Setting up email notifications for use with gift certificates

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Learn how to set up and edit the email notification sent to the recipient when a gift certificate is purchased, including how to add email variables, disable notifications, and send notifications to Staff.

New to Gift Certificates? Read the first article in this series for an introduction to the Gift Certificates feature.

 

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Which plans include this feature?

Legacy:  Pro, Plus, Enterprise, Flex
New:  Available with Growth (Subscription), Growth (Per Booking), and Managed plans only. Not available with Starter plans.
→ Learn more about our new plans or how to change your plan.

Where can I find this feature using the top menu?

Manage > Integrations > Gift Certificates

What prerequisites are there?

• The Gift Certificates feature is activated within your account (Manage > Integrations).
• Admin or restricted permissions to Manage Gift Certificates and Manage Gift Certificate Templates.
  
  

Which Checkfront version supports this feature - classic, new or both?

• This feature is available in both our classic version using items (Inventory > Items) and our newest version using products (Inventory > Products).  → Learn more about products

 

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If you've worked with Checkfront's system Notifications before, you already know how this works.

After activating the Gift Certificates Integration, a new notification type becomes available in your account. This notification type is called Gift Certificates (or Giftcert for short).

By default, the system creates a simple email notification sent to the recipient after being purchased by a Customer or issued by Staff. The subject of this notification is Congratulations, you have received a Gift Certificate.

 

To learn more about configuring Staff-issued gift certificate notifications, check out the following article: Issuing gift certificates Staff-side by email

 

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To edit the default notification, navigate to Notifications (Manage > Notifications) in your Checkfront dashboard. The gift certificate notification is displayed within the list. Simply click on the subject of the notification to enter edit mode.

Once in edit mode, make changes to the default template. You can change the email Subject line, specify the Reply To address, add or remove Recipients, select which items or products trigger the notification, and modify the body of the email. 

 

Adding email variables to your messages

Like all Notifications in Checkfront, you can add or remove email variables to customize the message according to your needs.

When the email is delivered to the recipient, the variable you embed in the body of the email is replaced by the relevant data from Checkfront.

For example, if you include the email variable, {$COMPANY_NAME}, this is replaced with your company's name in the email. 

There is a Live Preview option in the right-hand menu from which you can see an example of the email variables in action. Try these out! 

Variable	Description
{$COMPANY_NAME}	Name of your company.
{$CHECKFRONT_URL}	Company's Checkfront URL
{$ACCOUNT_ID}	Name of the Staff member or Partner who is responsible for starting the purchase.
{$CREATED_BY}	Who made the purchase - Customer, Staff, or Partner.
{$GIFTCERT_CODE}	Gift certificate code used to make purchases by the recipient.
{$GIFTCERT_TOTAL}	The original value of the gift certificate. Remove this option (and other amount variables) if you want amounts to be hidden from recipients. This can be done in tandem with enabling the Hide amount on PDF setting within the Gift Certificate Template Builder or the Staff-side Issue Gift Certificate option.
{$GIFTCERT_BALANCE}	Remaining balance on the gift certificate. Remove this option (and other amount variables) if you want amounts to be hidden from recipients. This can be done in tandem with enabling the Hide amount on PDF setting within the Gift Certificate Template Builder or the Staff-side Issue Gift Certificate option.
{$GIFTCERT_TO_NAME}	Recipient's name
{$GIFTCERT_FROM_NAME}	Sender's name
{$GIFTCERT_MESSAGE}	Message entered at the time of purchase.
{$GIFTCERT_EXPIRY}	Gift certificate expiry date.

Also, check out our list of general Email Variables here.

You can include as many or as few of these variables as you need.

 

You may decide not to send a recipient email depending on how you wish to use the Gift Certificate feature. If this is the case, uncheck the This notification is enabled box and click Save.

 

You may also decide that some of these variables' data should not be displayed to the recipient. In this case, you can create a second gift certificate notification that does not get sent to the recipient but to any of your chosen Staff members instead.

Create a new notification via the Notifications page (Manage > Notifications). Select Gift Certificates as the Notification Type and customize the recipient list per your needs. This "Staff only" notification can be sent out in addition to the gift certificate recipient email.

 

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• If a Gift Certificate is purchased for a future date, when does the notification get sent to the recipient?

  A Gift Certificate purchased for a future date has its notification sent to the recipient between midnight and 1 AM, system time, on the chosen date. System time is based on your account's locale and timezone setting (Manage> Setup > Locale).

 

 

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< Configuring general gift certificate settings     |     Purchasing gift certificates >

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