Sell gift cards

Sell gift cards and give store credit, and let shoppers pay with either at checkout.

Gift cards let shoppers buy a code for your store, give it as a present, and pay with it at checkout. Store credit gives a customer a balance to spend in your store.

Before you start

Entry path: Workspace → choose a store → Store Operations → Payments → Gift cards and store credit

Your store backend must be current. An older store shows Your store needs an update before it can offer gift cards.
Gift card pages open in Store Operations → Plugins. Manage gift cards and Manage store credit appear only when your store shows Plugins.
Shoppers pay for gift cards like any other product, so connect a payment provider first.
Buyers get their gift card codes by email. Turn on the store email so that the codes go out.
Gift cards and store credit can’t pay for orders with dropshipped or print-on-demand items.

Watch: sell a gift card and see a shopper pay with it

The recording, with narration and captions, turns on Offer gift cards and store credit and selects Manage gift cards. In Store Operations → Plugins → Gift cards, it creates a gift card product with the amounts 25 and 50. A shopper then buys a $50 gift card with a test card and gets the code on the confirmation page. Another shopper uses that code to pay for a $38 print, so checkout skips the payment step. Last, the gift card shows $12.00 left and both uses. The recording does not show refunds, cancellations, or store credit.

Gift card controls

Control or state	Why it is useful	What happens next
Offer gift cards and store credit	Turns gift cards and store credit on or off for this store.	Runner shows Gift cards and store credit are on or Gift cards and store credit are off.
Manage gift cards	Opens your gift cards.	Runner opens Store Operations → Plugins → Gift cards at Gift Cards.
Manage store credit	Opens your store credit accounts.	Runner opens Store Operations → Plugins → Gift cards at Store Credits.
Gift Cards	Lists every gift card with its code, product, issue date, and value.	Select a card to see what is left and every use. Search finds a card by its code. Create issues a card without a purchase.
Store Credits	Lists each customer’s store credit account with its balance.	Use it to check what a customer can spend.
Gift Card Products	Lists the gift card products that shoppers can buy.	Create opens a form with Details and Prices.

Turn on gift cards

Open Store Operations → Payments.
In Gift cards and store credit, turn on Offer gift cards and store credit. Runner shows Gift cards and store credit are on. When your store shows Plugins, Manage gift cards and Manage store credit appear.
Select Manage gift cards to open Store Operations → Plugins → Gift cards.

Create a gift card product

In Store Operations → Plugins → Gift cards, select Gift Card Products, then Create.
On Details, enter a Title, such as your store name and “Gift Card”. The form starts with example text, so replace the Subtitle, Handle, and Description too.
Under Denominations, enter the first amount. Select Add denomination for each other amount.
Select Continue. On Prices, enter the price of each amount.
Select Publish. The product page opens, and shoppers can buy the gift card on your published store.

What shoppers see

The gift card product page shows the amounts to choose from. Check a gift card balance lets anyone enter a code and see what is left.
A cart of gift cards skips delivery. After payment, the confirmation page shows the codes under Your gift cards, and the codes are emailed to the buyer.
At checkout, Gift card or store credit has a field for a code and an Apply button. The order summary shows Gift cards and store credit with the amount that the cards cover. When gift cards cover the whole total, checkout skips the payment step.
A signed-in customer with store credit can select Use store credit at checkout. Guests can’t use store credit.

Give a gift card without a sale

In Store Operations → Plugins → Gift cards, select Gift Cards, then Create.
Enter the Value, and a Note if you want one.
Select Create. The new card opens with its code. Send the code to the customer yourself.

States and messages

What you see	What it means	What to do
Your store needs an update before it can offer gift cards.	Your store backend is too old for gift cards.	Contact support to upgrade it.
Couldn’t load gift card settings.	Runner could not read the gift card setting.	Refresh the page.
Couldn’t change gift cards. Try again.	The switch did not change.	Try the switch again.
Your store didn’t answer. Try again in a minute.	Your store backend was asleep or restarting.	Wait a minute, then try again.
Buyers get their gift card codes by email, but the Email app is off.	Buyers will not get their codes by email.	Turn on the store email in Apps.

Turn off gift cards

Turn off Offer gift cards and store credit to stop new use. Shoppers can no longer apply gift cards or store credit, check a balance, or buy a gift card. A cart that already holds credit can still check out with it. Refunds, cancellations, and code emails for earlier orders keep working.

If gift cards do not work

Manage gift cards does not appear. Your store does not show Plugins in Store Operations yet. Contact support.
Plugins shows no Gift cards tab. Turn on Offer gift cards and store credit first, then open Store Operations → Plugins again.
Shoppers see no gift card field at checkout. Make sure the switch is on. If your store was created before gift cards were available, ask Runner in chat to add gift cards to your storefront, then publish.
A buyer did not get the code email. Turn on the store email in Apps. The code also shows on the order’s confirmation page.
A gift card does not apply. The storefront tells the shopper why, for example when the card has no balance left, has expired, or the cart has dropshipped or print-on-demand items.