A gift card is a pre-paid form of payment that a shopper can use to make a purchase at a specific retailer. Gift cards are an excellent way for retailers to encourage their loyal customers to treat friends and family to products the retailer offers.
With CommentSold, retailers can create a gift card product on their Products page. Gift card recipients can apply their gift card toward a purchase they make with your business. Learn more about how shoppers can redeem gift cards here.
How Gift Cards Benefit Your Business
- Makes it easy for loyal customers to incentivize friends and family to make a purchase with your business.
- Converts new-to-you shoppers into loyal customers.
- Encourages shoppers to make larger purchases since a portion of the purchase is pre-paid.
Enable Gift Cards
Before your business can sell gift cards, you must enable the Gift Card feature in your CommentSold account.
- Select Setup in the side menu of your CommentSold dashboard.
- Select Shop from the menu at the top of the page.
- In the Selling Preferences section on the right side of the page, locate Gift Cards.
- Select the toggle so it appears as Enabled.
Create a Gift Card
When you create a gift card, you'll add a new product just as you would a standard inventory product. This includes product details, images, and variants.
- Select Products in the side menu of your CommentSold dashboard.
- Select Add New Gift Card Product from Add Products drop-down at the top of the page.
- Complete the following fields:
- Name. Name the product Gift Card or something similar.
- Cost. For e-gift cards, the cost is $0.
- Retail Price. Enter a denomination you wish to sell (e.g., $10, $15, $25), etc.
- SKU. Enter a SKU for the product.
- Select Add Product.
On the Edit Media page, you can add an image for your gift card product. This will appear as the product image on your webstore and/or mobile app.
- Select + Upload Images in the top-right corner of the page.
- Select and upload an image you wish to use for the product.
- Once you successfully upload an image, it will appear in the Manage Images section.
- Once done, select Edit Inventory from the menu at the top of the page.
- Select + Add Variant in the top-right corner of the page.
- In the pop-up, complete the following fields:
- Denomination. Enter an additional denomination value (e.g., $10, $15, $20).
- Cost. For e-gift cards, enter $0.
- Retail Price. Enter the cost to the gift card purchaser (usually the same as the denomination value).
- Select Add Variant.
Repeat these steps for each denomination value (e.g., $10, $15, $20) you wish to offer.
Sell Gift Cards
Retailers can sell gift cards on their webstore and mobile app just like any other product. Retailers also have the option to sell gift cards on social platforms like Facebook.
To sell gift cards in your webstore, you'll need to publish the gift card product to your online store.
- Select Products in the side menu of your CommentSold dashboard.
- Locate your gift card product and select the three-dot icon on the far right of the row.
- Select Edit from the drop-down.
- In the Online Store section on the right side of the page, select the Publish this product checkbox.
- Select Update Product in the top-right corner of the page.
Once you publish, shoppers can see the gift card product, choose their desired denomination, and add it to their cart.
- Select Products in the side menu of your CommentSold dashboard.
- Locate your gift card product and select the three-dot icon on the far right of the row.
- Select Post to App.
- Enter a Post Message, if desired.
- Enter an App Notification Title and App Notification Body if you wish to send a push notification about the new product to those shoppers with notifications enabled.
- Select Save Post at the bottom of the page.
When advertising gift cards on your Facebook business page or group, you can automatically make the post shoppable. Simply ensure you've enabled the Autolink to post toggle on your Social Setup page. Once enabled, you can include # and the gift card SKU (seen in the picture to the left as #GF100) in the post description. Including the SKU allows shoppers to comment "SOLD" followed by the denomination (e.g., 10, 15, 20, 25, etc.) to cart the product. You also have the option to manually link a Facebook post to the gift card product. Learn more about manual linking here. |
Step 1: Create a New CommentChat Flow
- Hover over the side menu in your CommentSold dashboard.
- Locate and select CommentChat.
- Select Create Chat Flow in the top-right corner of the page.
Step 2: Select Social Account and Post Type
- Enter a name for your CommentChat flow in the Flow Name field. This name helps you differentiate this flow from others in your list of flows.
- In the Connect Your Account section, use the drop-down to select which Instagram/Facebook account this CommentChat is for.
- Next, choose the type of post to link the CommentChat to:
- The next post created on this account. This option will link the CommentChat flow to the next post or Reel posted to the selected account. It will not link to the next post if the post is a live sale. You must create the next post within 48 hours or the CommentChat flow will be deactivated.
- An existing post. This option will launch a selection panel that will allow you to choose which existing post or Reel to link to CommentChat flow to.
Step 3: Create Public Reply Responses
- Enter your Comment Trigger Words in the field provided.
- You can pick up to three trigger keywords. Separate keywords with a comma.
- We encourage you to use different words with each post to create a new and exciting commenting and shopping experience.
- Trigger words are not case-sensitive, so variations like "sold," "Sold," and "SOLD" are treated the same.
- Avoid using trigger words that are similar to your shop’s handle name, as this could result in sending unintended DMs to your customers.
- Enter at least three Public Comment Responses in the fields provided.
- Create responses that read conversational and have a personal feel to it
- CommentChat will choose from these options at random when replying to a comment containing a keyword.
- To add an additional response, select Add Response. You can customize up to 5 responses.
Step 4: Set Message Destination
- In the Select a Product field, search for the product you wish to link to in your DM. You can search by brand name, product name, or SKU.
- Once you locate the product, select the product tile. You’ll see a Selected frame around the tile.
Step 5: Customize DM Response
Your DM Response is the message a follower will receive via their DMs when they comment the keyword on your post or Reel.
As you customize your response, your changes will update the preview to the right of the fields.
- Enter the text for your DM message in the Message Text field.
- Enter what you’d like to appear as your button text. This is your “call to action” and the link button a follower will tap to be redirected to the product page
- Select Save Chat Flow to save your chat flow.
Your Messenger Response is the message the commenter will receive via their Messenger when they comment the keyword on your post.
As you customize your response, your changes will update the preview to the right of the fields.
Once you have set up the CommentChat flow, go to your Instagram/Facebook account and create a post.Re-Send Gift Card Emails
When a shopper purchases a gift card, they will receive an email with the digital code to use in the Coupon field during checkout.
If a shopper needs their code provided again, you can re-send the gift card email.
- Select Products in the side menu of your CommentSold dashboard.
- Select Gift Cards from the options listed at the top of the page.
- Locate the shopper's gift card product and select the three-dot icon on the far right of the row.
- Select Resend Email.
- Confirm this action by selecting Confirm in the pop-up.
Learn More
- How Shoppers Can Apply a Gift Card to a Purchase. Learn how shoppers can redeem a gift card or convert the gift card amount to account credit.
- Post Products to Facebook. Learn the different options for posting and linking products on Facebook.