Guide: How to sell subscription gift codes in Limio Commerce

What are subscription gift codes?

Subscription Gift Codes example 

With a subscription gift code, the purchaser receives a gift code, which they can then provide to the recipient. The recipient then needs to redeem their gift code to activate their subscription. A good example of this is Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/redeem or the Economist: https://subscribenow.economist.com/gift . 

Subscription gift code works well for subscription services. It allows for the gift recipient to create an account as part of redeeming their gift code. It also minimises the purchasing friction, as the purchaser does not need to provide any details about the recipient. Finally, it can also work well with physical deliveries which allow for personalisation, as the gift recipient can login post-redemption and customise their subscriptions.

In this guide, we will explain:

How to configure your subscription gift code experience in Limio

• Step 1. Configure your gift code offer
• Step 2. Create your gifting Page
• Step 3. Create your gift checkout
• Step 4. Create a redemption complete page
• Step 5. Create your redeem page
• Step 6. Create your redemption checkout 

The document also covers Frequently Asked Questions such as:

• What objects will Limio create via its integrations?
• What else do I need to configure for an end-to-end gifting experience?
• How can my agents see the gift code in Salesforce and/or link the gift purchaser and recipient?
• How to test your subscription gift code experience in Limio
• Where can I see gift codes in Limio?
• Can I expire gift code automatically?
• What can the gift purchaser do in Limio Self-Service?
• What can the gift recipient do in Limio Self-Service?
• Can the gift purchaser or recipient renew the subscription?

How to configure your subscription gift code experience in Limio

⚠️ If you are using Zuora, first read How to sell gift products with Limio and Zuora. The article below assumes the required setup in Zuora has been done.

If you are using Limio for Salesforce, also read How to sell subscription gift codes in Limio for Salesforce

Step 1. Configure your gift code offer

To sell subscription codes, create a new Offer. Activate 'This is a Gift' and 'This Is A Redeemable Gift'. Full details on these attributes is visible here.

A subscription gift code do not recur, so you should also set 'Auto-Renew' to False.

You should also point the checkout link to the checkout purchase checkout, for example set it to External → /gift-purchase-checkout. This will be used in step 3.

Finally. you should also define an Initial Price, for example $619 every 1 year for 1 charge.

You will also need to add a Product and Rate Plan on the Limio Offer to reference. For more details on Initial Price and the relation to the Zuora Product and Rate Plan, go to How to sell gift products with Limio and Zuora.

Note: 'Choose Gift Date' is now a legacy attribute. You can now configure this directly within Modular Checkout.

Step 2. Create your gifting Page

On the Page, add any Offer component to your page, then Save.

Step 3. Create your gift checkout

Gift offers should go into a dedicated checkout (e.g. /gift-purchase-checkout). We recommend you use the Modular Checkout for newer releases.

For gift checkout, you can use an unauthenticated checkout to reduce friction. If you are on release 104 or above, you can also use the anonymous authentication for this page.

To learn how to create your gift checkout, go to Modular Checkout: How to configure a gift checkout?

Step 4. Create a gift purchase complete page

Create a gift purchase complete page with the Order Confirmation component. This page will automatically show the gift code to the customer. You can also decide to hide it.

Step 5. Create your redeem page

Create a new unauthenticated Page to allow customers to redeem a gift code. Drag & drop the Redeem component and customise it. 

Once the customer provides the code, they will typically go into an authenticated checkout. On the 'Redeem' component, set the URL of your login solution in the Redeem component prop Button Url. Usually, you will need to embed the redirect to the redemption checkout page (e.g. /redeem-checkout) in your URL. This will vary per identity solution.

Gift direct purchase link

Customers can skip the step above by embedding the gift code in the URL, which will automatically take them to the next stage of their journey. To do this, simply append ?giftCode=CODE to the end of your checkout URL (e.g. /redeem-checkout?giftCode=yFe0AIFVBkK).

This is especially useful when sending gift recipients an email with a call-to-action (CTA) to claim their gift, as it directs them straight to a checkout with a pre-populated basket.

Step 6. Create your redemption checkout 

The Modular Checkout can be used to create your redemption checkout. The redemption checkout should be authenticated. It should go into the redemption complete page (e.g. /redeem-complete).

To learn how to create the redemption checkout, go to Modular Checkout: How to configure a gift checkout? .

Legacy: The Redeem Checkout is now a legacy component and has been replaced by the Modular Checkout.

