Gift subscriptions let shoppers buy a prepaid subscription for someone else. The buyer pays once at checkout for a set number of deliveries, and the gift ends automatically after the last one.
The buyer decides when the recipient finds out, either right away or on a special date like a birthday. The recipient then gets an email from your store with a link to their own gift page, where they can open the gift, follow deliveries and thank the gifter. No account is needed.
Availability: Gift subscriptions are included on every Appstle Subscriptions plan and every Shopify plan.
In this article
Key highlights
One checkbox setup | Turn a new Prepaid One-Time option into a gift option with Sell as a gift, using your existing products. |
Gift details on the product page | Shoppers add the recipient’s name and email, plus their own name and a gift message if they like. |
Send now or on a date | Shoppers choose when the gift email goes out, up to 90 days ahead by default. |
Clean checkouts | One gift per order, at quantity 1, paid with the buyer’s own email. A Buy now button takes the gift straight to checkout. |
Gift email and gift page | The recipient opens the gift on your store, without logging in. |
Recipient self-service | Recipients can see what’s coming, change delivery dates, request their next delivery early and thank the gifter. |
Tools for your team | Filter subscriptions to gifts, get notified of every new gift, edit gift emails and checkout messages, and resend or correct the gift email. |
Before you start
Make sure you have these two things in place:
A plan with a Prepaid One-Time option. The buyer pays upfront for all deliveries, and the subscription ends after the last one.
The Subscription Validations checkout rule turned on in Shopify. It checks every gift order at checkout.
Set up gift subscriptions
Step 1: Add a gift option to a plan
In Appstle Subscriptions, go to Subscription Plans. Create a plan or open an existing one, and add the products you want to offer as gifts.
Click Add New Subscription Option and set Billing type to Prepaid One-Time.
Set the Order fulfillment frequency (how often a delivery ships) and the Billing frequency (how many deliveries the buyer pays for).
Tick Sell as a gift.
Optional: In Maximum days ahead to schedule a gift invitation, set how far ahead shoppers can schedule the gift email (1 to 365 days). Leave it empty for the 90-day default.
Under Display Contents, enter a Frequency name that makes it clear this is a gift, such as Gift: 3 monthly deliveries. Shoppers see this name on the product page, in the cart and at checkout.
Click Done, then save the plan. The first time you save a gift option, Appstle creates the gift emails for your store.
Example: Order fulfillment frequency Every 1 Month + Billing frequency Every 3 = three monthly deliveries, paid upfront.
Important:
Sell as a gift can only be ticked while creating an option and can’t be changed after you save.
A gift option always needs a recipient, so keep a regular option on the same products for customers who subscribe for themselves.
Gifts are bought one at a time, so leave the option’s Minimum quantity empty or set it to 1.
Step 2: Turn on the checkout rule
In your Shopify admin, go to Settings → Checkout. The Open checkout settings link under Sell as a gift takes you there.
Scroll to Checkout rules at the bottom of the page and click Add rule.
Choose Subscription Validations from Appstle Subscription.
Make sure the rule’s status is Active, then save.
Don’t skip this step. Without this rule, Shopify can’t check gift orders, so a gift could be bought together with other items or without the recipient’s details.
Step 3 (optional): Let recipients change or request deliveries
Go to Customer Portal → Configuration and turn on either or both settings below, then save.
Setting | Where | What recipients see |
Let customers reschedule their next upcoming delivery | Next Order Management | Change date next to each upcoming delivery |
Allow customers to process their next subscription order immediately | Subscription Management | Request delivery now |
Note: These settings also apply to your regular subscribers in the customer portal. If a checkbox is locked, your Appstle plan doesn’t include that feature.
What shoppers see
Buying journey: Choose gift option → Add gift details → Pick send date → Check out → Order confirmed
1. Choose the gift option
On the product page, the shopper selects the gift option. A Gift details form appears for the recipient’s name and email, the shopper’s name and a gift message. The shopper’s name and message are optional.
2. Choose when the gift email goes out
Under When should we email the gift?, the shopper picks Send now or Send on a date.
Scheduled emails go out at 9:00 AM in your store’s time zone on the chosen day.
Shoppers can pick a date up to the Maximum days ahead you set (90 days by default). Picking today sends it right away.
Only the email waits. Deliveries still follow the plan’s schedule from the order date.
