Gift Cards

Overview

Gift cards let customers purchase store credit to give as gifts or to use themselves. They function as a form of payment at checkout — a customer can pay part of an order with a gift card and the remainder with a credit card, and any unused balance stays on the card. All major e-commerce platforms include native gift card functionality; custom implementations are only needed for headless storefronts or very specific accounting requirements.

When to Use This Skill

When adding gift cards as a purchasable product that customers can send to others
When implementing store credit as a refund mechanism in place of cash refunds
When building bulk corporate gift card programs for B2B clients
When allowing customers to split payment between a gift card and a credit card at checkout
When you need a full balance history for accounting reconciliation or customer support

Core Instructions

Step 1: Determine the merchant's platform and choose the right tool

Platform	Recommendation	Notes
Shopify	Use Shopify's built-in gift cards (available on all plans except Basic)	Native integration with checkout, balance tracking, and email delivery — no app needed
WooCommerce	WooCommerce Gift Cards plugin (official, ~~$49/year) or YITH WooCommerce Gift Cards (~~$80/year)	Core WooCommerce does not include gift cards; these plugins are well-maintained and widely used
BigCommerce	BigCommerce Gift Certificates (built in, all plans)	Native support — create, sell, and redeem gift certificates from the admin panel
Custom / Headless	Build with ledger-based balance tracking	See Custom section below

Step 2: Set up gift cards on your platform

Shopify

Shopify gift cards are available on Shopify, Advanced, and Plus plans (not Basic). They are issued as a product and redeemed at checkout using a 16-character code.

Enable and create gift cards:

In your Shopify admin, go to Products → Gift cards
Click Add gift card product
Set denominations (e.g., $25, $50, $100) — each denomination is a product variant
Add a title, description, and image for the gift card product
Click Save

Issuing a gift card to a customer:

Via sale: When a customer purchases a gift card, Shopify automatically generates a unique code and emails it to the recipient
Manually: Go to Customers → find the customer → Gift cards tab → Issue gift card; set the value and expiry date

Setting expiry dates:

In Settings → Gift cards
Enable gift card expiry and set the default expiration period
Note: Some jurisdictions prohibit gift card expiry (check local law before enabling)

Bulk gift cards for B2B or marketing:

Go to Products → Gift cards → Export to download existing codes
Use the Shopify Admin API (POST /admin/api/2024-04/gift_cards.json) to bulk-create gift cards programmatically
The API response includes the code — distribute via your email platform

Store credit as a refund: When issuing a refund, Shopify allows you to refund to a gift card instead of the original payment method:

Go to Orders → open the order → Refund
Under "Refund to", select Gift card and specify the amount
Shopify creates a new gift card and emails the code to the customer

WooCommerce

Install the WooCommerce Gift Cards extension (from WooCommerce.com) or YITH WooCommerce Gift Cards. These are the most feature-complete options.

Setup with WooCommerce Gift Cards:

Install and activate the plugin
Go to Products → Add New and set the product type to Gift card
Under Gift card data:
- Set delivery type: email delivery (for digital) or printed card
- Set available amounts or allow custom amounts
- Configure the email template that sends the code to the recipient
Publish the product

Redemption: The plugin adds a "Gift card" field to the checkout page. Customers enter their code and the balance is deducted from the order total. Partial redemption is supported — remaining balance stays on the card.

Store credit as refund:

Open the order → Refund
The plugin adds a "Refund to gift card" option
A new gift card code is generated and emailed to the customer

Balance inquiry: Both WooCommerce Gift Cards and YITH provide a balance inquiry shortcode you can add to a page: [woo_gift_card_balance_check]

BigCommerce

BigCommerce calls these "Gift Certificates" and includes them natively.

Create and sell gift certificates:

Go to Marketing → Gift Certificates → Create Gift Certificate
Fill in:
- To (recipient name and email)
- From (sender name and email)
- Amount: fixed value
- Expiry date (optional)
BigCommerce sends the certificate code to the recipient via email

Selling gift certificates as a product:

Go to Products → Gift Certificates
Enable the gift certificate product page
Customers can purchase certificates in custom or fixed amounts directly from your storefront

Redemption: Gift certificate codes appear as a payment option at checkout. Partial redemption is supported — the remaining balance is saved on the certificate code.

