How to create gift cards in Magento?

It is the third week of December, and the head of e-commerce of a specialty retailer is watching a queue form in the customer service inbox. Dozens of messages say the same thing in different words. A customer wants to give a present to a brother who lives in another city, and does not know his size, his taste or his address. The stock of the most popular items is thin, the delivery cut-off is in two days, and the retailer is about to lose a sale to a competitor who offers something simpler, a gift the recipient can choose for himself. The retailer has the platform, the customers and the intent to buy. What it lacks is a product that turns uncertainty about someone else's taste into a completed order.

From the customer's perspective, selecting appropriate gifts for family or friends can be a challenge, especially with the plethora of choices available today. Gift cards are virtual cards that are used in the store to make purchases. They contain a gift code that is sent by mail to the person indicated and can be redeemed in the ecommerce.

The short answer

In Adobe Commerce, a gift card is created as a product type from the catalog menu, with a card type, fixed or open amounts and a few delivery settings. It is included in Adobe Commerce, while Magento Open Source needs an extension. Before selling cards, the store must also generate a pool of unique codes, and decide the rules for expiration, messages and redemption.

What this means for the C-level

Gift cards are a commercial instrument as much as a technical feature. The National Retail Federation reported in December 2025 that gift cards were the second most popular holiday gift, that 43 percent of shoppers planned to buy at least one, and that spending on them was expected to reach 29 billion dollars (National Retail Federation, gift cards gain popularity as top choice for holiday shoppers). The demand exists, and the question is whether your store captures a share of it or leaves it to others.

Gift cards help increase revenue by offering customers more options and incentives. They are also beneficial to customers, because they save valuable time, since with this option they know the recipient will receive something they will like. For the business, the effects go beyond the sale itself. A card brings a new person to the store, the recipient, who may not have been a customer before. The recipient may spend more than the value of the card, which is a behavior worth measuring in your own data. And the cash is received before the product leaves the warehouse. Each of these effects should be measured, because they are the ones that justify the effort.

Leadership should still decide a few policy questions before the first card is sold. Will cards expire, and is that allowed in the countries where you sell? Adobe warns that expiration dates may be prohibited in some locations, so legal review comes first. Will the card be redeemable for cash, or only for purchases? Who can create cards manually, for example as compensation to an unhappy customer, and who audits them? How will finance account for the unredeemed balance? These are questions for commercial, legal and finance leaders, and the platform configuration should follow their answers.

Next, we will see how to create a gift card in Magento. To create gift cards with the Magento Open Source version it is necessary to have an extension that allows us to do so. The Adobe Commerce version already includes gift cards, a point Adobe confirms in its documentation, which states that the gift card product is available in Adobe Commerce only (Adobe Commerce documentation, Gift card product). For companies that also sell to other businesses, see Magento B2B and its importance in businesses, where corporate gift cards for employees and clients are a frequent use case.

First, prepare the code pool

The step that most guides skip is the one that makes everything else work. Each gift card has a unique code that one customer can redeem at checkout, and the platform takes those codes from a pool. Adobe states that a code pool must be generated before gift cards are offered for sale, that it generates 1,000 codes by default, and that the pool is configured under Stores, Configuration, Sales, Gift Cards, where the code length, format, prefix, suffix and the threshold that triggers a low pool alert are set (Adobe Commerce documentation, Gift card accounts). Set the low pool threshold with a realistic margin for a peak season, because a store that runs out of codes in the middle of December cannot sell cards when demand is highest.

Gift card product

Gift cards are created in a similar way to simple products. Log in to the Magento administration panel, then go to the catalog menu. The original instructions named the path Products, Inventory, Catalog, and in current versions Adobe describes it as Catalog, Products. In the top right corner of the menu select Add Product and select the Gift Card option.

General configuration

In the general configuration, enter the product name and enter a SKU for the product. Then select the type of card. A virtual card is emailed to the recipient. A physical card can be produced in advance and is generated with unique codes. The third option, called Set in the original version of this article and Combined in Adobe's documentation, is a gift card that has the characteristics of both a virtual and a physical gift card. Adobe adds a practical point for each type. A virtual card requires the recipient's email and no shipping address, a physical card is shipped and so requires a shipping address, and a combined card is both shipped and emailed, so it requires both.

To assign the price of gift cards you have two options. The first is to enter fixed amounts in the Amount section. The second is to let customers enter the amount they want for their gift card. To do this you have to activate the Open Amount option and assign a minimum and a maximum amount. Adobe notes that fixed and open amounts can also be combined, and that a gift card has no catalog price, because the price is the amount the customer chooses at purchase. A good commercial design usually offers three or four fixed amounts that match common gift budgets, plus an open amount for customers with a specific value in mind, with a minimum that covers your processing costs.

Read also our article on essential cybersecurity for your store in Adobe Commerce. Gift card codes are valuable, and they are an attractive target for fraud, so access to the Admin and the monitoring of unusual redemptions deserve special attention.

Gift card information

This section is located at the back, and the default settings for this section are determined by the system configuration. To change the settings, deselect the checkbox for any of the fields you require to change. Three fields matter. Lifetime determines the expiration of the card starting from the day the purchase is made. Allow message determines whether the gift card purchaser can enter a message for the recipient, and a gift message can be included for either virtual or physical cards. Mailing template is the mail template used for the notification sent to the gift card recipient.

Adobe adds details that matter for planning. The lifetime is expressed in days and, if it is left blank, the card does not expire. The global configuration also lets the store choose whether the card can be redeemed for cash, set a maximum length for gift messages, with a default of 255 characters, and decide whether the gift card account is generated when the order is placed or when it is invoiced (Adobe Commerce documentation, Sales, Gift Cards). For stores that accept payment methods which can be reversed, generating the account at invoicing is the more cautious choice.

