- Go to Products > Gift cards in your Shopify admin to create a gift card product.
- Add denominations such as ₹500, ₹1,000, and ₹2,500 as product variants.
- Publish the product to the sales channels where you want to sell it.
- Customers receive a unique gift card code after their order is fulfilled.
- You can create complimentary gift cards separately for refunds, rewards, or customer service.
- Gift cards do not expire by default; check local regulations before adding an expiry date.
- Test the complete purchase, delivery, and redemption process before promoting your cards.
Gift cards give customers a convenient way to purchase from your store without choosing a specific product. They can also bring in new customers, generate upfront cash flow, and encourage recipients to spend more than the value available on their cards.
Shopify allows merchants on all subscription plans to sell digital gift cards, create complimentary cards, and accept them across sales channels that use Shopify Checkout.
This guide explains how to set up Shopify gift cards, customise the customer experience and manage cards after they have been issued.
What Are Shopify Gift Cards?
A Shopify gift card is a prepaid balance that customers can redeem when purchasing products from your store.
Shopify distinguishes between two related items:
- Gift card product: A product customers can purchase from your store.
- Created gift card: The unique code and balance that a customer uses at checkout.
When a customer purchases a gift card product and the order is fulfilled, Shopify creates the corresponding gift card and sends its details to the customer or recipient.
Gift cards can be redeemed through sales channels that use Shopify Checkout, including the Online Store, Shop app, Buy Button, and Shopify POS. Customers can use the balance across multiple orders until it reaches zero. However, they cannot use one gift card to purchase another gift card.
Why Offer Gift Cards on Shopify?
Gift cards can support several areas of an ecommerce business.
1. Generate revenue before fulfilment
You receive payment when the gift card is purchased, while the products are selected and fulfilled later.
2. Attract new customers
Recipients may be introduced to your store by existing customers who already know your brand.
3. Reduce uncertainty for gift buyers
A gift card lets the recipient choose the right product, size, colour or variant instead of relying on the buyer to decide.
4. Increase the potential order value
Some recipients choose products worth more than their available balance and pay the difference using another accepted payment method.
5. Support promotions and customer service
Merchants can create complimentary gift cards for referral rewards, loyalty campaigns, giveaways, or service recovery.
How to Set Up Gift Cards on Shopify
Step 1: Create a Gift Card Product
To add a gift card that customers can purchase:
- Sign in to your Shopify admin.
- Go to Products > Gift cards.
- Click Add a gift card product.
- Enter a clear product title, such as “Digital Gift Card.”
- Add a description explaining how the card is delivered and redeemed.
- Upload a branded product image.
- Select the appropriate currency.
- Add or edit the available denominations.
- Choose the sales channels and markets where the product should appear.
- Click Save gift card product.
Shopify creates several denominations by default, but you can replace them with values that suit your customers. Each denomination is stored as a product variant.
For example, an Indian store could offer:
- ₹500
- ₹1,000
- ₹2,500
- ₹5,000
Avoid offering too many options. A short selection covering entry-level, average and premium order values is usually easier to understand.
Shopify also supports local-currency gift cards for eligible market configurations. If you enable cross-currency redemption, consider the possible impact of exchange-rate changes between purchase and redemption. The cross-currency setting cannot be changed after the gift card product is created.
Step 2: Improve the Product Page
Treat the gift card page like any other important product page. It should answer the questions a buyer may have before purchasing.
Include:
- Where the gift card can be redeemed
- Whether it is digital or physical
- How and when it will be delivered
- Available denominations
- Whether the balance can be used across multiple orders
- Whether an expiry date applies
- Any regional or product restrictions
- What happens if the recipient loses the email
You can also add the gift card product to relevant collections on Shopify or feature it in your main navigation during gifting periods.
If your theme supports recipient fields, customers may be able to enter the recipient’s name, email address, delivery date and a personal message. Otherwise, these fields may require theme customisation.
Step 3: Customise the Gift Card Page
The page displaying the recipient’s gift card balance and redemption code is controlled by your Shopify theme.
To review the available settings:
- Go to Online Store > Themes.
- Click Customise beside your active theme.
- Open the relevant gift card or product template.
- Adjust the available colours, imagery, typography and layout.
- Preview the page on desktop and mobile.
- Save your changes.
The options available will depend on your theme. More extensive changes may require editing the theme code.
