Unused Balance Reminders¶
Reminders are automated emails sent to customers who have an unused gift card balance. Most unredeemed gift cards are simply forgotten — a timely reminder can recover that revenue and bring customers back.
Go to Notifications in the left navigation, then open the Unused balance reminders tab.
The tab holds the policy — whether reminders are on, when they go out, to whom, and through what. The email itself is edited on its own page, where a preview and a test send travel with it.
Enabling reminders¶
The status badge at the top shows whether reminders are Enabled or Disabled. Click the toggle button to switch.
When disabled, no reminder emails are sent.
Schedule¶
Send the first reminder¶
Set how many days after a gift card is purchased before the first reminder is sent. For example, 30 means reminders go out 30 days after the card was issued if it hasn't been used.
Send a second reminder¶
Enable Send a second reminder to follow up with customers who still haven't used their balance, and set how many days to wait — counted from the first reminder — before the follow-up is sent.
Audience¶
Check Only customers who accepted marketing at checkout to restrict reminders to customers who opted in to marketing emails. This is recommended for GDPR compliance and to avoid unsubscribe complaints.
Delivery method¶
Choose how reminder emails reach your customers:
- GiftCard Hero email — the default. We render the reminder template (below) and send it from our mail server. Nothing to set up, but the email does not come from your own domain.
- Your mail server (SMTP) — the same email, sent through your own mail server, so it arrives from your domain. Selectable once you add a server in Settings → Integrations.
- Klaviyo — instead of sending the email itself, GiftCard Hero sends a Gift Card Reminder event to your Klaviyo account, and a Flow you build in Klaviyo sends the email. The reminder template is not used in this mode. Once Klaviyo is selected, a Send a test event link appears under it: it opens a small form that pushes a sample event with every property filled, so you can build the Flow against it — see Integrations.
Each notification picks its own channel, so reminders and redemption notifications can go out through different ones. Settings → Integrations only holds the credentials — see Integrations for setup and how to build the Klaviyo Flow.
Message¶
The Message section shows the email in one line — its subject, whether it is the built-in version or yours, and how it goes out. Click Edit template to open the editor.
The reminder email editor¶
The reminder email has its own template, separate from the gift card delivery email. The editor page shows, under its title, through what the email leaves — our mail server, yours, or Klaviyo — with a Change link back to the reminders tab.
- Subject and Body (HTML) — the email. Liquid tags work here; the variables you can use are listed beside the editor:
{{ customer.first_name }},{{ customer.email }},{{ unused_balance_grid }}(the table of cards and balances),{{ total | money }},{{ shop.name }}and{{ shop.email }}. - Preview — renders the email with sample cards, exactly as the customer would see it.
- Send test email — opens a small form with the address to send to, prefilled with your store's contact email. The test is rendered with sample cards and sent through the delivery method the reminders use, so it doubles as a check that your mail server delivers. The subject is marked
[Test]. - Built-in message — the card on the right says whether you are on the built-in email or your own. Reset to built-in puts ours back; save to keep it. A field cleared to empty is also read as "use the built-in one".
Built-in means kept up to date
While you use the built-in email, you get every improvement we make to it. Once you customise it, yours is stored as written and no longer changes.
Send reminders now¶
Click Send reminders to queue a reminder for every currently eligible card (active, with an unused balance). Customers who already had one are skipped. Reminders also go out automatically, once a day, for cards from the last 60 days.
Use this for a one-time campaign — for example, when you first enable reminders and want to reach all existing cardholders right away.
Why reminders matter¶
Industry data shows that a significant percentage of gift cards are never fully redeemed. Each unredeemed card represents revenue your customer has already paid. Reminder emails convert dormant balances into actual purchases at very low cost.
Even a single reminder campaign sent to all cardholders typically drives a measurable uplift in redemption rate and repeat purchase revenue.
Compliance notes¶
Reminder emails are considered marketing emails in most jurisdictions and must:
- Include an unsubscribe option (GiftCard Hero includes this automatically)
- Only be sent to customers who have consented to marketing (use the Marketing consent filter setting)
- Comply with GDPR, CAN-SPAM, and similar regulations in your region
Consult your legal counsel if you're unsure about consent requirements.