Gift Card Hero — Frequently Asked Questions¶

General¶

Does Gift Card Hero replace Shopify's gift card system?¶

No. Gift Card Hero builds on top of Shopify's native gift card system. All cards created by the app are real Shopify gift cards — they appear in your Shopify Admin and work in Shopify's standard checkout and POS.

What happens if I uninstall Gift Card Hero?¶

All issued gift cards remain valid (they are native Shopify gift cards)
Your subscription is cancelled
Gift Card Hero's widgets disappear from your storefront and the app stops sending its emails and reminders
If you reinstall, you choose a plan and go through the setup wizard again

See Uninstalling.

Where can I see a gift card's full code?¶

Shopify admin shows only the last four characters of a code. Gift Card Hero keeps the full code stored encrypted, and shows it only where it is needed: to the customer in the delivery email and their account, and in the Gift Card Management block on the gift card's page in Shopify admin. When you issue a card by hand, the full code appears once on the confirmation banner, so copy it then.

Can I use Gift Card Hero on multiple Shopify stores?¶

Yes, but each store requires a separate Gift Card Hero subscription. If you want cards to work across stores, use the Multi-Store feature to link them.

Gift Card Hero processes customer data (email addresses, names, transaction history) necessary to issue and track gift cards. We comply with GDPR requirements, including data subject access requests and the right to deletion. See our Privacy Policy for full details.

Gift Cards¶

How quickly is the gift card email delivered?¶

Gift card emails are sent immediately after the order is confirmed (or on the scheduled date if a future delivery date was selected). Delivery to the recipient's inbox typically takes a few seconds to a few minutes. If an email doesn't arrive within 15 minutes, ask the recipient to check their spam folder.

Can I customize the gift card code format?¶

Yes, within Shopify's rules: a code is 8 to 20 letters and numbers. You can type your own code (8 to 18 characters) when you issue a card in the app, set a prefix (up to 4 characters) and a length (8 to 16) for bulk Generate jobs, and import your own codes from a CSV or for physical cards. Codes are not case-sensitive.

Can I set different expiry dates for different cards?¶

Yes, in a few places:

Physical cards: eGift/Physical cards → Physical gift cards tab → Gift card expiration
Custom-amount eGift cards: the Gift card expiration setting under custom amount on the eGift cards tab
Bulk jobs: Generate and Mass send have their own expiry date, and CSV imports take an expires_on column
Promotions: a gift card issued by a promotion always expires one year after it is issued
Loyalty store credit: set per workflow step (Issue Credit → More options → Credit expires). See the Loyalty Money FAQ

Anything else follows Shopify's own expiry setting in Settings → Gift cards.

Can customers send a gift card with a future delivery date?¶

Yes. Buyers can pick a delivery date in the future, and the email is sent on that date, not at purchase time. Turn it on or off under eGift/Physical cards → E-Gift cards tab → Purchase options → Allow scheduled send. It is one setting for the whole store, not per gift card type.

Can I schedule a mass send for a later date?¶

Yes. On Bulk actions → Mass send, choose Schedule for later under Delivery and pick the date and time, up to 365 days ahead. It works for a typed list of emails and for an imported file. No cards are created until that time, and you can cancel the job in the Mass send jobs list until it starts. See Schedule a mass send.

What happens if the recipient's email address is wrong?¶

Gift Card Hero can't tell that an address is wrong: the queue shows Sent once the email has gone out. Open the card in the Gift cards sending queue, click the email address, enter the correct one and click Save. Gift Card Hero asks you to confirm and sends the card again. See Troubleshooting Missing Gift Cards.

Can a gift card be used to pay for shipping?¶

Yes — gift cards apply to the entire order total, including shipping.

What is the largest amount I can put on one gift card?¶

Shopify issues at most $2,000 on a single card, or the equivalent in your store currency. To go higher, turn on Increase limit in Reload Balance settings; Gift Card Hero then raises the cap to $10,000 or the equivalent. Without it, Shopify refuses the larger amount and no card is created.

Can I issue a gift card in a currency different from my store's currency?¶

Yes, if you sell in several currencies through Shopify Markets. A currency picker appears next to the value field on Issue e-Gift card and on the bulk Generate and Mass send forms, listing your store currency plus every presentment currency your markets enable; CSV imports use the currency_code column. On a single-currency store the picker stays hidden and every card is issued in your store currency.

A card's currency is fixed when it is created and cannot be changed afterwards. Where the card can be spent is controlled by Cross-currency redemption on the E-Gift cards tab (in the Notifications section, shown on stores with Markets support).

Bulk Operations¶

How many gift cards can I generate at once?¶

Up to 100,000 per Generate job. Batches over 10,000 cards use codes of at least 14 characters, so codes don't collide.

How long does a bulk job take?¶

It depends on the size of the job and on Shopify's rate limits. Jobs run in the background, so you don't need to keep the browser open; progress is shown under Bulk actions.

What happens if some rows in my bulk send fail?¶

Failed rows are listed in the results CSV with an error message. You can fix the issues and re-run only the failed rows by uploading a corrected CSV.

Can I pause or cancel a bulk job?¶

No. A running job can't be paused or cancelled, so check the file before you start. Gift Card Hero refuses to start a job identical to one that is still running, so a double click doesn't issue the same cards twice. If you started a job by mistake, contact support.

Analytics¶

Why is my redemption rate lower than expected?¶

Common reasons: - Cards were recently issued and haven't been used yet (check the Unused vs used balance tile on the Analytics page) - The analytics haven't been synced yet (click Sync Data on the Analytics page) - Gift card emails are going to spam - Denominations don't match your average order value (e.g., a $200 card in a store with $30 AOV) - Consider enabling Unused Balance Reminders

What is "sales lift"?¶

Sales lift is the extra revenue generated because gift card customers spend more than their card value. If a customer has a $50 card and spends $78, the lift is $28. This measures the real economic value of your gift card program beyond the face value of cards sold. The Sales lift tile on the Analytics page shows it. See Dashboard for details.

Billing¶

How is billing calculated?¶

There are two plans, billed through your Shopify invoice:

Pay as you go: free to install, then 2% of your gift card sales, with a minimum of $9.99 and a maximum of $49.99 a month.
PRO: a flat $19.99 a month, with no percentage of sales. The plan page lists POS tools, unused balance reminders and the API for developers as PRO features.

On Shopify Plus, Gift Card Hero is $39.99 a month; Pay as you go isn't available on Plus. Current prices are on the plan page in the app (Upgrade plan on the home page, shown on the Pay as you go plan) and on the Shopify App Store listing.

Is there a free trial?¶

Yes, 7 days on every plan. If you switch plans later, the switch starts right away without a new trial.

Is there a limit on how many gift cards I can issue?¶

No. Neither plan limits the number of gift cards you issue.

Integrations¶

Does Gift Card Hero integrate with my email marketing platform?¶

Yes, with Klaviyo. Gift Card Hero can send balance reminders and redemption notifications to Klaviyo as events (Gift Card Reminder, Gift Card Redeemed), so a Klaviyo Flow sends the email with your own branding. See Integrations.

You can also send notifications through your own mail server (SMTP) instead of Gift Card Hero's.

Does Gift Card Hero work with Shopify Markets?¶

Yes. Cards can be issued in any currency your markets enable (see the currency question above), and Cross-currency redemption controls whether a card can be spent in another currency.

Can I use Gift Card Hero with a headless Shopify storefront?¶

Yes, via the API. Gift Card Hero provides a REST API and Storefront API compatibility for headless implementations. See Developer Tools for API access.