Shopify does not allow merchants to customise the actual gift card value or redemption code displayed on the gift card page.
Need Help With Shopify Development?
We build fast, custom Shopify stores designed to drive more sales.
Step 4: Review Gift Card Notifications
When a paid gift card order is fulfilled, Shopify sends the customer or intended recipient a notification containing the unique code.
To review the emails:
- Go to Settings > Notifications.
- Select Customer notifications.
- Find the notifications under the Gift cards section.
- Review the subject line, branding and instructions.
- Send a test notification or preview the email before saving changes.
The email should explain:
- Which store issued the card
- The available value
- How to redeem the code
- Where the recipient can check the balance
- Whether the card expires
- How to contact support
If you have previously edited the notification code, check that your template still contains the necessary gift card and recipient information.
Step 5: Check Fulfilment Settings
Shopify automatically fulfils gift card orders after payment by default. This triggers the delivery notification containing the gift card code.
If your store is configured to fulfil order items manually, you may also need to fulfil gift card orders manually before the customer receives the card.
Review this setting under Settings > General > Order processing. Consider how changing it could affect your other products before making adjustments.
Step 6: Test the Complete Experience
Before promoting the gift card, place a test order and check:
- Whether the product appears on the correct sales channels
- Whether every denomination displays correctly
- Whether checkout accepts the order
- Whether the gift card email arrives
- Whether the recipient information is accurate
- Whether the code works at checkout
- Whether the remaining balance updates after partial use
- Whether the page works properly on mobile
Do not rely only on the product preview. Testing the complete journey can reveal problems with fulfilment, notifications or theme customisations.
How to Create a Complimentary Gift Card on Shopify
Selling a gift card product is different from creating a card directly for a customer.
You may want to create a complimentary gift card for:
- A customer-service resolution
- A loyalty reward
- A referral incentive
- An employee benefit
- A competition or giveaway
- A promotional campaign
To create one:
- Go to Products > Gift cards.
- Click Create gift card.
- Select the currency, if applicable.
- Enter the initial value.
- Add or select the customer.
- Set an expiry date only if appropriate and legally permitted.
- Add an internal note for your team if needed.
- Preview the message.
- Click Save.
- Select Send gift card and send it by email or SMS.
A gift card created directly in the admin does not represent a paid product sale because Shopify did not collect payment for it.
How Customers Redeem Shopify Gift Cards
Customers redeem a gift card by entering its unique code in the appropriate field during checkout.
If the balance covers the whole order, no additional payment is required. If the order costs more than the available balance, the customer can pay the difference using another supported payment method.
If the order costs less than the gift card balance, the remaining value stays on the same card for future purchases.
The gift card field appears at checkout only after your store has at least one active gift card.
How to Sell Physical Gift Cards with Shopify POS
Stores using Shopify POS can sell physical gift cards in person.
Physical cards must have preassigned codes that Shopify POS can recognise. At the point of sale, staff scan the card’s QR code or barcode and load the purchased value onto it.
Gift cards created online and through Shopify POS are interchangeable. A customer can purchase a card in a physical shop and redeem it online, or purchase it online and use it at a compatible POS location.
Before launching physical cards, train staff to:
- Activate cards correctly
- Confirm the loaded amount
- Explain how balances work
- Process returns to gift cards
- Replace eligible lost cards
- Avoid exposing complete codes unnecessarily
Shopify Gift Card Best Practices
Offer denominations based on order value
Review your average order value and typical product prices before choosing denominations. The options should make sense for what customers can realistically purchase.
Make the delivery method clear
Label the product as a “digital gift card” if no physical card will be shipped. This prevents buyers from expecting a parcel.
Add recipient and scheduling options
Giving customers the ability to include a message and schedule delivery can make the product more useful for birthdays, holidays and last-minute gifts.
Create occasion-specific designs
You can use separate gift card products or images for occasions such as:
- Birthdays
- Weddings
- Anniversaries
- Festivals
- Thank-you gifts
- Corporate rewards
Keep the underlying redemption process consistent even when the presentation changes.
Promote gift cards strategically
Consider featuring gift cards:
- In your store navigation
- On the homepage during gifting periods
- In abandoned-browse or seasonal email campaigns
- Near products that are difficult to choose for someone else
- In post-purchase emails
- On social media before major holidays
Use proper discounts
Shopify allows product-specific discount codes and automatic discounts to be applied to gift card products. For example, a customer might pay ₹900 for a gift card worth ₹1,000.
