Black Friday and Cyber Monday are behind us. From here until Christmas, the question shoppers ask changes from “what’s the best deal?” to “will it arrive in time?” Gift cards answer that question for every product you sell, even after your last shipping date has passed.

They also do something most holiday sales don’t: they bring people back to your store in January, when things are usually quiet. Here’s how to set gift cards up in WooCommerce and use them across December and the new year.

Why gift cards deserve a proper plan

Many stores treat gift cards as an afterthought, a product that sits in the menu and occasionally sells. With a bit of planning, they can do much more:

• They sell after shipping cutoffs. Digital gift cards are delivered by email instantly, so you keep selling right up to Christmas Eve.
• They bring in new customers. The person who receives the card may never have heard of you.
• They shift sales into January. Recipients redeem in the weeks after Christmas, often during your slowest period.
• Redemptions often exceed the card value. It’s common for people to spend a bit more than the card is worth, because few products match the balance exactly.
• They need no extra stock. You don’t need to predict which size or colour a recipient wants.

Setting up gift cards in WooCommerce

WooCommerce doesn’t include gift cards out of the box. You’ll need an extension. Options include the official Gift Cards extension on the WooCommerce Marketplace and several well-known third-party plugins, some with free versions.

Whichever you choose, check that it supports:

1. Digital delivery by email, with the option to send to the recipient directly or to the buyer.
2. Scheduled delivery, so a buyer can order today and have the card arrive on Christmas morning.
3. A personal message from the buyer.
4. Flexible amounts, either fixed values or a custom amount within a range.
5. Balance tracking, so customers can use a card across more than one order.
6. Printable versions, for people who want something to put in an envelope.
7. Compatibility with your checkout and payment methods, including block-based checkout if you use it.

If you’ve used store credit before, the mechanics are similar. Our guide to WooCommerce store credit covers the basics of issuing and tracking balances.

Choose sensible amounts

Pick denominations that match your price points. If your typical product costs 35, offering cards at 25, 50 and 100 means most recipients can buy something with a small top-up. A custom amount field helps people who have a specific budget in mind.

Design the email and the card

The gift card email is the first contact a recipient has with your store. Treat it like a first impression:

• Your logo and a clear, attractive card image
• The buyer’s name and personal message at the top
• The amount and code, clearly shown
• A “Start shopping” button to your bestsellers or a gift-card landing page
• How to check the balance and how long the card is valid

Rules and responsibilities to get right

Gift cards come with a few legal and accounting considerations. Keep it simple and honest:

• Expiry. Rules differ by country and sometimes by state or region. In the US, for example, the federal CARD Act generally prevents gift cards from expiring within five years of issue. Check the rules where you and your customers are before setting any expiry date.
• Accounting. A sold gift card is usually treated as money you owe until it’s redeemed, not as revenue on the day it’s sold. Ask your accountant how to record it.
• Refunds and returns. Decide whether gift cards can be refunded and what happens if someone returns an item bought with one. Put this in your terms.
• Clear terms. State validity, whether cards can be exchanged for cash, and whether they can be combined with other offers.

Promoting gift cards in December

Timing matters. Gift cards should get more attention as your shipping deadline approaches.

Email ideas

• The gift guide section. Add a gift card block at the end of every gift guide email.
• “Shipping has closed, gifting hasn’t.” A dedicated send once physical delivery is no longer guaranteed.
• Corporate or team gifts. A short email to business customers suggesting gift cards for staff or clients.
• Treat yourself. In the days before Christmas, some stores offer a small bonus card to buyers (for example, a bonus voucher for the buyer when they purchase a gift card above a certain amount). If you try this, set a clear expiry on the bonus and make the terms visible.

On-site promotion

• A slim announcement bar after your shipping cutoff: “Too late for delivery? Send a gift card instantly.”
• A gift card option on your sale landing page.
• A small note in the cart for shoppers whose delivery estimate falls after Christmas.

Turning January redemptions into repeat customers

This is where the long-term value sits. Someone redeeming a gift card is a new customer you didn’t pay to acquire.

Make redemption easy

Make sure the gift card code field is easy to find at checkout and works on mobile. Test it with a partial balance and with a card that covers the whole order.

Follow up with gift card holders

If your gift card plugin captures the recipient’s email, and they’ve agreed to hear from you where required, you can send a short series:

1. Christmas or on delivery: The gift card email itself.
2. A few days after Christmas: “Your gift card is waiting”, with bestsellers and new arrivals.
3. Mid-January: A reminder with the remaining balance, if any.
4. After first purchase: A welcome email introducing your store properly, just as you’d do for any new customer.

Be careful with consent. Receiving a gift card doesn’t automatically mean someone has signed up for your marketing emails. Stick to service messages about their card unless they’ve opted in, and include an easy way to join your list.

Remind buyers too

People who bought gift cards are customers as well. A thank-you email in early January, perhaps with a “something for you” suggestion, keeps them engaged.

A worked example: a small bookshop

Imagine an independent bookshop running on WooCommerce. Its last standard delivery date for Christmas is 18 December. Here’s its gift card plan:

• 2 December: Gift cards added to the gift guide email, available in 20, 30 and 50, plus a custom amount.
• 11 December: Shipping deadline email: “One week left for Christmas delivery”. A gift card block at the bottom.
• 18 December: “Last day for delivery. After today, give a gift card instead.” Subject line mentions both.
• 19 to 24 December: Homepage banner and daily social posts focus on gift cards with scheduled delivery.
• 28 December: Email to recipients who opted in: “Your gift card is waiting”, featuring January’s new releases.
• Mid-January: Balance reminder, plus a “staff picks” email.

The bookshop tracks how many gift cards sold after 18 December, how many were redeemed by the end of January, and how many recipients placed a second order. Those three numbers tell it whether to push gift cards harder next year.

Mistakes to avoid

• Hiding the gift card page. Link it from the main menu and footer during December.
• Making cards physical-only. Digital delivery is the whole point for last-minute buyers.
• No scheduled delivery. Buyers want the card to arrive on Christmas morning, not the moment they pay.
• Forgetting mobile. Test buying and redeeming a card on a phone.
• Discounting gift cards by accident. Exclude gift cards from sitewide sales and coupons, or you may be selling store credit at a loss. Our coupon code guide shows how to exclude products from a code.

Automate the follow-up

The December part of this plan is a handful of emails. The January part works best when it’s automated: gift card holders and buyers enter a short sequence, and anyone who places an order moves into your regular new-customer flow.

iConvert Email Marketer segments WooCommerce customers automatically and includes free pre-designed templates, which helps when you’re sending holiday and follow-up emails at the same time. Any email tool with good WooCommerce data can do the job; what matters is that the follow-up actually happens.

Plan your gift card push this week

Set up digital delivery with scheduling, pick amounts that fit your prices, write your last-shipping-day email now, and prepare a short January series for recipients. It’s a small amount of work for sales you’d otherwise miss after your shipping cutoff, and for new customers who’ll arrive in January.

If you want the January follow-up to run by itself, iConvert Email Marketer can take care of the segments and emails.