Shopify Gift Card Strategy: Increase Revenue With Store Credit

Gift Cards: Underused Revenue Tool

Shopify gift cards are native to all plans and frequently underused. Done well, gift cards drive new customer acquisition (the recipient is often a first-time buyer), increase AOV (gift card recipients spend 20–40% more than the card value), and provide upfront cash flow before any goods are shipped. They also reduce return rates — a customer who chose to spend a gift card on something they actively wanted is less likely to return it.

Setting Up Gift Cards in Shopify

Shopify Admin → Products → Gift cards. Create gift card products at multiple denominations (£25, £50, £100, £200). Enable “Allow customers to purchase gift cards as a product.” Customise the email design in Settings → Notifications → Gift card. Set a card expiry if legally required in your market (UK and EU: unlimited validity unless agreed otherwise).

Gift Card Promotions That Work

• Bonus gift cards — “Spend £100, get a free £15 gift card.” Drives higher spend, gift card adds more reason to return
• Returns as store credit — offer £35 store credit vs £30 cash refund for returns. 40–60% of customers choose store credit — better for your cash flow and keeps them in the ecosystem
• Birthday gift cards — automate a £10 gift card on customers’ birthdays via Klaviyo. High-converting re-engagement trigger
• Loyalty milestone rewards — gift card unlock at spend milestones (“You’ve spent £200 — here’s £20 credit”) as an alternative to points programmes

Corporate Gifting

B2B gifting is a significant revenue opportunity for consumer-facing Shopify stores. Companies buy gift cards to reward employees, thank clients, or use as sales incentives. Create a dedicated corporate gifting page: bulk discount tiers (10–24 cards: 5% off; 25–99: 10% off; 100+: 15% off), a simple order form for bulk purchases, branded card options, and a direct email or phone contact for large orders. Corporate orders often run to thousands of pounds and have no return rate.

Tracking Gift Card Performance

• Gift card sales (revenue received vs goods shipped) — key cash flow metric
• Redemption rate — most gift cards redeem at 70–80%; 20–30% breakage (unredeemed) is pure margin
• Redemption AOV vs standard order AOV — confirms uplift effect
• Time to redemption — long redemption lag may indicate friction in the redemption process

Need to set up or optimise your Shopify gift card strategy? Our team builds gifting flows and corporate programmes. Get in touch or view our work.