How to Create / Offer Gift Certificates

Gift certificates make it easy to drive additional revenue, attract new customers, and give shoppers a flexible way to purchase from your DecoNetwork-powered websites. DecoNetwork allows you to configure gift certificate rules at the fulfillment center level and then enable gift certificate purchasing across your affiliate and campaign stores.

In this article, you’ll learn how to configure gift certificate settings, create denominations, manually issue gift certificates, and enable gift certificate purchasing on your websites.

In this article

• Prerequisites
• Why use gift certificates
• Step 1: Configure gift certificate settings
• Step 2: Create gift certificate denominations
• Step 3: Manually add gift certificates
• Step 4: Enable gift certificates on a website
• Step 5: Use the Gift Certificate system page
• Best-practice tips
• Troubleshooting
• FAQs
• Additional Resources

Prerequisites

Why use gift certificates

• Increase upfront revenue with prepaid store credit
• Encourage new customers to purchase from your store
• Offer promotional value by selling certificates at a discount
• Make gift-giving easy without choosing specific products

Step 1: Configure gift certificate settings

1. Go to Admin → Marketing → Gift Certificates.
2. Open Gift Certificate Settings.
3. Choose whether gift certificates are:
   • Enabled on all stores
   • Controlled by each store
   • Disabled entirely
4. Configure additional rules:
   • Maximum number of gift certificates per order
   • Default expiration period
   • Default description

Step 2: Create gift certificate denominations

Denominations define how much a gift certificate costs and how much value it applies to an order.

1. In Gift Certificate Settings, add a new denomination.
2. Enter the Purchase Price (what the customer pays).
3. Enter the Certificate Value (how much credit it provides).
4. Optionally set a default denomination.
5. Click Save.

Step 3: Manually add gift certificates

You can manually issue gift certificates directly from the fulfillment center.

1. Go to Admin → Marketing → Gift Certificates.
2. Click Add Gift Certificate.
3. Enter the sender and recipient details.
4. Optionally send the gift certificate via email.
5. Set the certificate value and expiration date.

You can also bulk-generate gift certificates using a CSV import for promotions, giveaways, or corporate programs.

Step 4: Enable gift certificates on a website

1. Go to Admin → Websites and select a store.
2. Open Marketing & Sales Tools → Gift Certificates.
3. Enable gift certificates for the store.
4. Customize the appearance of the gift certificate.
5. Optionally upload a custom background image.

Step 5: Use the Gift Certificate system page

DecoNetwork includes a built-in Gift Certificate system page that customers can access directly.

1. Go to Edit Website → Pages.
2. Open System Pages.
3. Select Gift Certificate.

You can link directly to this page from menus, banners, or promotions so customers can purchase gift certificates and redeem them during checkout.

Best-practice tips

• Promote gift certificates during seasonal campaigns and holidays
• Use discounted denominations to encourage larger upfront purchases
• Set reasonable expiration periods to balance urgency and flexibility
• Customize certificate designs to match your brand

Troubleshooting

• Gift certificates don’t appear on the website:
  Confirm that gift certificates are enabled both globally and at the store level.
• Customers can’t purchase gift certificates:
  Verify that at least one denomination is configured and active.
• Gift certificates can’t be applied at checkout:
  Check that the certificate has not expired and has remaining balance.

FAQs

Can gift certificates be used across multiple stores?
Gift certificate availability depends on your fulfillment center and store configuration.

Can I email gift certificates automatically?
Yes. Gift certificates purchased or manually issued can be emailed to recipients.

Can I bulk-create gift certificates?
Yes. You can generate multiple gift certificates at once using CSV import.

Additional Resources

• Set up a gift certificate
• Is there a way to track which gift certificate usage?