Selling gift cards

You can sell gift cards in your Online Store along with physical and digital products and services. When enabled, your customers can buy an electronic gift card for any range you specify and get it via email. Here are some reasons to add gift cards to your product range:

Gift cards are a universal gift to sell for any occasion. Plus, recipients tend to spend more with a gift card compared to a credit card.
When your customers buy a gift card for someone else, your customers introduce your store to new audiences that you can turn into loyal customers.
Get paid upfront and fulfill the order later when the card is redeemed.

Note: You can sell gift cards on Basic, Professional, and Unlimited Online store plans.

After a customer gets a notification email with the gift card details, they can forward this email to the gift recipient. The recipient can use the gift card to pay for products in your store until they spend the entire card balance.

Enabling gift cards

To start selling gift cards:

In your Online Store dashboard, go to Catalog > Gift cards.

Click Create gift card and start selling gift cards with the suggested settings or choose Edit settings.
Once a gift card is enabled, it appears among your other products in your Product Catalog.

Here is an example of a gift card with default settings in the storefront:

Editing gift cards

You can edit gift cards from the setup wizard or anytime later from your Online Store admin.

To edit a gift card, go to Catalog > Gift cards. Click on the card you want to edit and customize the following settings:

Name: Keep the name simple and clear for customers and search engines.
Amount: A gift card is created with several default amounts. When adding a new amount, make sure that it’s no less than the average product price in your store.
Image: You can upload your own image reflecting your brand style. This image shows in the storefront.
Description: Add the information your customers should know about gift cards in your store, for example, the gift card’s expiry period.
Categories: The gift card displays on the category page you select. To feature gift cards on the store home page, select the storefront page.
Expiry period. By default, gift cards are set to never expire. You can change that in Catalog > Gift Cards > Gift card expiry.

Important: Please make sure that you comply with the laws of the areas where you sell, as setting the expiry period may be illegal in some countries or regions.

Once you are done editing, save your progress.

Editing gift card email template

The default gift card email template contains gift card details, as well as the instructions on how to resend the gift card to the recipient and to redeem it in a store.

You can change the template, modify the instructions, and add any extra details you want to share with customers.

To edit the gift card email template:

From your Online Store admin, go to Settings > Mail.
Click Edit next to the gift card template.
Make the desired changes in the template and click Save.

Customers who buy gift cards in the future will receive the newly edited email template.

Viewing gift card sales

Go to Catalog > Gift cards to see the statistics on the gift cards that you have sold:

Revenue: The total you have earned by selling gift cards.

Redeemed: The total balance that has been spent.

Unclaimed: The remaining unused balance on cards that can’t be redeemed anymore. This includes expired or deactivated cards.

Outstanding balance, lifetime: The remaining balance on all gift cards that have been issued to date and can still be redeemed.

Important: Pay attention to the outstanding balance. That’s the balance available on sold gift cards that customers can still use. You should be ready to provide products or services when these cards are redeemed.

To see the details on each sold gift card, click View and manage all sold gift cards. You’ll see the card's current status, balance, expiration date, the customer’s email, the order where the gift card was purchased, and more.

Receiving gift cards as a customer

After completing the purchase, your customer gets an email with a unique gift card code and instructions on how to use it. The email subject is Your gift card is ready. It’s automatically sent to the customer’s email address as soon as the order gets the Paid status.

Your customer can forward the email or send the gift card link via SMS or messenger. A customer can get a link by clicking the View Gift Card button in the email.

The page at such a link contains all the necessary information: a link to the store where the card can be applied, current gift card balance, and instructions on how to use it.

Here is an example of a gift card email:

Resending a gift card

If the customer lost the gift card email, accidentally deleted it, or can’t find it for any other reason, you can easily resend the gift card.

To resend a gift card:

From your Online Store admin, go to Catalog > Gift cards.
Under statistics, click View and manage all sold gift cards.
Find the gift card that you want to resend by searching for the customer’s name, email, or the gift card’s last 4 characters.
Next to the gift card, click Actions > Resend gift card.

