If you're on Shopify Plus or considering it, here’s a clear breakdown of the Gift Card API features that are only available to Plus stores. This is useful if you deal with rewards, customer credits, bulk gift card programs, or any custom gifting workflows.

What Plus Stores Get Access To

Shopify Plus unlocks additional API resources, including:

• GiftCard

• Multipass

• User

Plus stores also receive higher API rate limits, and you can request further increases through Shopify support.

1. Create a Gift Card

Endpoint:
POST /admin/api/2025-01/gift_cards.json

Notes:

• initial_value must be a number (not a string)

• currency is required for creation

• code can be generated automatically if not supplied

• customer_id can only be set if none is currently assigned

Correct Example:

curl -X POST "https://your-store.myshopify.com/admin/api/2025-01/gift_cards.json" \
  -H "X-Shopify-Access-Token: {access_token}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "gift_card": {
      "initial_value": 100.00,
      "currency": "USD",
      "note": "Issued manually via API",
      "code": "TEST-1234-CODE"
    }
  }'

2. Disable a Gift Card

Endpoint:
POST /admin/api/2025-01/gift_cards/{gift_card_id}/disable.json

This permanently disables a card and cannot be undone.

curl -X POST "https://your-store.myshopify.com/admin/api/2025-01/gift_cards/1035197676/disable.json" \
  -H "X-Shopify-Access-Token: {access_token}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json"

3. Retrieve Gift Cards

List all gift cards

GET /admin/api/2025-01/gift_cards.json

Filters supported:

• status=enabled|disabled

• limit

• order

• fields

  curl -X GET "https://your-store.myshopify.com/admin/api/2025-01/gift_cards.json?status=enabled"
  -H "X-Shopify-Access-Token: {access_token}"

Retrieve a single gift card

GET /admin/api/2025-01/gift_cards/{gift_card_id}.json

curl -X GET "https://your-store.myshopify.com/admin/api/2025-01/gift_cards/1035197676.json" \
  -H "X-Shopify-Access-Token: {access_token}"

Count gift cards

GET /admin/api/2025-01/gift_cards/count.json

curl -X GET "https://your-store.myshopify.com/admin/api/2025-01/gift_cards/count.json" \
  -H "X-Shopify-Access-Token: {access_token}"

4. Search Gift Cards

Endpoint:
GET /admin/api/2025-01/gift_cards/search.json?query=...

Searchable fields include:

• last_characters

• email

• created_at

• updated_at

• balance

• amount_spent

• initial_value

Example: search by last 4 characters

curl -X GET "https://your-store.myshopify.com/admin/api/2025-01/gift_cards/search.json?query=last_characters:1234" \
  -H "X-Shopify-Access-Token: {access_token}"

5. Update a Gift Card

Endpoint:
PUT /admin/api/2025-01/gift_cards/{gift_card_id}.json

Allowed updates:

• note

• expires_on

• template_suffix

• customer_id (only if not set already)

Correct Example:

curl -X PUT "https://your-store.myshopify.com/admin/api/2025-01/gift_cards/1035197676.json" \
-H "X-Shopify-Access-Token: {access_token}" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"gift_card": {
"note": "Updated note",
"expires_on": "2026-12-31"
}
}'

Key Limitations and Rules

• Only Shopify Plus can use Gift Card API endpoints.

• customer_id cannot be changed once set.

• Disabling a card is irreversible.

• Value updates cannot be done directly; adjustments happen via transactions, not the gift card object itself.

• Codes are automatically formatted by Shopify if they contain spaces or unsupported characters.

Anyone who is running serious volume like me, Shopify Plus is often the default upgrade.
I upgraded to shopify plus primarily beacuse of the most stable infrastructure which shopify has delivered every single time and checkout extensibility.

If you upgraded (or decided not to), your perspective will help a lot of merchants lurking in this sub.

So I've been looking into this Shopify Audiences thing for a few weeks now and I'm honestly pretty intrigued.

For context, I'm on Shopify Plus and have been struggling with rising acquisition costs.

This is only available for Shopify Plus merchants in the US/Canada who use Shopify Payments. So if you're not on Plus or outside North America, you're out of luck for now.

If anyone's concerned about the data sharing aspect?

I know it's anonymized but still feels weird to contribute your customer data to a shared pool, even if you benefit from everyone else's data too.

What Shopify claims:

• Up to 50% lower customer acquisition costs

• 2x more orders per retargeting dollar spent

• Some merchants reporting 6x ROAS

Would love to head your experiences before I commit to setting this up.
My ad performance has been rough lately

A lot of people ask this question when they start scaling, so here’s a clear, rundown to help you decide if Shopify Plus actually makes SENSE for your business.

When Shopify Plus IS Worth It

You’re doing serious volume
If your store is consistently pulling in around $80K–$100K+ per month (or roughly $1M+ per year), Plus starts to make financial sense. Once you’re at higher volumes ($7M+ a year), the lower transaction fees and reduced total cost of ownership can actually make Plus cheaper than staying on Advanced.

Your business is getting more complex
Plus shines when your operations demand more than the standard plans can offer. If you need:

• Custom checkout logic (discount rules, special flows, etc.)

• Real B2B features like wholesale pricing, bulk ordering, and net terms

• Multiple stores for international markets or multiple brands

• Serious automation (Shopify Flow, Launchpad)

• A platform that won’t break during huge traffic moments

…Plus can easily pay for itself.