Custom / Headless

For headless storefronts, implement a ledger-based gift card system. The ledger pattern records every debit and credit as an immutable transaction row — never update a balance column directly.

CREATE TABLE gift_cards (
  id           UUID PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT gen_random_uuid(),
  code         VARCHAR(32) NOT NULL UNIQUE,
  initial_value_cents INTEGER NOT NULL,
  currency     VARCHAR(3) NOT NULL DEFAULT 'USD',
  issued_to    VARCHAR(255),
  expires_at   TIMESTAMPTZ,
  is_active    BOOLEAN NOT NULL DEFAULT true,
  created_at   TIMESTAMPTZ NOT NULL DEFAULT NOW()
);

CREATE TABLE gift_card_ledger (
  id         UUID PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT gen_random_uuid(),
  card_id    UUID NOT NULL REFERENCES gift_cards(id),
  amount_cents INTEGER NOT NULL,  -- positive = credit, negative = debit
  type       VARCHAR(16) NOT NULL CHECK (type IN ('issue', 'redeem', 'refund', 'void')),
  order_id   UUID,
  created_at TIMESTAMPTZ NOT NULL DEFAULT NOW()
);

Balance calculation — always derived from the ledger, never from a stored column:

async function getBalance(cardCode: string): Promise<number> {
  const card = await db.giftCards.findByCode(cardCode.toUpperCase());
  if (!card || !card.is_active) throw new Error('CARD_NOT_FOUND');
  if (card.expires_at && card.expires_at < new Date()) throw new Error('CARD_EXPIRED');

  const result = await db.raw(
    'SELECT COALESCE(SUM(amount_cents), 0) AS balance FROM gift_card_ledger WHERE card_id = ?',
    [card.id]
  );
  return Math.max(0, parseInt(result.rows[0].balance, 10));
}

Partial redemption with row-level locking to prevent concurrent over-redemption:

async function redeemGiftCard(code: string, orderId: string, orderTotalCents: number) {
  return db.transaction(async tx => {
    // Lock the card row to prevent concurrent redemptions
    const card = await tx.raw(
      'SELECT * FROM gift_cards WHERE UPPER(code) = ? FOR UPDATE',
      [code.toUpperCase()]
    ).then(r => r.rows[0]);

    if (!card || !card.is_active) throw new Error('CARD_NOT_FOUND');

    const balance = await getBalance(code);
    const appliedCents = Math.min(balance, orderTotalCents);
    if (appliedCents === 0) throw new Error('ZERO_BALANCE');

    await tx.giftCardLedger.insert({
      card_id: card.id,
      amount_cents: -appliedCents,
      type: 'redeem',
      order_id: orderId,
    });

    return { appliedCents, remainingBalance: balance - appliedCents };
  });
}

Best Practices

Use an append-only ledger — never update a balance column; record every debit and credit as a transaction row for a full audit trail (required for accounting reconciliation)
Generate codes without ambiguous characters — omit 0, O, 1, I from the character set to prevent customer confusion when reading codes from email
Never expose full card codes in URLs or logs — partial masking (ABCD-xxxx-xxxx-MNOP) is safe for display; full codes belong only in the issuance email
Set accounting liabilities on issuance — gift card balances are a deferred revenue liability until redeemed; ensure your accounting integration records this correctly
Check local regulations before setting expiry dates — many US states and other jurisdictions restrict or prohibit gift card expiration; verify before enabling
Test the refund-to-gift-card flow — this is a common customer service scenario; ensure the newly issued card is accessible and redeemable before going live

Common Pitfalls

Problem	Solution
Two simultaneous checkouts both succeed using the same card	Use a row-level lock (`SELECT ... FOR UPDATE`) inside a database transaction before reading the balance (custom builds); platforms handle this natively
Balance goes negative due to rounding in split payment	Use `Math.min(balance, orderTotal)` — never apply more than the current balance
Customer cannot find their card after a refund re-credits it	After refunding to a gift card, ensure the card is reactivated if it was previously depleted and deactivated
Gift card codes appear in server access logs	Never include the code as a URL path parameter; use a POST body or a hashed lookup token
Gift card purchased but code not delivered	Platform-native gift cards send automatically; for custom implementations, use transactional email with delivery tracking and a resend option in your customer service panel

Related Skills

@coupon-management
@loyalty-points-system
@stripe-integration
@returns-management
@checkout-flow-optimization

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