The gift card will be resent to the Sent to email address.

Using gift cards

The card recipient can use the gift card to pay for any products or services in your Online Store. To redeem it, they should enter the card code (found on the gift card email) into the field at checkout. This field automatically appears in your store after you set up a gift card.

A gift card can be used in multiple orders until it’s fully redeemed. A customer can see the remaining balance if they click the View Gift Card button in the email or after they have entered a gift card code at the checkout.

If the order total is more than the gift card amount, the customer should pay the remaining amount using other payment methods in your store.

Other important things to keep in mind when using gift cards:

Customers cannot use more than one gift card to pay for an order.
Discount coupons cannot be used for a gift card purchase. If a customer applies a coupon code to an order, the discount applies to all the products in the order except the gift card.
A gift card cannot be used to buy another gift card.
Gift cards are tax-free.
Gift cards cannot be uploaded to Facebook or Instagram due to Facebook’s Terms of Use.

Deactivating a gift card

You may want to deactivate a card for any reason. For example, perhaps the order with the gift card purchase was canceled or you simply don’t want this card to be redeemed.

A deactivated card cannot be redeemed, however, you can reactivate it anytime.

To deactivate a gift card:

From the Online Store admin, go to Catalog > Gift cards.
Under statistics, click View and manage all sold gift cards.
Find the gift card that you want to deactivate by searching for the customer’s name, email, or the gift card’s last 4 characters.
Next to the gift card that you want to deactivate, click on the Actions button, and choose Deactivate:

If the card was deactivated by mistake, you can reactivate it. Click on the card status and choose Activate. The customer will be able to redeem the card again.

Checking the gift card balance

To check the gift card balance:

From the Online Store admin, go to Catalog > Gift cards.
Under statistics, click View and manage all sold gift cards.
Next to the gift card that you want to check the balance of, click Actions > View gift card details.

On the next page, you will see all the gift card details including the current balance, expiration date, and also the full gift card code.

Customers can see the remaining balance on the gift card on the cart page after they use a gift card.

Also, they can get to the gift card details page from the email that they get after the gift card purchase.

Issuing a free gift card to a customer

It’s currently impossible to issue a free gift card in the Online Store. But if you want to reward the customer or create the card as a giveaway prize, here’s a workaround:

Enable an offline payment method, so you don’t have to pay for the gift card.
Go to your storefront, add a gift card to your cart, and place an order without making an actual payment.
Go to your Online Store admin and change the order status to Paid.
Receive a gift card code in your inbox.
Forward the email to the customer or simply send the gift card code.

How to stop selling gift cards

To stop selling gift cards:

From your Online Store admin, go to Catalog > Gift cards.
Change the status of any particular card to Disabled.

A disabled gift card disappears from the storefront but remains in your catalog with all the settings, so you can easily enable it at a later stage if necessary.

Note: Previously sold gift cards can still be redeemed.

This feature is available on Basic, Professional, and Unlimited Online Store plans.

Gift card FAQ

Can I sell several gift cards?

You can have only one gift card in your Online Store. However, you can set different gift card amounts that customers can choose from.

How to activate the gift card redemption field at checkout?

The gift card field shows at checkout automatically, as long as the gift card product is enabled in your store. In this case, customers see the ‘Have a gift card? Redeem your code’ message that shows the card redemption field upon click.

If you do not see this message at your store checkout, make sure that the gift card has the Enabled status in your Online Store admin in Catalog > Gift cards.

Can a gift card be used more than once?

Yes, a customer can use a gift card in multiple orders until the entire balance is spent.

Can more than one card be applied to an order?

No, you can apply only one gift card to order.

Can I restrict gift cards to certain items?

No. A gift card can be used to pay for any products or services in your store.

How do I see the full gift card code?

Customers can see the full code when they get an email after purchasing a gift card. You, as a store owner, can see the full gift card code in the Online Store admin, if you go to Catalog > Gift cards > View and manage all sold gift cards.

Click Actions next to the gift card you want to check and click View gift card details.