Gift Card Recipient
The Gift Card Recipient is the person who receives a gift card and is intended to use (redeem) it. In most transactions, the recipient is different from the purchaser—someone buys the card as a gift, and the recipient is the person who shops with it. Understanding the recipient’s journey is critical for designing a smooth gift card experience.
The recipient’s journey
The recipient’s experience begins when they receive the gift card—via email, SMS, physical mail, or in person. From that point, the key steps are: discovering the card’s value and the store it belongs to, understanding how to use it, browsing the store, and applying the code at checkout. Every step is an opportunity to impress (or frustrate) a potential new customer.
Why the recipient experience matters
Gift card recipients are a uniquely valuable audience. They often arrive at a store for the first time, pre-funded and ready to buy. A positive first experience can convert them into repeat customers. A confusing or friction-filled experience—difficulty finding the redemption field, unclear instructions, a code that doesn’t work—can result in a lost customer and unused balance (which may generate support tickets).
UX best practices for recipients
- Clear delivery: The gift card email or message should prominently display the code, the balance, the store name, and a direct link to start shopping.
- Easy redemption: Place the gift card input field in a visible, intuitive location at checkout—don’t hide it behind a “have a coupon?” toggle.
- Balance visibility: Show the remaining balance after each use, in the order confirmation, and on a dedicated balance-check page.
- No account required: Allow guests to redeem gift cards without creating an account, reducing friction for first-time visitors.