How to Set Up Gift Cards in Shopify, Online and in Store

Who it is for

Store owners adding gift cards

Time needed

About 30 minutes to set up

What you need

Admin access and a card image

A gift card is the easiest product a store can add: no stock to count, nothing to ship, and the money arrives before the goods leave. It is also a product that is easy to set up badly. I regularly find stores with a "gift card" that is really a normal product, so no code is ever sent, or with expiry switched on in a state where that creates legal trouble.

This guide walks through the full setup in the order I do it on client stores: the decisions first, then the gift card product, the settings, manual cards, point of sale and physical cards, and day-to-day management. Menu names, limits and rules come from Shopify's help center and the CFPB, as checked on 7 November 2026.

How Shopify gift cards work

Shopify creates a gift card, with a unique code, in one of three ways. Each has its own limit and its own place in the admin, so it helps to know which one you need before you start.

All three end up in the same list under Products > Gift cards, and all three can be redeemed on any channel that uses Shopify checkout: the online store, Buy Button, Shopify POS, the Shop app and Facebook. A card can only be spent in the store that issued it. Shopify has no built-in way to move cards between stores, which matters if you ever run more than one.

When a customer buys a gift card product, the card is created at the moment the order is fulfilled, and Shopify emails the code. Neither you nor your staff can see the full code later. The admin shows only the last four characters, because Shopify treats gift cards like cash.

Decisions to make before you start

Five choices shape the setup. Make them first and the rest takes about twenty minutes.

1. Denominations. Pick three to five amounts that match your prices. If your average order is $60, cards at $25, $50, $75 and $100 cover most buyers. Customers can't type a custom amount on the online store, so for odd amounts you create a draft order, take payment, then issue the card manually.
2. Expiry. Leave the default (never expire) unless you have checked the law where you and your customers are. More on this below.
3. Currency. Cards in your store currency can be spent in any currency your store sells in. Local currency cards only work when the checkout currency matches, unless you allow cross-currency redemption, and that choice can't be changed after you create the product.
4. Tax. Shopify's help center doesn't set a rule for taxing gift cards. It says rules vary by region and recommends asking a local tax adviser. Get that answer before launch, not after your first sales tax filing.
5. Recipient sending. Decide whether buyers can send the card straight to someone else from the product page. That depends on your theme, so check it before you promise it.

Step 1: Create the gift card product

This is the product customers buy on your store. It is not a normal product with "gift card" in the title. If you sell a normal product and call it a gift card, fulfilling the order sends no code at all.

1. Open the gift cards page. In the Shopify admin, go to Products > Gift cards.
2. Start the product. Click Add a gift card product.
3. Write the title and description. Say how the card is delivered (by email, usually within minutes of payment), where it can be used (online, in store or both) and whether it expires.
4. Add media. Upload an image of the card design.
5. Choose the currency and cross-currency setting. Leave the store currency unless you sell in several markets and want local-currency cards.
6. Set the denominations. Shopify adds default amounts. Replace them with yours, using Add denomination or the trash icon. Each one is saved as a variant, so you can add a SKU or a variant image.
7. Publish it. Under sales channels, make the product available on the Online Store and any other channel you use. Add it to a collection and your menu, or nobody will find it.
8. Save. Click Save gift card product.

Don't use the compare-at price to put gift cards on sale. Shopify tells merchants to use a discount code or an automatic discount instead. A "buy a $100 card for $80" offer works, but think about margin first: the customer can spend that card on your lowest-margin products.

Step 2: Check the gift card settings

Two settings pages control how cards behave. Most stores never look at them, which is how expiry gets switched on by accident or cards stop sending.

• Expiry and Apple Wallet: go to Settings > Payments and find the Payment configuration section. The default is "Gift cards never expire". If you choose "Gift cards expire" without changing the length, cards expire after five years. Apple Wallet passes can be switched on here too, with a banner image of up to 1125 x 432 px.
• Automatic fulfillment: go to Settings > General, then Order processing. By default, gift cards are fulfilled, and the code emailed, as soon as an order is paid. If you've chosen not to fulfill anything automatically, every gift card waits for you to fulfill it by hand.

One rule surprises store owners: orders Shopify flags as medium or high risk don't get their gift cards fulfilled automatically. Check the order, then fulfill it from the order page if it looks genuine.

Step 3: Recipient fields and gift card emails

Two notification templates send gift cards. Find them under Settings > Notifications > Customer notifications, in the Gift cards section:

• New gift card goes to the customer or the recipient, and contains the code.
• Gift card receipt goes to the buyer when they've sent the card to someone else.

To use your own card design in the email, upload the image to the Files section of the admin, open the template, click Edit code and replace gift-card/card.jpg in the image tag with your file name. Shopify recommends 950 x 550 px, a 5:3 ratio. Send yourself a real test order afterwards, because a test email from the admin doesn't show everything a real one does.

Recipient fields, where the buyer enters the recipient's name, email and a message on the product page, only work if your theme supports them. Many current themes do, so check your theme's documentation. If yours doesn't, Shopify has instructions for adding them in theme code, or a developer can add them in an hour or two.

Step 4: Issue a gift card from the admin

Manual cards are the tool for refunds as store credit, apologies for a late order, competition prizes and custom amounts.

