Configuring gift subscriptions

Gift subscriptions allow customers to send subscriptions that are already paid for or store credit to friends and family. 

This guide explains how gifting works, how to configure gift products, how to customize the recipient experience, and important limitations to consider.

Before you start

• Gift subscriptions are separate from Rewards. 
• Stores with a custom customer portal can use the JavaScript SDK to set up a redemption flow for gift subscriptions. Refer to JavaScript SDK Gifts for more information. 
• There are a few things to consider before enabling this feature. See Limitations to ensure that gift subscriptions are compatible with your current store configuration.

How gift subscriptions work

Gift subscriptions follow this lifecycle from purchase to first charge:

1. A customer (the sender) purchases a gift product from your storefront.
2. The sender enters the recipient’s details and selects when the notification email should be sent.
3. Recharge stores the gift as a pending balance.
4. The recipient receives an email with a redemption link.
5. The recipient redeems the gift in the customer portal.
6. Recharge applies the gift balance to the subscription.
7. The first charge processes during your store’s next processing window.

Check out the video walkthrough below for an overview of gift subscriptions:

Step 1 - Update your merchant portal settings

Before offering gift subscriptions, review your permissions, customer portal settings, and fulfillment behavior.

Update your user and account permissions

1. In the Recharge merchant portal, click Settings.
2. Select Edit next to Accounts.
3. Open your user account.
4. Enable Gifting under General permissions.
5. Click Save changes.

Update your customer portal settings

You can allow recipients to:

• Select more than one quantity
• Choose one-time products

To update:

1. Click Storefront.
2. Select Customer portal.
3. Locate the Customer portal functionality section.
4. Enable the following toggles depending on your preferences:
   • Select a quantity other than 1 when redeeming gifts
   • Choose the one-time option when redeeming gifts
5. Save your settings. 

Gift order fulfillment 

The sender’s initial purchase does not ship to the recipient. It represents stored value that the recipient redeems later.

To control how the sender’s order appears in Shopify:

1. Click Settings.
2. Select Edit next to Order processing.
3. Locate Gift order.
4. Choose one option:
   • Don't fulfill: Gift sender's initial order remains unfilled: The sender’s order remains unfulfilled.
   • Fulfill the sender’s order when redeemed: Recharge marks the order fulfilled in Shopify after redemption.
5. Click Save.

Step 2 - Create the gift product

Step 1 - Create the gift product in Shopify

Create a Shopify product to use as your gift product. This automatically creates the product in Recharge, which you’ll use in the next step.

This product is what customers purchase on the storefront to gift a subscription to another customer.

Step 2 – Create the gift product

Access the Add a gift page

1. Click Products.
2. Select Gifts.
3. Click Add a gift product.

Choose a gift type

Choose one of the following options: 

• Single product: One specific subscription product
• Collection: Any product within a Recharge collection
• Any product: Store-wide gift credit, issued in your store's currency

Search for and select the applicable product or collection.

Configure gift details

1. Enter a gift name and description.
2. Add gift options (for example, 1 month, 3 months).

Pricing guidance

Include shipping and estimated taxes in the gift price. Recharge deducts shipping and taxes from the gift balance when the recipient redeems it.

Example: If your product is $10, shipping is $3, and taxes are estimated at $2, set the gift price to $15.

If offering multiple shipments:

• Two orders: $30
• Three orders: $45

Update store level settings

1. Review the gift summary.
2. In the Store-level settings section, choose how to send email notifications and customize the redemption experience. Refer to Customize the recipient experience and Notifications for further details.
3. Click Save gift product.

Step 3 - Update your tax settings

Recharge calculates taxes for gift redemption orders. Enable taxes in Recharge even if you use Shopify for tax calculations.

To enable taxes in Recharge:

1. Click Settings in the merchant portal and select Edit next to Taxes.
2. Select Charge sales tax in the Charge tax section.
3. Click Save.

See Setting up taxes in Recharge for more information, including an overview of the general tax settings available.

Step 4 - Add the gift widget to your Shopify theme

After creating the gift product, you can either:

• Use the App Block provided in the Shopify theme
•  Create a custom gifting widget

Option 1: Add the gifting widget (recommended)

1. Open your Shopify theme editor.
2. Create a new product template named gifting-product.
3. Click Add block.
4. Add the Gifting Widget app block.
5. Position the widget as desired.
6. Save your changes.
7. Assign the gifting-product template to your gift product in Shopify.

Option 2: Create a custom gifting widget

If you build your own form, pass the following line item properties:

Recharge creates customer records based on the sender and recipient email addresses.

