Creating gift cards
You can create a gift card from your Shopify admin by generating a gift card with a custom value without receiving any payment in return, and this gift card can be used as payment towards a future purchase from your store at no cost to the recipient. Creating gift cards directly can let you reward customers, run promotions, and provide flexible refund options.
You might want to create a gift card in the following scenarios:
- as part of a promotion, incentive, or reward
- as a custom denomination not available in your gift card products, after the customer has paid for the value through a draft order invoice
- as a refund or store credit
You can add a customer to the gift card when you create it, or create a gift card first, and then add a customer at a later time. When you add a customer to the gift card, you can email the gift card to the customer.
After you create a gift card, you can view, organize, or edit it from the Gift cards page in your Shopify admin.
Considerations for creating gift cards
Before you create a gift card, review the following considerations:
- You can create a gift card from your Shopify admin to provide a future store credit at no cost to the recipient. If you want to sell gift cards, then you can add a gift card product instead.
- You can create a gift card with a set amount greater than 0 and up to a maximum of $2000 USD, or the equivalent in your local currency.
- You can create gift cards in any currency that's enabled through your Markets configuration. Store currency gift cards can be redeemed in any currency. By default, local currency gift cards can be redeemed only when the checkout currency matches the gift card currency. If you turn on cross-currency redemption, then the gift card can be applied at checkout in other currencies. Learn more about cross-currency redemption.
Exchange rate risk for cross-currency redemption
Cross-currency redemption allows a gift card to be used at checkout in a currency that's different from the currency that the gift card was issued in. If you turn on cross-currency redemption for a gift card, then changes in exchange rates between when the gift card is sold and when it's redeemed might affect the value that you receive. This is known as exchange rate drift, or FX drift.
For example, if you sell a $100 CAD gift card and receive a $73 USD payout, but the exchange rate later shifts so that $100 CAD is equivalent to $100 USD, then the customer can use the gift card to purchase $100 USD worth of products. In this case, you effectively lose $27 USD because you received less at the time of sale than the gift card is worth at redemption.
Exchange rate changes can affect your gift card sales. The following potential impacts depend on how you receive payouts:
- If you receive payouts in a different currency than the gift card currency, then exchange rate changes can directly affect your revenue.
- If you receive payouts in the same currency as the gift card through a local entity, then the impact might be reduced, because your holdings also adjust with the exchange rate.
To reduce exchange rate risk, you can turn off cross-currency redemption when you create a gift card. You can't change the cross-currency redemption setting after the gift card is created.
Gift cards can create a liability to provide future sales. Depending on your region's laws surrounding gift cards, you might not be allowed to add an expiry date or to limit the way in which the gift card is used. These gift cards are included in your gift cards finance reports.
Instead of creating promotional gift cards, you can create a discount code for a currency amount. Creating a discount allows you to control the amount, use restrictions, and expiry date of the promotion.
Create a gift card
Create a gift card directly from your Shopify admin without receiving any payment in return.
Steps:
From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Gift cards.
Click Create gift card.
Optional: In the Currency field, select the currency for the gift card. The default is your store currency. To create a local currency gift card, select from the currencies available in your market configuration. Learn more about local currency gift cards.
Optional: In the Cross-currency redemption section, choose whether this gift card can be redeemed at checkout in a currency other than the currency that the gift card was issued in. You can't change this setting after the gift card is created. Learn more about exchange rate risk for cross-currency redemption.
In the Initial value field, enter the value of the card in the selected currency.
In the Customer field, enter a customer's name, phone number, or email address to create or search for a customer. The customer must have either an email address or phone number to be sent the gift card code by email or SMS. If a customer provides both, then the gift card is sent by email.
Optional: If you want the gift card to expire, then in the Expiration date section, select Set expiration date, and then select a date. Ensure that you follow the laws for your country about gift cards. Learn more about gift card expiration and settings.
Optional: Enter an Internal note for your reference. The note is visible when viewing the gift card in your Shopify admin, but isn't visible to the customer.
Optional: Click Preview email to preview how the gift card email is displayed to your customer.
Click Save.
Click Send gift card.
Do either of the following:
- If an email address is provided for the customer, then click Send email.
- If only a phone number is provided for the customer, then click Send SMS.
Add customer to a gift card
If no customer information was added to a previously created gift card, then you can add customer information, and then send the gift card.
Steps:
From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Gift cards.
Click the code for the created gift card. You'll be able to view only the last four characters of the code.
On the created gift card's page in the Customer field, enter a customer's name, phone number, or email address to search for or create a customer.
Click Save.
Click Send gift card.
Optional: Edit the email that your customer will receive with their gift card.
Click Send email.