Do not use the Compare-at price field to create this type of offer. Use Shopify’s discount tools and carefully calculate the promotional liability before launching the campaign.
Check expiry regulations
Shopify gift cards do not expire by default because expiry restrictions differ between jurisdictions. Before adding an expiry date, confirm that it is permitted in every location where the card will be sold.
Display any valid expiry terms clearly on the product page and in the recipient notification.
Protect gift card codes
Treat active gift card codes like money. Staff should avoid sending complete codes through insecure channels or sharing them with anyone other than the intended customer.
How to Track Shopify Gift Card Performance
Shopify provides finance reports for tracking gift card activity.
Need Help With Shopify Development?
We build fast, custom Shopify stores designed to drive more sales.
Useful reports include:
- Net sales from gift cards: Tracks purchased gift card products.
- Outstanding gift card balance: Shows the remaining liability across active cards.
- Payments finance report: Records payments made using gift cards and the methods used to purchase cards.
A purchased gift card is treated differently from an ordinary product in Shopify’s sales reporting. The product sale is tracked in the gift card finance report, while the eventual merchandise purchase is included in sales reports when the card is redeemed.
Monitor:
- Number and value of gift cards sold
- Redemption rate
- Outstanding balance
- Average time to redemption
- Additional amount spent beyond the card balance
- Performance by denomination
- Seasonal sales patterns
Gift cards represent an obligation to provide products or services later, so discuss their accounting and tax treatment with a qualified professional in your jurisdiction.
Common Shopify Gift Card Problems
The gift card does not appear in the store
Check whether the gift card product is active and published to the Online Store and the required markets or catalogues.
The customer did not receive the email
Confirm that the order was paid and fulfilled. Check the customer’s email address and ask them to review their spam folder. You can open the created card under Products > Gift cards and resend it to the original customer.
The code does not work at checkout
Verify that the card is active, has a remaining balance, has not expired and is being used in a supported currency or sales channel.
The recipient fields are missing
Recipient fields depend on the theme. Check your theme’s documentation or add the required fields through theme and notification customisation.
The customer lost the gift card
Search for the card using the customer’s name, email address or the last four characters of the code. Shopify only displays the last four characters to staff after creation, but you can resend the card to the original customer.
The balance appears incorrect
Review the card’s transaction history for previous redemptions or refunds. Avoid issuing a replacement until you have verified the existing balance and activity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are gift cards available on every Shopify plan?
Yes. Shopify currently makes gift cards available on all subscription plans. Merchants can sell gift card products or create cards directly from the Shopify admin.
Does Shopify charge a fee for gift cards?
Shopify does not list a separate fee for using its standard gift card functionality. Regular subscription, payment-processing, POS and app charges may still apply depending on how the card is sold.
Can customers use a Shopify gift card more than once?
Yes. Customers can use the same gift card across multiple eligible purchases until the balance reaches zero or the card is deactivated or expires.
Can a customer use a gift card and discount code together?
Potentially. The gift card functions as a payment method, while discount eligibility depends on the discount’s rules, applicable products and combination settings configured by the merchant.
Can customers purchase gift cards for another person?
Yes, but recipient names, messages and scheduled delivery depend on theme support. Stores without these fields may require a compatible theme, app or custom development.
Can Shopify gift cards expire?
They do not expire by default. Merchants can configure expiry settings, but they should first confirm that expiration is permitted under the laws applying to their customers.
Can a Shopify gift card be used to buy another gift card?
No. Shopify does not allow customers to use a gift card as payment for another gift card.
Can I deactivate a Shopify gift card?
Yes, but deactivation is permanent. The card remains visible in the Shopify admin for record-keeping but can no longer be redeemed.
Conclusion
Setting up Shopify gift cards begins with creating a gift card product under Products > Gift cards, adding useful denominations and publishing it to the right sales channels. You should then review your theme, customer notifications, fulfilment settings and redemption process.
The technical setup is relatively simple, but the customer experience still matters. Clear product information, reliable delivery, sensible denominations and secure card management can make gift cards easier to purchase and redeem.
Stores that need recipient scheduling, custom designs, physical and digital integration or more complex promotional workflows may require additional theme development. In that case, you can hire Shopify experts to customise the experience around your store’s requirements.
