Refund by New Gift Card

Refund by new gift card is a return resolution for stores that offer gift cards as part of their return policy. 

Capabilities

Refunding by new gift card enables you to: 

• Give your customers their refund as a new gift card that they can use for future purchases. Gift cards can be combined with other gift cards and discount codes at checkout. 
• Refund your customers while keeping the revenue in your store.
• Incentivize customers with a bonus for choosing this resolution. 

Requirements and Limitations 

• The gift card is issued to customers based on their email address. Currently, only one new gift card can be issued per RMA. 
• Whenever a gift card refund is given, a new gift card is created, as gift cards are not rechargeable.

Configuring Refund by New Gift Card 

There are several settings you can configure to manage how the Refund by new gift card resolution will behave in your returns flow. 

To configure Refund by new gift card resolutions:

1. Go to Settings > Resolutions.
2. Open the Return Resolutions section.
3. Click REFUND BY NEW GIFT CARD.

4. In the Details section, edit the internal name for this resolution to serve as your guide. Customers will not see this name in the portal.

5. Edit the display name, which is how this resolution will be displayed in your return portal.

6. Edit the description, which is how the additional details of this resolution will be displayed in your return portal.

7. In the Refund section, set the refund type to Gift Card.
8. Select options from the Refund Amount drop-down to set the amount you want to offer the customer relative to the paid price. You can use this to incentivize customers who choose this refund type.
9. Click on the save icon to save your changes.

You can use this resolution to build your Return Policy where you can configure additional settings such as eligibility rules, fees, and more. 

Issuing a New Gift Card 

Once you issue a new gift card: 

• ReturnGO generates a gift card code, with an initial balance of the refunded amount. 
• 2 email notifications are triggered: 
  1. Email notification from your store via ReturnGO saying that a gift card has been issued and stating the refunded amount. (You can fully customize this email including the sender address)

2. Email notification from your store (i.e Shopify) with a link to the gift card itself, where the customer can see the gift card code and balance. 

The refunded amount will be documented on both the RMA page and in the order’s notes and timeline. 

Setting the Expiration Period of Gift Cards

To define how long the expiration period of gift cards is:

1. Go to Settings > Store Settings.
2. Open the Refund Alternatives section. 
3. In the Gift Cards Expiration setting, enter the amount of time. For example, if you want the gift card to be valid for 10 days, enter 10 in the box. 
4. Select the unit of time from the drop-down.
5. Click on the save icon to save your changes.

Additionally, you can manage the validity of existing gift cards through Shopify Admin > Products > Gift Cards. 

Setting the Refund Limit for Gift Cards

You can configure the limit for manual gift card refunds. This affects the Available Amount in the refund calculator, enabling you to manually issue a refund that is higher than the paid amount, but with a certain limit to prevent accidentally issuing excessive refunds.

To configure the refund limit:
1. Go to Settings > Store Settings.

2. Open the Refund Alternatives section.

3. Under New Gift Card, set the Limit Manual Refunds by percentage.

4. Click on the save icon to save your changes.

Viewing your Gift Cards on Shopify

When you issue a gift card through ReturnGO, the gift card is issued by Shopify and Shopify registers it as a product in your store. 

You can view your gift cards in Shopify Admin > Products > Gift Cards. 

What’s the Difference Between Gift Cards and Store Credit?

Store credit and gift cards are both types of virtual currency that can be refunded and then used for future purchases. 

The difference between gift cards and store credit refunds is that store credit is a discount code that can only be used towards the value of an item and cannot be used to pay for shipping, taxes, or be combined with another discount code. Store credit is rechargeable, which means you can accumulate more credit on the same discount code.

On the other hand, gift cards are like credit cards that can be used to pay for the entire amount of an order, including shipping and taxes. They are not rechargeable, which means that every time a refund to a gift card is given, a new gift card is created.

Another difference is that in Shopify, store credit is connected to a specific customer account, while gift cards can be used by anyone who has the gift card code.