**Feature availability: **Gift card rewards are available on Standard, Growth, Plus, and Enterprise plans for merchants on Shopify only.
Gift card rewards
Gift cards are treated as a form of payment—similar to cash, debit, or credit cards. They offer flexibility for customers but come with a few important limitations to consider.Key characteristics
- Acts as payment: When a customer redeems a gift card reward, it functions as payment. The card balance can be applied to any eligible product in your store.
- No usage conditions: You cannot set conditions for how a gift card reward is used. For example, you cannot require customers to spend a minimum amount before using their gift card.
- Stackable: Customers can use multiple gift cards in a single purchase and can also combine gift cards with other discounts or promotions. This can help increase conversions during sales but may also make gift cards more susceptible to misuse.
- Points earning behavior: Points for gift card transactions depend on your eCommerce platform:
- In most cases, Smile awards points only once—either when a gift card is purchased or when it’s redeemed—to prevent double earning.
- Learn more about how customers earn points when using a gift card.
Important considerations
- 💡 Fraud prevention tip: To reduce the risk of gift card fraud, make sure customers can’t earn enough points for a gift card reward without spending money. For example, if a customer can earn 500 points without making a purchase, ensure that the lowest-value gift card reward costs more than 500 points.
- ℹ️ Note for Shopify stores: Shopify does not provide data on when gift cards are used. As a result, Smile cannot track or update gift card rewards as Used or Available in your customers’ profiles.
Fixed amount discounts
Fixed amount discounts (for example, $5 off or $10 off) give customers a set amount off their order rather than acting as a payment method.Key characteristics
- Discount-only function: Discount rewards apply to an order total—they don’t create store credit or a reusable balance.
- Combinability: By default, Smile-generated discount codes cannot be combined with other discount codes. You can change this in your reward settings if you want to allow stacking.
- Customizable restrictions: You can control how discount codes are used by setting:
- Minimum purchase requirements
- Product or collection limits
- Learn more about reward restrictions.
When to use each reward type
| Use case | Gift card reward | Fixed amount discount |
|---|---|---|
| You want to let customers pay like cash | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| You want to restrict use to certain products | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| You want to prevent discount stacking | ⚠️ Limited control | ✅ Full control |
| You want to offer reusable balances | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| You want to track reward usage | ❌ Limited tracking | ✅ Fully tracked |