Step 7. Create a redemption complete page

Create a redeem complete page with the Order Confirmation component to confirm the successful redemption of the gift code.

Frequently asked questions around Gifts

What objects will Limio create via its integrations?

Assuming Zuora has been configured correctly (How to sell gift products with Limio and Zuora), Limio will create the following data:

Journey	Limio Event	Limio Objects	Zuora Object	Salesforce object
New Order (Gift Purchase)	Order Submitted	Create Limio Customer A + Create Limio Subscription A with status = Initial + Create Gift Code and link to Subscription A	Create Customer Account A + Create Payment Method + Create Debit Memo with a Charge related to a Product and Rate Plan	Re-use or create Salesforce Account/Contact A (depending on architecture)
New Order (Gift Redemption)	Order Submitted	Create Limio Customer B + Create Limio Subscription B with status = Active and payment method = gift code + Link to Subscription B and Mark Gift Code as redeemed	Create Customer Account  + Order > Create Subscription B with no payment method (gift code can be provided to a custom field)	Re-use or create Salesforce Account/Contact B (depending on architecture)

 

What else do I need to configure for an end-to-end gifting experience?

To provide a full gifting experience, the following needs to be considered:

• Emails: Limio does not send emails, however Limio will pass on the gift code to Zuora on the Debit Memo. A Zuora callout can then be generated on Debit Memo creation to send it to third-party services.
  
  • You will need to pass the information to your email service for:
    • On gift purchase, provide the gift code as part of order confirmation to the gift purchaser.
    • At the time selected by the customer in the checkout, send the gift code by email to the gift recipient.
• Revenue recognition: Gift might have special revenue recognition needs based on your jurisdiction. Contact Zuora for details on how to recognise the revenue. 

How can my agents see the gift code in Salesforce and/or link the gift purchaser and recipient?

Given the diversity in Salesforce object models, Limio won't automatically add the gift code to Salesforce records such as Contacts and will not automatically link Salesforce records for recipient and purchaser. However, there are multiple ways to set up Limio so that an agent could see a gift code in Salesforce:

• Absorb Limio-generated Salesforce Platform Events and pass the giftCode to the relevant Salesforce object (most flexible option). See Using Limio-generated Salesforce Platform Events to populate your Salesforce data
  • This is recommended to fulfil the requirement of putting the gift codes within the Salesforce data model (and allow to link the gift purchaser and recipient).
• Configure Zuora Z360+ to pass the Zuora Debit Memo (generated for the purchaser) and Subscription (generated for the recipient) objects and view the custom field Gift Code.

Note that agents will also be able to view the gift code on the Limio for Salesforce Timeline (out-of-the-box). See Showing the Activity Timeline of events in Limio for Salesforce. However, this is not searchable via the Salesforce Search Bar.

• • 

How to test your subscription gift code experience in Limio

Once you have published your pages in a sandbox environment, purchase a gift code, then go to the redeem page and provide the gift code.

You will need to provide a country, a delivery address for physical subscriptions, and complete the order.

Where can I see gift codes in Limio?

Yes, you can go to Subscription > Gift Code. You will see the code, as well as expiry date, quantity and whether it has already been redeemed. 

By clicking on it, you can see all the related objects, such as subscriptions, order and customer. 

For an unredeemed gift, you will see the Limio Subscription created for the gift purchaser.

For a redeemed gift, you will at least two Limio Subscriptions, one for the gift purchaser and one for the gift recipient. This provides a link between the 2 subscription via the Gift Code (as displayed below).

Can I expire gift code automatically?

Yes, go to Settings > Gift code. There you can define Maximum Gift Code Age, such as 1 year. After that period, a redeemer would see an error message on the Redeem page if they tried to use the gift code.

What can the gift purchaser do in Limio Self-Service?

Gift purchaser do not have access to Limio Self-Service. Limio supports unauthenticated gift purchase, which would not make self-service possible. 

What can the gift recipient do in Limio Self-Service?

Gift recipient will have a limited Manage My Account experience. They can edit their information such as delivery address. However, they won't:

• Have a stored payment method

• See the price

• Manage or edit their subscriptions

Can the gift purchaser or recipient renew the subscription?

For the gift purchaser, no. You will need to ask gift purchaser to buy a new gift.

For the gift recipient, yes. They are able to enter a renewal flow which will automatically change their subscription to a regular subscription that the recipient will pay for. Learn more How to create a personalised renewal experience.