Email Notification Types in Giftnote
Reference guide to all 9 Giftnote email notifications — who receives each one, when it fires, and how to manage native vs Klaviyo.
Written By Giftnote Team
Last updated About 4 hours ago
This article explains every email notification Giftnote sends, who receives each one, and when it fires — so you know exactly what your customers experience.
Why this matters
Giftnote sends emails to two different people on every gift order: the person who bought the gift (the gifter) and the person receiving it (the recipient). Understanding which emails go to whom — and when — helps you deliver a seamless gifting experience and avoid confusion like duplicate sends or unexpected messages.
Quick reference
Giftnote has 9 email notification types. All are enabled by default when using Giftnote's native email builder.
Emails sent to the recipient
These are the emails your gift recipients see. They're the core of the Giftnote experience — the moment someone discovers they've been given a gift.
1. Gift message — on delivery
Fires when the carrier marks the parcel as delivered. This is the most common notification type and Giftnote's primary differentiator — the recipient learns about the gift at the perfect moment, not days before it arrives.
Includes: the gifter's name, their personal message, and your brand's design.
2. Gift message — send now
Fires immediately after the gifter completes checkout. Used when the gifter wants the recipient to know about the gift right away (common for last-minute or digital-first purchases).
Includes: the gifter's name, their personal message, and your brand's design.
3. Gift message — scheduled
Fires on the specific date and time the gifter selected at checkout (e.g., a birthday or holiday). The gifter picks the date in the gift message widget during purchase.
Includes: the gifter's name, their personal message, and your brand's design.
Note: The scheduled time shown in the confirmation email displays in UTC, not the customer's local timezone. This is a known limitation.
6. Gift card delivery
Fires when a gift card is purchased and the delivery time arrives (immediately for "send now," or on the scheduled date for "send later"). The recipient receives the gift card code directly — unlike Shopify's native gift cards, which send the code to the buyer.
Includes: the gift card code, balance amount, the gifter's personal message, and a link to your store.
7. Gift card balance reminder
Fires when a gift card has been partially redeemed or remains unused after a period. This is a re-engagement email that reminds the recipient they still have credit to spend.
Includes: remaining gift card balance and a link to your store.
This email requires the Klaviyo integration (v2) to function. It does not fire from Giftnote's native email builder.
8. Store credit / backend-issued gift card
Fires when you manually issue a gift card or store credit from the Giftnote dashboard — for example, as a customer service gesture, influencer gift, or loyalty reward.
Includes: the gift card code, balance amount, and a link to your store.
Emails sent to the gifter
These emails keep the person who bought the gift informed about what's happening with their gift message or gift card.
4. Gift confirmation ("gift is on its way")
Fires at checkout when the gift message is successfully queued or scheduled. Gives the gifter peace of mind that their message will be delivered.
Includes: confirmation of the recipient's name, the delivery method they chose (on delivery, send now, or scheduled), and their message.
5. Gift delivered notification
Fires when the gift message has been successfully delivered to the recipient. This is the "you're now their favourite person" moment.
Includes: confirmation that the recipient received the message.
9. Gift card self-purchase confirmation
Fires when someone buys a gift card for themselves (no recipient details entered). Confirms the purchase and delivers the gift card code directly to the buyer.
Includes: the gift card code and balance amount.
Two ways to manage these emails
Giftnote offers two email systems. You use one or the other — never both at the same time.
Native email builder (default)
All 9 email types are enabled by default using Giftnote's built-in email builder. Emails are sent from your brand name "via Giftnote" (e.g., "Acme Co via Giftnote"). You can customise the logo, colours, and copy using a basic HTML editor with Google Fonts support.
To view and edit your native email templates, go to Giftnote app → Settings → Notifications. Each email type is listed individually.
Native emails are sent from Giftnote's domain (delivery@giftnote.com), not yours. This can occasionally trigger spam filters. If deliverability is a concern, the Klaviyo integration is the recommended path.
Klaviyo integration (recommended)
With Klaviyo, all 9 email types are sent from your own branded domain with full design control — custom fonts, dynamic product blocks, recipient segmentation, and automated flows. The Giftnote team copies 9 template flows into your Klaviyo account during onboarding, and you reskin them to match your brand.
When you activate Klaviyo flows, you must disable Giftnote's native emails immediately. If both are left on, recipients receive duplicate emails. To disable native emails: go to Giftnote app → Settings → Notifications and toggle off each native template.
What about SMS?
SMS notifications are always sent from Giftnote's own platform (via Twilio) — not through Klaviyo or any other tool. SMS fires at the same moment as the email notification.
To customise your SMS templates, go to Giftnote app → Settings → Notifications and look for the items with the orange SMS tag.
The SMS character limit is 210 characters. This is a standard SMS constraint, not a Giftnote limitation.
Key things to know
All 9 native email templates are enabled by default. You don't need to turn anything on after installation — emails will fire automatically once your first gift order comes through.
Giftnote branding appears on native emails. A small "Powered by Giftnote" mark is included on all native emails. For full white-label control, use the Klaviyo integration.
Never run Klaviyo flows and native emails at the same time. This causes duplicate sends. Disable native emails the moment your Klaviyo flows go live.
Gift card balance reminder requires Klaviyo v2. This flow is not available through the native email builder — it requires the Klaviyo integration to fire the balance-updated event.
SMS is separate from your email choice. Whether you use native emails or Klaviyo, SMS is always sent directly by Giftnote. You configure it in the same Notifications settings area.