Gift cards: credit given, arriving on the right day
A gift card is a product in your store: credit in dinars that someone buys for themselves or gives to someone else, spent anywhere in your store with a code typed in the code field. In this lesson Amine Khelifi, a digital-marketing trainer, sells two cards at 2,000 DZD and 5,000 DZD. Sara Benali buys a 5,000 DZD card for her colleague Walid, with his name and email, to reach him on the day of his thesis defence; Yasmine gives one to her brother with only his phone number. It works the same for a Quran teacher selling cards to her students' parents, or a photographer selling a photo-session card.
- 5 minutes to create the card; nothing after that: sending is automatic
- 5 steps
Who can do it: Creating and editing the card: “Store and products”. Giving and spending are done by the buyer and the recipient in your store.
In 5 steps
- 1“New product” → “Gift card”: “Amounts”, “Custom amount”, “Valid for” and “Sent to the recipient”.
- 2On the card's page the buyer picks “For me” or “Give it”: name, email or phone, a note, the send day.
- 3By email, the code goes out on its own on the chosen day, after payment is confirmed, with the giver's note.
- 4With a phone only, no message is sent: the buyer finds the code on their order page with “Send it on WhatsApp”.
Before you start
- An open store with a prepaid payment method (BaridiMob receipt or card): the card is created and its code sent once payment is confirmed.
- The “Store and products” permission.
- Decide your amounts: two or three your customers know (“Example: 2,000 or 5,000 DZD”) work better than a long list.
- Step 1 of 5
Create the card: amounts, validity, sending
In “Products”, click “New product” and pick “Gift card” (“Credit given to someone else and spent anywhere in your store.”). The “Gift card” section shows a preview of the card with your store's name and GIFT-XXXX-XXXX. Type each amount in “Amounts” then “Add an amount” (up to eight), or switch on “Custom amount” so the buyer types their own between “Minimum” and “Maximum” (1,000 and 20,000 DZD to start with). Then “Valid for” in months (12 to start with), “Sent to the recipient” (“With a message from the giver, on a date they choose”), and “Spent on”: “The whole store and the courses”. Amine adds 2,000 DZD and 5,000 DZD, keeps 12 months, and publishes.
On screenProductsNew productGift cardAmountsAdd an amountCustom amountMinimumMaximumValid forSent to the recipientSpent onThe whole store and the coursesTipUnder the section: “Whatever is left stays for next time. Gift cards are not refundable.” On the card's page the buyer sees “Card value”, the “Buy the card” button, and “The card comes with a code you can use in this store.”
Heads-upIf buyers don't see “Give it” on the card's page while “Sent to the recipient” looks on to you, switch it off and on once so it is saved: a new card shows it on before it is saved. Without “Sent to the recipient”, the card can only be bought for oneself.
- Step 2 of 5
“Give it”: to whom, with what note, and when
On the card's page the buyer finds “Who is this card for?”: “For me” (“The code shows on your order page”) or “Give it” (“We send it to someone else”). Sara picks “Give it” and fills “Their name”: Walid, “Their email or phone”: his email, and “A note from you (optional)”: “Well done on the defence, pick what helps you.” Then “When should it arrive?”: “Once paid” (“As soon as payment is confirmed”) or “On a day I choose” (“Birthday, a success…”) with “Send on”. She picks the defence day, then “Buy the card”. In the cart and at checkout a “Gift for Walid” line appears.
On screenWho is this card for?For meGive itTheir nameTheir email or phoneA note from you (optional)When should it arrive?Once paidOn a day I chooseSend onBuy the cardTipThe note is up to 300 characters, and the send day runs from today to a year ahead. If something is missing the page says what: “Write the name of the person receiving it.”, “Write a valid email or a mobile number starting with 05, 06 or 07.” or “Pick a day from today, within a year.”
Heads-upGift cards are in dinars: a buyer outside Algeria reads “Gift cards are used in dinars, within Algeria only.”
- Step 3 of 5
By email: the code arrives on its day
When payment is confirmed, the card and its code are created. If the recipient has an email, the code goes out on the chosen day, Algiers time (or right after confirmation with “Once paid”); sending runs every quarter of an hour. Walid gets a message in the name of Amine's store: “Sara sent you a … gift card”, with the amount, Sara's note in quotes, “Your card's code”, “Pick what you like in the store and type the code in the coupon field at checkout.”, the expiry date and a button to the store. On Sara's order page, the “Your gifts” section says where it stands: “The gift goes to Walid once payment is confirmed”, then “The gift will reach Walid on …”, then “The gift reached Walid on …”.
On screenYour giftsTipThe message is written in the language of the page Sara bought from: Arabic, French or English.
Heads-upIf sending fails it is retried automatically, up to five attempts. And nothing goes out before payment is confirmed: a receipt you haven't accepted yet is a gift that waits, even when its day comes.
- Step 4 of 5
With a phone only: a WhatsApp link, no message
Yasmine types her brother's number instead of an email, and the page says: “By phone we send no message: the code is on your order page, for you to send them on WhatsApp.” Once payment is confirmed, “Your gifts” on her order page shows “Send the code to … yourself”, the number, and the “Send it on WhatsApp” button: it opens WhatsApp on her brother's number with a ready message holding the store's name, the code and “type it in the coupon field when you order”, and she is the one who taps “Send”.
On screenYour giftsSend it on WhatsAppTipIf the buyer wants the gift to arrive on a set day by phone, the chosen day sends nothing: they send it on WhatsApp on that day themselves.
Heads-upThe platform sends no SMS and no WhatsApp message by itself: the button only opens the chat.
- Step 5 of 5
Spending: the code in the code field
Walid enters Amine's store and picks what he likes. In the cart he taps “Have a coupon or a gift card?” and types the code in “Discount code or gift card”, or at checkout in “Have a discount code?” → “Code”. “Gift card covers 4,500 DZD (balance: 5,000 DZD)” appears and the amount comes off the order. What's left (500 DZD here) stays on the card for next time; an account holder sees it in “My library” → “Gift cards”: “… left” or “Fully used”, and “Valid until …”.
On screenHave a coupon or a gift card?Discount code or gift cardHave a discount code?CodeGift cardsTipIn “Orders”, a bought card's line reads “Card worth …”, and what a card paid in an order shows in “Money” as “Gift card”.
Heads-upAn expired or empty card is clearly refused: “This gift card has expired” or “This gift card has no balance left”. And your dashboard has no page yet listing every code issued and its balance.
After gift cards
Questions
Does the gift arrive by SMS?
No. If the recipient has an email, the code reaches them by email on the chosen day. If there's only a phone number, the buyer finds the code on their order page with “Send it on WhatsApp”, which opens the chat with a ready message, and sends it themselves.
Sara bought the card but the email hasn't arrived: why?
The card is only created and sent after payment is confirmed: if her receipt is waiting in “Orders”, accept it first. If she picked a day, the message goes out that day, Algiers time, and sending runs every quarter of an hour. “Your gifts” on her order page says where it stands.
Can a gift card be refunded?
No: “Whatever is left stays for next time. Gift cards are not refundable.” Its balance is spent in the store until it runs out or expires.
Where does the recipient type the code?
In the code field: in the cart, “Discount code or gift card”, or at checkout, “Code”. The amount comes off their order and the rest stays on the card.
Can a customer outside Algeria use it?
No. The card is in dinars, and an order in another currency shows “Gift cards are used in dinars, within Algeria only.”