Many salon clients across the United States went into panic mode when salons were closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumers’ initial thoughts revolved around how they would maintain their look without a regular salon visit, but as the shutdown extended from days to weeks to months, concern shifted to the salons themselves. Customers realized that salon owners and stylists—people they depend upon and trust, people who are often neighbors or friends—had their livelihoods snatched from them with no warning.

In response, those consumers came up with a way to help in a big way: Gift cards became a means to extend a cashflow lifeline. According to Kline PRO USA, which tracks salon retail product and service performance, the average value of a gift card jumped from $30.74 in February to $132.45 in March and hit a whopping $257.75 in April. Even though salons began to open in May, clients continued this method of support through the second quarter, resulting in gift card revenue coming in 41.3% more than Q2 of 2019.

This grassroots effort of patrons supporting salons not only provided cash, but it also gave hope—hope that once the salons opened their doors, clients would return to redeem the gift cards for long-overdue services, stock up on favorite brands, and make that the next appointment before leaving.

Kline PRO is a comprehensive interactive database that enables users to access the latest performance data on the professional hair care industry. Based on actual salon transactions from a panel of thousands of salons, it yields category, brand, and product-level sales and service data on a quarterly basis.

This article originally appeared on klinegroup.com.