Selling Gift Cards and Store Credit in WooCommerce

On this page

1. Why sell gift cards and offer store credit
2. Gift cards, store credit and coupons compared
3. Plugin approaches
4. Expiry and terms: word them carefully
5. GST and accounting: ask your CA first
6. Preventing gift card fraud
7. Promoting your gift cards

Gift cards solve a common problem for shoppers: they want to give something from your store but don't know the recipient's size, taste or what they already own. Store credit solves a problem for you: it keeps value inside your business when an order is returned or a customer needs a goodwill gesture. WooCommerce doesn't include either out of the box, but both are straightforward to add if you plan the rules carefully.

Why sell gift cards and offer store credit

• Festival and occasion gifting: Diwali, Rakhi, birthdays, weddings and anniversaries
• Last-minute gifts: an e-gift card delivered by email arrives instantly, when it's too late to ship a parcel
• Corporate orders: companies buying cards for employees or clients in bulk
• Returns and exchanges: offering store credit as an option alongside a refund
• Goodwill and rewards: credit for a delayed order, a loyalty reward or a referral

Gift cards also bring new customers: the person receiving one often discovers your store for the first time.

Gift cards, store credit and coupons compared

Option	How it works	Best for
Gift card	Bought and paid for by a customer, often for someone else, with a balance that can be used over several orders	Gifting and corporate orders
Store credit	A balance you issue to a customer's account or as a code	Returns, goodwill and rewards
Coupon	A discount on an order, usually not tied to money already paid	Promotions and offers

Coupons are a different tool with their own rules; see WooCommerce coupons and discounts.

Plugin approaches

There are three common ways to add gift cards and credit:

1. A dedicated gift card plugin. Options include the official Gift Cards extension on WooCommerce.com and established third-party plugins. Typical features are fixed or custom amounts, card designs, a personal message, scheduled delivery to the recipient's email, partial redemption and balance tracking
2. A coupon-based store credit plugin. Some plugins extend WooCommerce coupons so they carry a balance that reduces with each use, which suits returns and goodwill credit
3. Custom development. Worth considering if you need physical cards that also work in a shop, or a link with your billing or POS software

Whichever you choose, check current features and pricing, and look for partial redemption, balance checks for customers, an admin screen to view and adjust balances, and clear logs of how each card was used. Before launch, test the full journey on a staging site: buying a card, delivery, scheduled sending, redeeming part of it, refunding an order paid with a card, and how the card appears on invoices.

Expiry and terms: word them carefully

Most complaints about gift cards come from rules the buyer didn't notice. Decide your terms, then show them consistently on the product page, at checkout, in the delivery email and on your terms page:

• How long the card is valid, stated as a clear date or period, not buried in small print
• Whether it can be used across several orders, with or without coupons, and on sale items
• What happens to the balance if an order paid with a card is returned
• What to do if a code is lost or sent to the wrong email address
• Whether it can be exchanged for cash

Rules on expiry, refunds and unfair terms can apply to gift cards, and they change, so have a lawyer review your wording rather than copying another store's. Store credit given in place of a refund should generally be something the customer chooses, not something imposed; check your obligations and keep your website terms and conditions in line with your refund policy.

Keep your cards usable only in your own store. Cards that can be spent at other businesses can fall under RBI rules for prepaid payment instruments, which is a very different undertaking; check with your CA or lawyer if you're considering anything beyond your own store.

GST and accounting: ask your CA first

The GST treatment of gift vouchers, including when tax applies and how it appears on invoices, has been the subject of rulings and clarifications over the years, and it can depend on how your voucher is designed. Before you launch, ask your CA:

• How GST applies when a card is sold and when it's redeemed
• What your invoices and order emails should show at each stage
• How to account for unused balances and expired cards

Then configure the plugin and your invoices to match their advice. For the wider setup, see WooCommerce GST setup and invoices.

Preventing gift card fraud

Gift cards are attractive to fraudsters because they work like cash and can be resold quickly. Sensible precautions:

• Use long, random codes, never sequential or guessable ones
• Limit how many times someone can try codes or check balances, to stop guessing attempts
• Set a maximum card value and a limit on cards per order
• Hold high-value or unusual orders, such as many cards sent to different emails, for a manual check before delivery
• Never allow cash on delivery for gift cards, and don't let gift cards be used to buy more gift cards
• Turn on your payment gateway's risk checks and watch for chargebacks
• Add a note that your store will never ask anyone to pay with gift card codes over a call or message

Gift card balances are only as safe as your store, so keep admin access tight; see the WooCommerce security checklist.

Promoting your gift cards

• Give gift cards their own page in the main menu, with designs for festivals, birthdays and weddings
• Promote e-gift cards as the last-minute answer in the days before festivals, when delivery cut-offs have passed
• Suggest a gift card on product pages and in the cart: "Not sure what they'd like?"
• Offer a simple bulk-order form for companies
• Let buyers share the card on WhatsApp as well as by email

If you add bonus credit as a promotion, keep it separate from the paid card, with its own clearly stated expiry, so the paid balance and the free bonus aren't confused.

Want gift cards or store credit set up properly on your store? See WooCommerce development, or a focused landing page for a festival gift card campaign.