Product information

Complete the information in the other sections as needed, including product content and images. The presentation of the gift card in the catalog deserves the same care as any other product. Use an appealing design, a description that explains how the card is delivered and used, and clear terms about validity and redemption. Adobe also points out that taxes are not applied when the gift card is bought, but when the card is used to purchase products, which finance teams should consider in their reporting.

Gift cards help increase revenue by offering customers more options and incentives, and they are beneficial to customers and help them save valuable time because with this option they know the recipient will receive something they will like. Always keep yourself updated so you can make use of tools like gift cards and other modules offered by Magento.

Choosing between virtual, physical and combined cards

The card type is a commercial decision that deserves a moment of thought. Virtual cards are the simplest to operate. They need no stock, no packaging and no shipment, and they reach the recipient immediately, which makes them the natural answer to last minute purchases. Physical cards add the sensation of a tangible present and are useful when the store also has a physical presence, since they can be displayed at the counter, but they require inventory, logistics and security in storage. Combined cards cover both needs, for example when the buyer wants to hand over a card in person and the recipient also receives the digital code.

For most online retailers the sensible path is to begin with virtual cards, learn from the results, and add physical or combined cards only if the data shows demand. This keeps the launch light and reduces the operational risks, while the code pool and the redemption rules, which are the heart of the feature, are tested under real conditions. If the store later adds the physical format, the policy questions about expiration, redemption and accounting will already be answered, which is one more reason to define them at the beginning.

Using gift cards as part of a loyalty strategy

Gift cards work best when they are connected to the rest of the customer relationship. They can be offered as compensation after a service failure, as a reward in a loyalty program, as a bonus for a referral, or as a corporate present sold in volume. Each use has a different economic logic, and each should have its own rules. Our guide to the types of customer loyalty programs offers a framework to decide where a card fits.

Think also about the recipient's first experience. The email that delivers the card is, for many recipients, their first contact with the brand. It should be clear, attractive and mobile friendly, explain how to redeem the balance, and invite the recipient to explore the store. Measure what happens next, including how many recipients redeem, how long it takes, how much extra they spend and how many return later as customers. Those indicators turn the card from a seasonal product into a customer acquisition channel.

Operational details that prevent problems

Before launching, test the complete journey with a real purchase, from selecting the amount to receiving the email and redeeming the card on a new order. Confirm that the email arrives, that the code works once and only once, and that the balance is correct after partial use. Check how the card behaves in customer service tools, so that agents can look up an account, see its history and respond to a customer who lost the email. In Adobe Commerce, each account records an active flag, a balance and a status such as used, redeemed or expired, and a history of actions that is useful for audits.

Agree on the procedure for exceptions. What happens if a customer reports that a code was not received, if an order that included a gift card is refunded after the card was used, or if the same code is entered many times in a short period? Having a written answer to these questions before the peak season prevents improvised decisions and protects both the customer and the company.

Accounting, fraud and customer service

A gift card changes how the company records a sale. Cash is collected when the card is bought, but the revenue from the products is recognized when the balance is used, and the unused balance is a liability that stays on the books until it is redeemed or until local rules allow it to be released. Finance should agree on this treatment before launch and make sure the reports of the platform can provide the figures it needs, including the total issued, redeemed and outstanding balances by period.

Fraud is the second concern. Stolen payment cards are often used to buy gift cards because the product is delivered by email in minutes and is easy to resell. Combine the fraud screening of your payment provider with simple store rules, such as limits on the number of cards per order, review of unusually large amounts and delays before delivery of high value cards. Customer service is the third. Agents need to be able to find an account, see its history, resend an email and explain the terms in plain language. A short internal guide, prepared before the season starts, saves hours of improvisation when the volume of inquiries rises.

Monday morning, what to do first

If you do not sell gift cards today, start with a small business case. On Monday, ask your team how many requests you received last year for gifts to be sent to someone else, how many sales were lost for lack of an alternative, and how many orders were abandoned near a holiday. Add the NRF figures for your market if available, and estimate a conservative uptake. The result will tell you whether the project deserves priority.

During the week, decide the policy questions listed above with legal and finance, define the amounts and card types you want to start with, and ask your technical partner to prepare a test environment with the code pool generated. By Friday you should have a short specification, a test purchase completed and a date for the launch, preferably several weeks before your next peak season.

How ICX helps

ICX helps retailers design offers around what customers really need, and then configure the platform to deliver them. A gift card answers a specific need of the buyer, giving a present with confidence when they do not know the recipient's taste, and the ICX Jobs to Be Done toolkit can help you define that job and shape the offer around it. Our consultants configure and extend Adobe Commerce, connect gift cards with loyalty, marketing and finance processes, and measure the results. To review your own plans, request a diagnostic with an ICX consultant.

Frequently asked questions

Is the gift card available in Magento Open Source?

No. The gift card product is included in Adobe Commerce, while Magento Open Source needs an extension to offer gift cards.

What types of gift cards can I create?

Virtual cards, which are emailed to the recipient, physical cards, which are shipped, and combined cards, which are both shipped and emailed.

Can customers choose the amount?

Yes. You can offer fixed amounts, an open amount with a minimum and a maximum, or both.

Do gift cards expire?

Only if you set a lifetime in days. If it is blank, the card does not expire. Check local regulations first, because expiration dates may be prohibited in some locations.

Do I need to prepare anything before selling the first card?

Yes. Generate a pool of unique gift card codes in the Sales configuration, and set an alert threshold so the pool never runs out.

Can ICX help launch gift cards?

Yes. We help define the commercial policy, configure the platform, design the customer experience and measure the results.

The retailer in our opening scene was not short of customers, it was short of a way to let one person buy for another with confidence, and the stores that make that gesture simple will find that the best gift they receive in return is a new customer.