Once you have created a gift card for your Shop, you can start editing and managing your gift cards through your dashboard. 

Processing gift card orders

Processing gift card purchases works just like any other product. There's no additional steps needed to send the gift card to the customer. However, there is one important caveat:

In order to send the gift card email to the customer, the order must be marked with a "Paid" status on your orders dashboard.

Don't worry, all orders paid for by your customers will be marked "Paid" by default, but if there was an issue with a customer's payment, it could stand in the way of a customer receiving their gift card email.

What's the commission rate on sold gift cards?

Gift cards are free to set up. You are only charged a commission for gift cards that you have sold. The commission rate is 1% of the card cost.

For example, you have sold a gift card with an amount of $100. The commission fee for you is 1%. Your customer pays $100 and you are charged a commission of $1 for this card. Please keep in mind that the commission is calculated when a gift card is sold (not when redeemed).

Purchasing and redeeming gift cards as a customer

After 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," and it’s automatically sent to customer’s email address as soon as the order gets "Paid" status.

Once your customer receives the email, they can forward the email or send the gift card link via sms or messenger if the gift card is intended for someone else.

A customer can get a link by clicking the View Gift Card button in the email. The page contains all the needed info: 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:

The card recipient can use the gift card to pay for any products in your store.

To redeem it online, they should enter the card code from the email to the gift card 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 apply a gift card at checkout:

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

View details of sold gift cards

On the Gift Cards page in your Websites 360® Shop App dashboard, you are able to see all the statistics on gift cards that you have sold. Navigate to Catalog > Gift Cards to take a look.

Pay attention to the outstanding balance. That’s the balance available on sold gift cards that customers can still use. Here's a breakdown of all the gift card details:

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.

Resend a gift card

You can resend a gift card if the customer lost the gift card email, accidentally deleted it, or can’t find it for any other reason.

To resend a gift card:

1. Select Catalog > Gift Cards on the left-hand sidebar of your Shop dashboard.
2. Under statistics, click View and manage all sold gift cards.
3. 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.
4. Next to the gift card, click Actions > Resend gift card. The gift card will be resent to the "Sent to" email address.

Deactivate 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 can’t be redeemed, however you can reactivate it anytime.

To deactivate a gift card:

1. Select Catalog > Gift Cards on the left-hand sidebar of your Shop dashboard.
2. Under statistics, click View and manage all sold gift cards.
3. 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.
4. Next to the gift card that you want to deactivate, click on its current status and choose Deactivate.

If a card is mistakenly deactivated, you can reactivate it by clicking on the card status and selecting Activate. Once activated, the customer will be able to redeem it.

Check gift card balance

To check the gift card balance:

1. Select Catalog > Gift Cards on the left-hand sidebar of your Shop dashboard.
2. Under statistics, click View and manage all sold gift cards.
3. Next to the gift card that you want to check, click Actions > View gift card details.

Here you will see all the gift card details including current balance, expiration date, and the full gift card code.

Customers see the remaining balance on the gift cart on their cart page, after they apply a gift card. They can also view the gift card details page from the email they receive after the gift card purchase:

Other helpful gift card notes

• Customers can’t apply more than one gift card per order.
• Discount coupons can't 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 can’t 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.

Gift card FAQs

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 only apply one gift card to an 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 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 Shop App dashboard, if you click 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.

How do I change the template of a gift card email?

Currently, there is not an option for customizing that email.

How do I give a free gift card to a customer?

There is no option to issue a free gift card in the Shop App dashboard. However, you can buy a gift card from your storefront (without any actual payment) to get a gift card code and send that code to your customer. While this is a bit of an 'outside the box' approach, we understand that sometimes that's necessary for top notch customer service. 

To give someone a gift card for free:

1. Temporarily enable any offline payment method in your store so that you don’t have to actually pay for the gift card.
2. Go to your storefront, add a gift card to your cart, and place an order.
3. Find the order in your Shop App dashboard and change the order status to "Paid." Since you used an offline payment method, the order will appear with the "Awaiting payment" status and the gift card will only be emailed once an order status is changed to "Paid."
4. Find the gift card email in your inbox.
5. You can either resend or forward the email to the customer or simply send the gift card code in any messaging app.