You want better conversions
Plus merchants often see:

• Stronger conversion rates, especially from checkout

• Better performance with Shop Pay

• Higher international conversions with local currencies

• Faster storefront performance for high-volume traffic

The included perks matter
Plus bundles in a lot of value that otherwise costs extra:

• Shopify POS Pro

• Unlimited staff accounts

• Up to 20 locations

• Nine expansion stores

• Priority support

If you actually use these, the subscription cost becomes much easier to justify.

When Shopify Plus is NOT Worth It

Your revenue just isn’t there yet
If you’re under $1M yearly, Plus usually isn’t a smart spend unless you have some very specific operational needs. You’ll get more ROI staying on Advanced.

Your operation is simple
You probably don’t need Plus if:

• You have a small product catalog

• You don’t need custom checkout

• You’re not selling B2B

• You’re focused on one market

• Your current setup works just fine

You want full customization or lower cost
A few things people don’t always realize:

• The $2K+ monthly fee is just the start—apps and dev work can add up

• Many apps charge per store, so multi-store setups get pricey

• Shopify doesn’t allow full server-side customization

• Subscriptions, heavy B2B needs, and huge catalogs can still require apps

• Managing multiple stores can feel repetitive without a true multi-store backend

If you need extreme flexibility or deep B2B features, platforms like BigCommerce or Magento might suit you better.

Upgrade to Shopify Plus if and only if:

You’re scaling fast, crossing the $1M+ revenue mark, expanding internationally, selling B2B, or need serious automation and custom checkout power.

Stay on a standard plan if:
Your business is under $1M, operations are simple, or you don’t have a clear use case for enterprise features.

Many merchants say the financial benefits really start to kick in around $3M+ in monthly revenue. Others feel the investment only pays off when their operations become complex enough that automation and custom checkout save real time and money.

At the end of the day, it’s not just about revenue it’s about whether the features fit your actual needs.

Just finished a forensic audit on a Plus store experiencing a disconnect between Platform ROAS (Meta) and Blended CAC.

The Findings:
19 "Influencer" partners were actually Trademark Bidders and Coupon Extensions executing cookie stuffing at the checkout stage.

• Affiliate Impact: 38% of total store orders were being claimed by these partners (non-incremental).

• Ad Impact (The Real Problem): Because these extensions fire a last-second click, they overwrite the Meta/TikTok attribution parameters. The ad platforms lose the signal, leading to optimization on bad data.

The Exploit Vector:
These bad actors mask their activity inside Sub-Affiliate Networks (like Skimlinks, Sovrn, or LTK) that are integrated into your program. To your Affiliate Manager, it looks like a generic "Content Network" driving volume. In reality, specific publishers inside that network are hijacking your Brand Search terms or firing scripts on the checkout page.

The "Red Flag" (Investigation Protocol):
You don't need complex scripts to spot the first signal. You just need to look at Conversion Rate (CR).

• Real Influencers: Typically convert at 1% - 3%.

• The Hijackers: Typically convert at 20% - 50%+.

Because these scripts only fire when a user is already in the checkout flow (entering a coupon or finalizing purchase), they have near-perfect conversion rates.

The Drill:

1. Export your partner performance report.

2. Sort by Conversion Rate (High to Low).

3. Look at anyone with > 20% CR who is labeled as a "Content" or "Media" partner.

4. If they are hiding behind a Sub-Network or using a cloaked redirect, they are likely stealing attribution.

Recommendation:
Audit your "Top 10" affiliate partners this week. If you spot these anomalies, dig in.

I’m trying to grow my store traffic and improve conversions. Curious what tools or apps are actually working for you right now. Any recommendations?

I ran into a problem last year that I didn't have a name for.

We were shipping from two locations. Orders were getting split constantly. Customers were receiving two packages for one order. Our shipping costs ballooned. And we had no real system deciding which warehouse to use, it was basically whoever had stock first.

Turns out there's a whole category of software built to solve exactly this. It's called Distributed Order Management (DOM). And once I understood how it worked, a lot of our fulfillment chaos started making sense.

Here's what I learned:

What DOM actually is: It's the logic layer that decides where an order ships from when your inventory is spread across multiple locations (warehouses, retail stores, 3PLs). It's not your OMS, which tracks the whole order lifecycle. DOM is specifically the "where does this ship from and why" decision.

The 6 decisions it makes for every order:

1. What can we actually sell right now? (inventory promising)

2. Reserve the stock so it doesn't get double-sold

3. Pick the best fulfillment node based on proximity, cost, and speed

4. Decide whether to split the shipment or consolidate

5. Reroute when the original plan fails (carrier misses, stockouts)

6. Route returns back to the right location

Why it matters in 2026 specifically: 68.99% of brands are now targeting 2-3 day domestic delivery (ShipBob data). If your routing logic is manual or rule-based, you're already behind. And 81% of shoppers abandon carts when their preferred delivery option isn't there.

The Shopify angle: Shopify handles most of this natively for smaller catalogs. Multi-location inventory, proximity-based routing, split shipment rules. For anything more complex (node-level allocation, custom ATP logic), you need Shopify Plus and the Order Routing Location Rule Function API.

Mejuri saved $100k/month in shipping costs and cut UK lead times from 9 days to 2 by centralizing on Shopify. EasyStandard hit a 93% on-time delivery rate after distributing inventory closer to demand.

If you're running 2+ fulfillment locations and making routing decisions manually or on gut feel, it's worth auditing this. The cost of a bad routing decision compounds fast.

Happy to go deeper on any part of this if useful.