Back in December I was given a shopping challenge and asked to try out a new kind of gift card that allows greater spending freedom.

The kind people at *One4all sent me one of their lovely gift cards and always up for a challenge, I soon got to work. My shopping mission – for those of you that may have missed it – was to buy a party outfit and even though it was slightly tricky because I was desperate to find a dress in my new autumn colours, I have to say using the card was a breeze!

What I particularly love about this gift card is that it can be used in over 50,000 shopping outlets across the UK and even online too, which includes many of our favourite high street retailers such as John Lewis, Debenhams, Mothercare, Clarks and Argos. So unlike a traditional high street voucher which can only be used in one particular store, this one allows you to spend at your leisure with total ease, therefore giving you a much greater sense of shopping freedom. (Which came in super handy for instance when I had to complete my shopping challenge and struggled to find a frock that wasn’t black!)

However there are two things regarding the gift card, that I think it would definitely help to be aware of. The first thing is that with some retailers you can only use it in store and not online, so if you are the lucky recipient of one, it’s always worth checking the website first before you sit down to do an online browse. (The site lists all retailers and provides instructions for each one.) And finally, when paying for an item in store, you may need to tell the shopping assistant to try using it as a visa card instead of a ‘voucher’ if they’re struggling to pop it through the system, because as I say this is a totally different kind of gift card experience.

Those two little things aside, personally I think the One4all gift card is a genius gift idea for anyone but particularly for those people in your life who may be slightly tricky to buy for! (I think we all know one of those, right?) And you can even personalise the card too.

One4all gift cards can be purchased online or at your local post office. For more information, please do check out their website.

*This post was created in collaboration with One4all.