1. Start the card. Go to Products > Gift cards and click Create gift card.
2. Set the value. Enter the initial value. It must be above zero and no more than $2,000, or the equivalent in your currency.
3. Add the customer. Search by name, email or phone, or create a new customer. They need an email address or phone number to receive the code.
4. Set an expiry date if needed. Under Expiration date, choose Set expiration date. For promotional cards this can make sense, but check your local rules.
5. Add an internal note. Write why the card was issued, such as the order number it replaces. Only staff can see it, and it saves questions months later.
6. Save and send. Click Save, then Send gift card, then Send email or Send SMS.

For rules like "give a $10 card with every order over $150", don't issue cards by hand. Shopify Flow has an order trigger and a gift card action that can do it automatically. I build these as part of my Shopify automation work, and it is usually a short job.

Step 5: Sell gift cards in Shopify POS

If you have a shop or sell at events, gift cards sold at the counter use the same balance system as online ones. Setup takes two places:

1. Turn on gift cards as a payment method in the POS app, so cards can be redeemed at the till.
2. Choose what POS can issue. In the admin, go to Sales channels > Point of Sale, open the POS editor and find Settings, then Gift cards. Set "Type to issue" to Digital, or to Digital or physical. This applies to every device at every location, and on recent POS versions it can only be changed in the admin.
3. Add the tile. Put the Add gift card tile on your smart grid.

To sell one, staff tap Add gift card, pick digital or physical, choose a preset value or Custom gift card, and then check out as normal. Digital cards are delivered on the emailed receipt, which shows the code and a barcode. Once you leave the gift card screen the code can't be shown again, so make sure the customer has the receipt first.

Physical gift cards

Physical cards are plastic cards with pre-assigned codes. Shopify links to a custom card service on its Hardware Store, printed by eCardSystems, and says most merchants receive cards within 5 to 7 business days. Shopify charges no fee to load value onto them. Ordering is limited to supported countries, so check yours before you design anything.

At the till, staff activate a card as they sell it. Shopify-ordered cards have a QR code that the device's front camera or a 2D barcode scanner can read. A 1D scanner won't work. Cards printed elsewhere can be activated by typing the code, which must be 8 to 20 letters and numbers.

Physical cards can't be sold online and posted, because an online order creates a new digital code when it is fulfilled. If you want to post physical cards, sell a digital card online and include a printed card with the code written in, or sell them in person only.

Managing cards and redemption

Everything lives under Products > Gift cards. Click a card to see its initial and current balance, the customer, the expiry date and a timeline of every order it was used on. From the same page you can:

• Resend the card with Resend gift card. If it is partly used, the email shows the remaining balance.
• Change the expiry date with Edit expiry date.
• Deactivate it with Deactivate. This is permanent: a deactivated card can't be switched back on or topped up.
• Export the list as a CSV. Exports show only the last four characters of each code, and exports of more than 50 cards are emailed to you.

You can't edit a balance directly in the admin. Balances change only through redemption, refunds or an app using Shopify's gift card API. If you need to correct one, the usual fix is to deactivate the card and issue a new one for the right amount.

At checkout, customers type the code into the gift card field, and codes aren't case sensitive. A card covers the whole order, including tax and shipping, and several cards can be used on one order. Gift cards work with discount codes. A gift card can't be used to buy another gift card, and on subscriptions it covers only the first payment. One cost to know: for stores created on or after 12 May 2025, Shopify charges its third-party transaction fee on the part of an order paid by gift card. See Shopify fees explained for how that fee works.

Common mistakes

• Selling a normal product called "Gift card". No code is generated when it is fulfilled. Rebuild it under Products > Gift cards.
• Switching expiry on without checking the law. In the US, five years is the federal minimum, and some states don't allow expiry at all.
• Hiding the product. A gift card nobody can find doesn't sell. Link it in the main menu and the footer, and add it to the cart drawer in November and December.
• Turning off automatic fulfillment for everything and then forgetting that gift card orders now wait in the unfulfilled list.
• Discounting with compare-at prices instead of a discount code.
• Never testing the email. Place a real order with a 100% discount code and check the email on a phone, including the link to the gift card page.

Gift card setup checklist

1. Denominations chosen to match your average order value.
2. Gift card product created under Products > Gift cards, with a real card image and clear delivery wording.
3. Expiry checked in Settings > Payments, and left as "never expire" unless you've confirmed the law.
4. Automatic fulfillment confirmed in Settings > General.
5. Both email templates branded and tested with a real order.
6. Recipient fields working on desktop and mobile, if your theme supports them.
7. POS set up, if you sell in person: payment method, "Type to issue" and the smart grid tile.
8. Product linked from the menu, footer and holiday campaigns.

Next steps

Set up the product and settings first, then place one real test order before you promote it. If the gift card page or emails need design work, or you want gift card rules running automatically in Flow, my Shopify development work starts from $300, with a fixed quote for every job.

Gift card recipients land on your store with money to spend, so the store has to convert them. Send it for a free store review and I'll tell you what I'd fix first.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Gift cards considerations and overview, Shopify Help Center
2. Adding or updating gift card products, Shopify Help Center
3. Gift card settings, Shopify Help Center
4. Selling gift cards on Shopify POS, Shopify Help Center
5. Redeeming and using gift cards, Shopify Help Center
6. § 1005.20 Requirements for gift cards and gift certificates, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Related services and work

Written by Ashraf Siddik

I'm a Shopify developer and CRO specialist. I have built and improved Shopify stores since 2018, completed more than 1,000 projects, and hold a 4.96 average rating across 719 client reviews.

About me · Client reviews