1. What Is Giftnote and How Does It Work?
Discover how Giftnote captures gift recipients at checkout and converts them into customers, with real merchant ROI examples.
Written By Giftnote Team
Last updated About 1 hour ago
Giftnote is a Shopify gifting platform that turns every gift order into a new customer relationship, by identifying the person who receives the gift and bringing them into your marketing. After reading this, you'll know exactly what Giftnote does, how it fits your business, and what results to expect.
Why this matters
Right now, when someone buys a gift from your store, you know who the buyer is, but you know nothing about the person who actually receives the product. That recipient opens your packaging, loves what's inside, and has no way to hear from you again. They're invisible.
This is a massive blind spot. On average, 74–80% of gift recipients have never purchased from the brand before. That means every gift order introduces your product to a completely new potential customer, and without Giftnote you have no way to reach them.
Giftnote solves this by capturing the recipient's contact information at checkout, delivering a branded gift message at the right moment (by default, when the package arrives), and feeding that recipient into your Klaviyo flows so you can convert them into a paying customer.
The results speak for themselves:
- 11% average recipient conversion rate: gift recipients who go on to make their own purchase within 90 days
- 25% higher average order value on gift orders compared to non-gift orders
- Nestig turned $4K in Giftnote spend into $190K in recipient revenue (47x return)
- Bartesian generated $1M in gifted revenue with 547 first-time buyer conversions
- Kelly's Books acquired new customers at $2 per customer through gift recipient capture
Gift orders aren't just nice customer experiences. They're an acquisition channel hiding in plain sight.
How it works
Giftnote has three products that work together. Most merchants start with gift messaging, then add gift cards or corporate gifting as they grow.
Gift messaging
This is the core product. Here's what happens:
- A customer decides to buy a gift. They're shopping on your store and want to send something as a gift.
- The widget prompts them. A gift message widget appears on your product page, cart or checkout, prompting them to "Send as a gift."
- They add the details. The customer enters the recipient's name, email or phone number, a personal message, and when they'd like the message delivered.
- Checkout is normal. The order goes through your normal Shopify checkout. Your warehouse ships it like any other order. Nothing changes operationally.
- The message is delivered. With On Delivery, when the carrier marks the package as delivered, Giftnote automatically sends a branded email and/or SMS to the recipient with the gift message. You choose which delivery options customers can pick: Send Now, Send Later, On Delivery, or On Fulfillment (when the order ships).
- The recipient is captured. Their contact information appears in Giftnote and is synced to Klaviyo as a new profile.
- You nurture them. Klaviyo flows turn a one-time gift into a lifelong customer.
The key differentiator: with On Delivery, the gift message arrives at the moment of delivery, not at the moment of purchase. The recipient opens the box, sees the product, and gets a beautiful branded message on their phone at the same time. It's the closest thing to handing someone a gift in person.
Gift cards
Giftnote replaces Shopify's default gift card experience with one designed for gifting. The difference: Giftnote delivers the gift card code directly to the recipient, not to the buyer, who would otherwise have to forward it manually.
Gift cards include custom designs for different occasions (birthday, holiday, thank you), a personal message from the sender, and scheduling so the card arrives on the right day. Balance reminder emails are automated through Klaviyo, and on average recipients spend 30% more than the gift card value when they redeem.
Corporate gifting (Multi Gift)
For merchants whose customers include companies buying gifts in bulk (employee appreciation, client gifts, event swag), the Multi Gift portal lets a corporate buyer select products, upload a spreadsheet of recipients (up to 1,000+), and place a single order that Giftnote splits into individual Shopify orders automatically.
Your warehouse sees normal individual orders. Each recipient gets a personalized gift message on delivery. The corporate buyer gets a self-service portal instead of back-and-forth emails and spreadsheets.
Key things to know
Giftnote works on any Shopify plan.
The gift message widget can be placed on your product pages, cart drawer and cart page on any plan. If you're on Shopify Plus, you also get a checkout extension for the highest-converting placement.
Your operations don't change.
Giftnote sits on top of your existing Shopify workflow. Your warehouse ships orders the same way it always does: no printed notes, no special handling, no 3PL changes required.
Klaviyo integration is where the magic happens.
Giftnote creates a Klaviyo profile for every gift recipient and fires events at each stage of the gift lifecycle, such as Placed Gift Order, Received Gift Order and Redeemed Gift Card. You build flows that convert recipients into customers automatically.
Setup is guided.
The Setup guide on the Giftnote Home page shows every step and ticks them off as you go. You're not left to figure it out alone. If you're on a paid plan (Core or Professional), you can ask us to help set it up, for example adding your widget on a staging theme so you can test before go-live: chat with us using the chat button in the help centre or in the app, or email support@giftnote.com, and we'll send a Shopify collaborator request.
Pricing.
The Core plan is $19/month and the Professional plan is $99/month. Both include 20 credits, then $1 per gift message or gift card. Professional adds the Multi Gift corporate portal. Your first month is free when you first subscribe. Usage charges still apply. See "Plans, Pricing & Billing FAQ" for current plans.