Step 5 - Add a “Send as gift” button to the product page

You can promote gifting directly on product pages by adding a Send as gift button alongside the Gifting Widget. When clicked, the button directs customers to the gift product page.

To add a Send as gift button to your product page:

1. Open your Shopify theme editor.
2. Navigate to the original product page (not the gift product).
   
3. Click Add block.
4. Add the Gifting Buy Button. You can drag this widget anywhere you want on the page.
   
5. Save your changes.

Step 6 - Customize the gifting landing page

Recipients redeem their gift through a landing page. You can use:

• Site Builder (recommended)
• Affinity’s default redemption experience

To edit:

1. Click Products in your Recharge merchant portal.
2. Select Gifts.
3. Open Edit gift settings.
4. Select Edit redemption experience.
5. Choose either:
   • The Site Builder
   • Affinity's built-in redemption experience

Option 1 - Site Builder (recommended)

Edit the redemption experience from the Gift Products page:

Click Customize experience to design a bespoke gift recipient page. With the Site Builder, you can edit: 

• Global styles
• Colors
• Layout
• Content blocks

Additionally, customize different pages in the gift redemption experience:

1. Click the dropdown arrow next to the Landing Page.
   
2. Select a page to customize. 
   

Available variables

The Site Builder supports specific variables you can use across pages. Below is a list of available variables and the pages they apply to:

Gift Redemption Landing Page

• senderName: Displays the name of the gift sender.
• redeemableProductTitle: Shows the title of the redeemable product.
• message: Displays the sender's custom message.

Gift Claimed Page

• redeemedAt: Shows when the customer claimed the gift.

Option 2 - Affinity

Use Affinity's built-in redemption experience to inherit styling from your customer portal theme. You cannot customize the landing page when using this option.

Step 7 - Update your translations

Adjust language translations and customize text elements for your gift subscriptions. 

• Stores using the Affinity customer portal theme can make translations in the merchant portal. 
• Stores using Unity, Novum, Prima, or the Theme Engine, can make translations directly in the Site Builder. 

Affinity

To access the translation settings:

1. In the merchant portal, click Storefront and select Copy & translations.
2. Click Customer Portal - Affinity. 
3. Scroll to the Gifting section and expand the field to see your translation options for gifting. 
4. Click Save once you've finished making updates. 

Unity, Novum, Prima, or Theme Engine

1. Select Products in your Recharge merchant portal and click Gifts. 
2. Click the Edit gift settings dropdown and select Edit redemption experience to edit your landing page. 
3. Click Customize experience.
4. Select the desired block to update the text.
   
5. Click Done once you've finished making updates. 

Step 8 - Configure gifting notifications

Senders choose when the recipient receives their notification email.

• Emails are sent in 15-minute batches.
• Processing occurs in Eastern Time (ET).

If a customer selects a delivery date that has not yet occurred in ET, the email is sent at midnight ET on that date.

You can use either Recharge or Klaviyo to send your notifications.

Recharge notifications

1. Click Products in your Recharge merchant portal.
2. Select Gifts.
3. Open Edit gift settings.
4. Select Edit email notification.
5. Customize the template.
6. Save the notification.

Klaviyo notifications

Recharge sends gifting metrics to Klaviyo. Use these metrics to trigger flows for:

• Gift purchased on Recharge
• Gift redeemed on Recharge
• Gift unclaimed on Recharge
• Insufficient credit balance

See Sending gifting notifications with Klaviyo to notify gift senders and recipients, as well as access source code and video tutorials to get started building email flows.

Analytics

View gift performance directly on the Gift page in Recharge.

1. Click Products in your Recharge merchant portal.
2. Select Gifts.

Available metrics include:

• Gift orders processed (last 30 days)
• Gifts redeemed
• Gifts unredeemed

Gift order details

Stores using gift subscriptions display a Gift orders tab where you can review gift information such as gift sender, recipient, product, value, and status. You can filter this information by:

• Gift recipient ID or email

• Gift sender ID or email

View gift-specific order information:

1. Click Customers.
2. Select Orders.
3. Open the Gift orders tab.

You can filter by:

• Gift sender ID
• Gift recipient ID

To review a customer’s gift balance:

1. Click Customers.
2. Open the customer profile.

3. Review the Gifts section.
    

   

Considerations

Consider the following when configuring gift subscriptions: 

Limitations

Subscription behavior

Resources

Review the following resources when creating gift subscriptions: 

• Gift subscriptions FAQ