Can I offer gift subscriptions?
Yes, you can offer subscriptions as gifts, where the buyer pays once and the recipient receives a set number of deliveries. Make a subscription option prepaid and one-off, and tick Shoppers can send it as a gift. This guide explains how to set it up, how to ship to the recipient, and how to let the buyer choose when the gift starts.
Table of contents
- How gift subscriptions work
- Set up a gift subscription option
- Recipient details
- Shipping to the recipient
- Letting the buyer choose the start date
- Sending one order as a gift
- Current limitations
- Common questions
- Related guides
How gift subscriptions work
A gift subscription is a prepaid, one-off subscription option that shoppers are allowed to send as a gift. The buyer is charged a single time for a fixed number of deliveries, and the subscription automatically ends after the last one, so nobody is charged again and nothing renews unexpectedly. Gifting is only offered on a one-off prepaid option for that reason.
Shoppers who pick the option on the product page see a Send as a gift toggle. Shoppers buying for themselves leave it off and see nothing more. Switched on, it asks for the recipient's email, which is what makes the order a gift. An option set to Always a gift has no toggle: the recipient's fields always show, and every purchase of it is a gift.
Gifting is a setting rather than a kind of subscription, so it works with any Subscription type: a gift subscription box, or a gift of rotating products, is set up the same way.
Set up a gift subscription option
The quickest way: in Supr Bundles & Subscriptions > Offers, click Create offer, choose Subscription, then the Gift subscription card. The offer opens with one option prepaid for 3 orders, one-off and Always a gift, ready for you to pick the products and save. It is an ordinary Standard option, so every setting below can be changed.
To make an existing option giftable:
- Go to Supr Bundles & Subscriptions > Offers and open (or create) an offer for your gift product.
- Click Add subscription option (or open an existing one) and set how often the gift is delivered with Repeat order every and Order intervals (for example every 1 Month).
- Click Prepaid subscription on the option and turn it on. Set Orders covered with each payment, for example 3 for 3 monthly boxes. The buyer pays for all of them at checkout.
- Tick One-off (single prepaid, no auto-renew), then tick Shoppers can send it as a gift. The gift checkbox can only be ticked while One-off is, and unticking One-off or turning off Prepaid subscription turns gifting off too.
- Optionally tick Always a gift, for an option sold only as a gift: there is no toggle and the recipient's email is always asked. The question mark beside each checkbox explains it.
- Give the option a clear Option name, for example "3 months", and click Save.
The option's summary then reads "3 orders, one-off, can be gifted" (or "always a gift"). See Prepaid Subscriptions for more on prepaid options.
Recipient details
When the shopper switches on Send as a gift, the product page asks for:
- the recipient's email (always asked, and required),
- a gift message (optional, up to 300 characters; you can switch it off),
- the recipient's name (optional; off unless you switch it on).
Until it is switched on nothing is asked and nothing is saved (on an Always a gift option the fields always show). Without the email, both Add to cart and Buy it now stop and ask for it. To choose the extra fields, or change the texts or their look:
- Go to Supr Bundles & Subscriptions > Design and click Gift subscriptions under Add-on settings.
- Under Also ask for, tick the recipient's name or untick the gift message. Change the toggle text, the field names or the messages. Under Style, set the border colour, text colour, corner radius and font size; left empty, the fields follow your widget design.
- Translate the texts under Settings > Translations > Widgets, in the Gift subscriptions group.
The toggle shows only while an option that can be gifted is chosen, and works with bundle options too. The previews on the Design page and in the offer editor show it switched on, with the fields open. The answers are saved on the order and the subscription: the cart shows Gift for and the recipient's name (or their email when no name was given), and on the subscription page in Subscriptions you see who the gift is for, their email and the message. The customer portal shows the buyer Gift for and the name or email.
The recipient's email. The recipient gets the Gift received email once, when the subscription starts. It names the buyer, quotes the gift message and lists the products, with no prices, no addresses and no link to the buyer's account. Edit or switch it off under Settings > Notifications > Customer notifications (Gift received). In its text, {{ recipient_name }} is the recipient's name (empty when you do not ask for it, so the default text leaves it out), {{ customer_name }} the buyer's and {{ shop_link }} a link to your store; the subject can use {{ customer_name }} and {{ shop_name }}.
Shipping to the recipient
A subscription ships to the address it was checked out with, and the buyer pays for it. If the gift should go to someone other than the buyer:
- the buyer enters the recipient's shipping address at checkout, or
- you change the address afterwards on the subscription, from Subscriptions (see Managing a customer's subscription on their behalf).
The subscription stays in the buyer's name and on the buyer's card, so emails about it go to the buyer.
Letting the buyer choose the start date
To let the buyer pick when the gift arrives (a birthday, for example), turn on the Date picker add-on on the Design page (under Add-on settings). The buyer picks a delivery date on the product page, and the date is carried onto the order. See Product Page Add-ons.
The buyer still pays at checkout: the date decides when the gift is delivered, not when it is paid for.
After the purchase, you can move any single prepaid delivery yourself: open the subscription from Subscriptions and click Reschedule on that delivery in the Prepaid schedule card. By default the deliveries after it move too (untick Reschedule the deliveries after this one too to move just the one).
Sending one order as a gift
An existing subscriber can also send just their next order to someone else, without buying a new subscription: turn on Send the next order as a gift under Settings > Customer portal > Next billing date. See Customer portal settings.
Current limitations
- The subscription stays the buyer's: it is on the buyer's card, the buyer manages it in the customer portal, and the usual subscription emails go to the buyer.
- The recipient does not get their own account for the subscription.
- The buyer still enters the recipient's address as the shipping address at checkout.
Common questions
Can a customer buy a subscription for someone else?
Yes. The buyer switches on Send as a gift, pays, and enters the recipient's address as the shipping address at checkout. The option must be prepaid with One-off and Shoppers can send it as a gift ticked.
Will the buyer be charged again after the gift ends?
No. With One-off ticked, the subscription ends after the prepaid deliveries.
Does the recipient get an email?
Yes. The buyer must enter the recipient's email to send a gift, and the Gift received email goes out once, when the subscription starts.
Can a gift renew, or be pay as you go?
No. A gift is always a one-off prepaid, so the buyer pays once and is never charged again for someone else's subscription.
Can the buyer choose when the gift starts?
Yes, with the Date picker add-on on the Design page. Payment is still taken at checkout.
Can I move one of the gift's deliveries?
Yes. Open the subscription and click Reschedule on that delivery in the Prepaid schedule card.
Related guides
- A Beginner's Guide to Subscription Offers
- Prepaid Subscriptions
- When customers are charged vs when orders are fulfilled
- Product Page Add-ons
Updated on: 10/08/2026
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