POS - Gift Card as Payment Workflow request

Store Feedback
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Topic summary

A retail store owner requests a streamlined gift card redemption process in Shopify POS to improve transaction speed and customer service.

Current Pain Point:

  • When customers forget physical gift cards or struggle to access digital versions, staff can view gift cards in the customer’s account but cannot directly apply them to purchases
  • The workaround requires re-sending gift card codes via email/text for customers to present at checkout, adding unnecessary friction

Requested Feature:
Ability to click on a gift card visible in a customer’s POS profile and immediately apply it to their current transaction, eliminating the need for customers to present codes themselves.

Current Status:

  • Shopify POS requires either scanning physical cards or manual code entry during checkout
  • No native feature exists to apply gift cards directly from customer profiles
  • This limitation has been discussed in other community threads
  • Third-party apps like iziGift exist but aren’t ideal solutions
  • Support staff recommends contacting Shopify directly to advocate for this feature

The discussion remains open with no resolution or timeline for implementation.

Summarized with AI on November 1. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
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This is a POS only question/suggestion - In in person retail, speed of transaction is often a central part of our ability to offer good customer service, and good customer service is the primary way independent stores manage to stand apart. It is necessary to our ability to survive and thrive as a business. To that aim, I have a suggestion for how we accept gift cards as payment.

We often have customers forget their physical gift cards when they come to the shop, and many customers who are not phone savvy enough to quickly look up their gift cards. In our pre-shopify workflow, we were able to look up and apply gift cards (or store credit) for them in one easy step without requiring any inconvenience from them.

I see that I can use gift card as a payment on the POS app. And if I look up a customer, I can see the gift cards they have in their account.

The request: It would be great if I could click on a gift card in their account in the POS app and have that gift card immediately apply itself to the purchase they are making in the store. The current system of needing to re-text or re-email the gift card to them if they cannot find it so that we can scan it feels like adding unnecessary steps to a process that I wish my customers would experience as seamless.

As it stands, it is very much not seamless. All of the information is right there in their customer history. If I could just do that part for them, I know they will feel better taken care of.

1 Like
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Hi @DaphneOlive

I completely understand your concern about streamlining the gift card redemption process in your store. Currently, in Shopify POS, to apply a customer’s gift card, you need to either scan the physical card or manually enter the code during checkout. If a customer forgets their physical gift card and can’t access the digital version, the typical workaround involves looking up their profile, viewing their gift card details, and resending the code via email or text for them to present at checkout. This process can indeed be cumbersome and detract from the seamless experience we aim to provide.

As of now, Shopify doesn’t offer a direct feature to apply a customer’s gift card from their profile without requiring them to present the code. This limitation has been a point of discussion within the Shopify community. For instance, in a community thread, users have expressed the need for a more streamlined method to check and apply gift card balances directly through the POS system without additional steps.

community.shopify.com

While third-party apps like iziGift have been suggested as potential solutions, I understand that relying on external applications isn’t always ideal. Therefore, I recommend reaching out to Shopify’s support team to express the importance of this feature for your business operations. They can provide the most up-to-date information on any upcoming features or workarounds that might better suit your needs.

If you need any other assistance, feel free to reply and I will try my best to help.

Best regards,

Daisy