3. Check out the gift on its own
Buy now takes the gift straight to checkout when the cart is empty. If the cart already has items, the shopper is asked to finish that purchase or remove them first.
The shopper can also use Add to cart.
While the gift option is selected, Shopify’s own Buy it now and express checkout buttons are hidden.
If the cart has other items or more than one gift, checkout shows Gift subscriptions check out on their own, with quantity 1. and the shopper adjusts the cart.
4. Pay with their own email
At checkout, the shopper enters their own email and the recipient’s shipping address. Checkout won’t accept the recipient’s email as the buyer’s email.
5. Order confirmed
The buyer gets your usual order confirmation, and the gift is on its way to the recipient. In Shopify, the order is tagged Appstle gift.
What recipients see
Recipient journey: Gift email → Open gift page → View deliveries → Manage dates → Thank the gifter
1. The gift email
The recipient gets an email from your store moments after the order, or at 9:00 AM on the date the buyer chose. For example, You received a gift from Jordan, with the gift message and an Open your gift button.
2. The gift page
The button opens a gift page on your store. No login is needed. The recipient clicks Open your gift to reveal it.
3. Their gift
The gift page shows the product, who it’s from, the message, how many deliveries have shipped and the upcoming delivery dates.
4. Change a delivery date
If you allow it (Step 3 above), the recipient clicks Change date, picks a new day and clicks Save date. The date is when the delivery ships; arrival depends on shipping time.
5. Ask for the next delivery early
If you allow it (Step 3 above), the recipient clicks Request delivery now, then Confirm request.
The next prepaid delivery is released to your store for fulfillment right away, at no extra cost, and you decide when it ships.
Later delivery dates stay the same.
The button is hidden while a delivery is being prepared, including the first one after the order.
6. Thank the gifter
The recipient clicks Thank the gifter, writes a note and clicks Send thank-you note. The buyer receives it by email as A thank-you for your gift. Recipients can send one note every 24 hours.
7. Expired links
For security, gift links work for 2 hours. If a link has expired, the recipient clicks Send me a new link, and a fresh link is emailed to the recipient’s address.
Managing gifts in Appstle
Find gifts
In Subscriptions, add the Record Type filter and choose Gift subscriptions. You can then search gifts by order or gift ID, recipient or buyer.
Check and update the recipient
Open a gift subscription to see the Gift recipient card. It shows the recipient’s name and email, the sender’s name, the message and the Invitation send date (Immediate, or the date the buyer chose).
Resend invitation sends the gift email to the recipient again. If the buyer chose a send date, it becomes available once that date has passed.
Edit recipient lets you correct the recipient’s name or email, the sender’s name or the message. Earlier gift links stop working. If the gift email has already gone out, saving sends a new one; if it’s still scheduled, it goes to the corrected details on the chosen date.
Tip: The subscription’s activity log shows when each gift email and thank-you note was sent, plus any delivery date changes and early delivery requests.
Needs recipient? If a gift was bought while the checkout rule was off, the card may show Needs recipient. Use Edit recipient to add the recipient’s details and send the gift email.
Gift emails
Appstle creates the gift emails the first time you save a gift option, using the logo, colours and sender details from your Subscription Created email. You’ll find them in Email settings:
Sent to | Purpose | |
Gift Received | Recipient | The gift email, with the link to their gift page |
Gift Thank You | Buyer | The recipient’s thank-you note |
Gift Purchased Merchant | Your team | Notifies you of each new gift. Goes to the Notification Email Recipients in Shop Settings → Email Notifications |
Open any of them to edit the subject and wording, preview it with sample data, send a test email or reset it to the default. Gift emails are always sent by Appstle, even when Klaviyo, Mailchimp or Omnisend sends your other emails.
Keep Gift Received turned on. It’s how recipients get their gift link. While it’s off, new gifts, Resend invitation and Send me a new link don’t send anything.
Gift checkout messages
You can change the messages checkout shows when a gift order needs fixing, such as a gift in the cart with other items.
Go to Subscription Widget → More Labels → Validation Messages (or, in the widget design editor, Edit texts → Messages).
Edit Gift cart message, Gift purchaser email message, Gift recipient details message or Gift purchaser and recipient email message.
Checkout uses your store’s default language. Leave a field empty to use the default message.
Orders and customers in Shopify
Ownership: The order and subscription belong to the buyer, with the buyer’s email and payment method. The recipient’s name and address are the shipping address.
