Update Finalsite Store catalog: Gift Cards

Along with physical and digital products, your customers can buy an electronic gift card for any range you specify and receive it via email. This article covers selling and managing gift cards as a store admin, as well as purchasing and redeeming gift cards as a customer.

Store admin

Enabling and disabling gift cards

To start selling gift cards:

1. Go to Catalog > Gift Cards and click “Create Gift Card.”

2. Click “Create Gift Card” to start selling gift cards with the suggested settings, or choose “Change settings” to customize:

   • Name

   • Amounts

   • Image

   • Description

   • Categories

3. Change the “Product availability” toggle to Enabled.

Note: By default, gift cards are set to never expire. You can change that in Catalog > Gift Cards > Change Expiry. Please make sure that you comply with the laws of the areas where you sell as setting the expiry period may be illegal in some countries or regions.

Once a gift card is enabled, it appears with your other products in Catalog > Products. You can edit it later in Catalog > Gift Cards.

To stop selling gift cards, go to Catalog > Gift Cards and change the status to “Disabled.” A disabled gift card disappears from the storefront, but it remains in your catalog with all the settings, so you can easily re-enable it later. Previously sold gift cards can still be redeemed.

Viewing details of sold gift cards

On the Gift Cards page, you can see all the statistics on gift cards that you have sold.

The Sold gift cards box displays the monetary value and the number of gift cards in the following categories.

• Revenue: The total you have earned by selling gift cards.

• Redeemed: The total balance that has been spent.

• Unclaimed: The remaining unused balance on cards that can’t be redeemed anymore (expired or deactivated cards).

• Outstanding balance, lifetime: The remaining balance on all gift cards that have been issued to date and can still be redeemed.

Note: Pay attention to the outstanding balance. That’s the balance available on sold gift cards that customers can still use. You should be ready to provide products or services when these cards are redeemed.

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 in which the gift card was purchased, and more.

Resending a gift card

You may need to 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. Go to Catalog > Gift Cards.

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 email address listed under “Sent to.”

Deactivating a gift card

You may want to deactivate a card for any number of reasons, for example, if the order with the gift card purchase was canceled. A deactivated card can’t be redeemed; however, you can reactivate it at any time.

To deactivate a gift card:

1. From the store admin, go to Catalog > Gift Cards.

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.”

To reactivate the card, click on the card status and choose “Activate.” The customer will be able to redeem it again.

Checking gift card balances

To check the gift card balance:

1. Go to Catalog > Gift Cards.

2. Under statistics, click “View and manage all sold gift cards.”

3. Search for the gift card that you want to check the balance of. You can use the last four characters of the gift card or the email address the card was sent to.

4. In the results view, you’ll see the balance of the card, as well as its initial balance, the number of orders it has been used for, and expiration date.

   
   
   
   To view further details, such as the full card code, go to Actions > View gift card details.

Purchasing and redeeming gift cards as a customer

When a customer purchases a gift card, they receive an email with a unique gift card code and instructions on how to use it. It’s automatically sent to the customer’s email address as soon as the order receives a “Paid” status.

Then, the customer can forward the email or copy and paste the gift card link. They can get a link by clicking the "View Gift Card" button in the email. The page at the link contains all the necessary information: a link to the store where the card can be applied, the current gift card balance, and instructions on how to use it.

The card recipient can use the gift card to pay for any products in your store. To redeem it, they should enter the card code from the email into the 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 is fully redeemed. A customer can see the remaining balance by clicking the "View Gift Card" button in the email or when they apply a gift card at checkout.

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

The following limitations apply to customers purchasing and redeeming gift cards:

• 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 for 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.