Looking for a solution: Gift orders without shipping address

Hi Shopify Community!

I’m working on improving the gift-giving experience on my store and looking for creative solutions to implement this feature:

When customers want to buy a gift, I’d like to give them the option to proceed with checkout without providing the recipient’s shipping address. Instead, they would provide the recipient’s social media handles so we can contact them later to get their shipping details or preferred pickup location.

Current limitations I’ve found:

  • Standard checkout requires a shipping address
  • Can’t modify checkout without Shopify Plus
  • Order notes aren’t a perfect solution as customers still need to input an address

I’m specifically looking for solutions that would work with a standard Shopify plan.
Any suggestions or creative approaches would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance for your help!