Order tag: Gift orders are tagged Appstle gift, so you can filter them in your Shopify Orders list.
Customer name: If the buyer checks out as a new customer, Shopify may name the customer after the shipping address (the recipient). The customer’s email is still the buyer’s.
Notifications: Shopify’s order and shipping notifications go to the buyer. The recipient hears from your store through the gift email and their gift page.
Deliveries: All prepaid deliveries are scheduled in Shopify when the order is placed, and each one ships on its date.
Things to know
Purchasing
Gift options use the Prepaid One-Time billing type, so gifts never renew.
One gift per order, at quantity 1. To send several gifts, place separate orders.
The buyer’s checkout email must be different from the recipient’s email.
Scheduling
A send date delays only the gift email, not the deliveries. If the email is scheduled well ahead, the first delivery can arrive before it.
After checkout, the send date can’t be changed, and a scheduled gift email can’t be sent early.
Recipients and buyers
Recipients can view their gift, change delivery dates and ask for their next delivery early (if you allow it), and thank the gifter. They can’t skip, swap, pause or cancel deliveries; for anything else, they or the buyer can contact you.
The recipient’s gift page opens on your online store, so recipients can’t open it while your store is password-protected.
Buyers can see the gift in their customer portal but can’t change it. Instead of the usual actions, the portal shows This is a gift for Taylor, so it can’t be changed here. Please contact us if anything needs to change.
Status and cancellation
After checkout, a gift subscription shows as Paused with a maximum of 1 order. This is expected: the buyer isn’t charged again, and the prepaid deliveries still ship on schedule. The maximum can’t be changed on gift subscriptions, so a gift never starts billing the buyer again.
Only you can cancel a gift subscription. When you do, the recipient’s gift page stops working right away. Deliveries already scheduled in Shopify still ship unless you cancel them in Shopify.
Deleting a gift option or plan stops new gift purchases. Gifts already bought aren’t affected.
FAQs
Buying a gift
Can a shopper buy several gifts in one order?
No. Each gift checks out on its own, at quantity 1. To send gifts to several people, the shopper places one order per gift.
Can the buyer time the gift email for a birthday?
Yes. On the product page, they choose Send on a date and pick the day. The gift email goes out at 9:00 AM in your store’s time zone on that date. Deliveries aren’t delayed, so the first one may arrive earlier.
Checkout says the gift details are missing or invalid.
The shopper should go back to the product page, check the recipient’s name and email, and add the gift to the cart again.
Receiving a gift
Does the recipient need an account?
No. The link in the gift email opens their gift page directly.
The recipient didn’t get the gift email. What can I do?
Open the subscription and check the Gift recipient card. If the Invitation send date is still ahead, the email goes out on that date. If the email address is wrong, use Edit recipient. Otherwise, click Resend invitation and ask the recipient to check their spam folder.
The gift link says it has expired.
Gift links work for 2 hours. The recipient can click Send me a new link on that page, or you can click Resend invitation.
Who gets Shopify’s shipping notifications?
The buyer, because the order is theirs. The recipient can follow their deliveries on the gift page.
Do gifts work with every customer portal?
Yes. Recipients don’t use the customer portal: the gift email opens a gift page on your store, which works the same with the Classic customer portal (with your store’s theme or Shopify account styling) and with the extension-based portal in Shopify customer accounts. Buyers see the gift in whichever portal your store uses, without the option to change it.
Managing gifts
Can I change the send date the buyer chose?
Not at the moment. The gift email goes out on the date the buyer chose, and Resend invitation becomes available after that date.
Can I change the wording of the gift emails?
Yes. Go to Email settings and open Gift Received, Gift Thank You or Gift Purchased Merchant. You can edit the subject, wording and button text, preview the email with sample data and send yourself a test. The button in the gift email always opens the recipient’s gift page.
Who gets the email about new gifts?
The addresses in Notification Email Recipients (Shop Settings → Email Notifications). To stop these emails, turn off Gift Purchased Merchant in Email settings.
Can I turn an existing Prepaid One-Time option into a gift option?
No. Add a new option and tick Sell as a gift while creating it.
Need help?
Have questions about gift subscriptions or any other setting? Our team is available 24×7×365.
Email: [email protected]
Live chat: Message us anytime through the chat widget in the app.