innovative I've seen yet,"" said Maria Lewellen, VP of Operations at STS. "The small business program was perfect for them because they didn't need a huge amount of cards to get their gift card program off the ground," she continued.

The system is working well for Christopher Michael. According to Rachel Ostlund, client coordinator at the salon, "The customers love the program -- we receive comments on the cards daily -- and the terminal is so easy to use. We thought it might be a hassle, but it's really great." Monthly reporting provided by STS makes the back office process easy to organize.

Looking forward, Christopher Michael Salon & Spa is considering a number of creative ways to use gift cards, including a special Kids Card and rewards programs for frequent customers.

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