Building Gift Subscriptions (Purchase & Redemption)

Overview

A gift subscription is two flows wearing one bow: someone buys a subscription for someone else, and the recipient later redeems it and starts using the product. PeakCommerce doesn't have a dedicated "gift" object — and it doesn't need one. You compose gifting from the journey engine: a purchase journey the buyer completes, and a redemption journey the recipient opens from a code or link, funded by what the buyer paid.

This guide builds both halves and explains the one idea that makes gifting work cleanly: the buyer pays, but the recipient is the subscriber.

The example we'll build

Folio, a digital-magazine subscription, lets a customer buy a friend 3 months of Premium. The buyer checks out, names the recipient, and gets a redemption link to share. The friend opens it, creates their account, and starts Premium — with the 3 gifted months already paid for, so they owe nothing until the gift runs out.

The key idea: buyer pays, recipient subscribes

In a normal checkout the payer and the subscriber are the same person. In a gift they're different people, so you split the flow in two:

1. The buyer pays in the purchase journey — but you do not start a subscription on the buyer's account.

2. You create a redeemable entitlement the recipient claims — most cleanly modeled as a credit (a prepaid balance) issued for the gifted value, delivered as a code or link.

3. The recipient redeems it in their own journey, which starts their subscription and draws the gifted credit down to cover the gifted period.

Before you begin

• A giftable plan (for example Premium) and the gift durations you'll sell (3/6/12 months).

• A way to carry the gifted value to redemption — this guide uses credits (prepaid balances applied against payment); you'll also generate a redemption code or link to deliver to the recipient.

1. Build the gift-purchase journey

1. Go to Content → Journeys, click + New Journey, set Type to E-Commerce, and name it (for example Gift — Premium).

2. Build a buyer flow:

   Choose gift (plan + duration) → Buyer pays → Recipient & delivery → Confirmation

   • Choose gift — pick the plan and length; the price is the gifted value.

   • Buyer pays — the Payment step collects from the buyer.

   • Recipient & delivery — capture the recipient's email and (optionally) a message and a send date.

   • On completion, issue a credit for the gifted value and generate a redemption code/link. Crucially, don't start a subscription here — the buyer isn't the subscriber.

2. Deliver the gift

• Email the recipient the redemption link (immediately, or on the buyer's chosen date), with the buyer's message.

• Put the link on a branded host (a subdomain mapping) so the gift arrives on your own domain — it feels more like a real gift and less like a receipt.

3. Build the redemption journey

1. Create a second journey — E-Commerce if the recipient is new, Customer Self-Service if they must sign in — named Redeem a Gift.

2. Build the recipient flow:

   Enter/confirm gift → Create account → Start subscription → Confirmation

   • Enter/confirm gift — the recipient arrives via the link (or types the code); show what they've been given.

   • Create account — the Signup role creates the recipient's organization and contact.

   • Start subscription — a create_order action starts the recipient's subscription on the gifted plan, with the gifted credit applied so the gifted period costs them nothing.

   • Confirmation — "Your gift is active" and what happens when it ends.

4. Plan for what happens when the gift ends

A gift is also an acquisition — decide how it converts:

• Auto-convert to paid — collect a card at redemption and continue paid when the gift runs out (highest conversion).

• Lapse-and-win-back — let it end and trigger a win-back offer (no card needed up front, lower friction).

Make the choice explicit on the redemption flow so the recipient knows what to expect.

5. Measure gifting

• Track gifts sold vs. gifts redeemed — a low redemption rate points at delivery (the email or link), not the purchase.

• Track gift-to-paid conversion when the gifted period ends — that's the real ROI of a gift program.

Get creative

• Gift cards / store credit. The same credit mechanism sells a fixed-value gift card the recipient applies to any plan, rather than a specific subscription.

• Scheduled delivery. Let the buyer pick a send date (a birthday, the holidays) and deliver the redemption link then.

• Self-gifting / promo codes. The redemption journey is also a promo-code landing flow — reuse it for marketing codes, not just gifts.

• Corporate gifting. Let a buyer purchase many redemptions at once and hand out codes to a team.

Tips

• Never subscribe the buyer. The most common gifting mistake is starting the subscription on the payer's account. The buyer pays; the recipient subscribes at redemption.

• Carry the value as a credit. Modeling the gift as a prepaid credit keeps redemption simple — start the subscription and apply the credit.

• Make delivery feel like a gift. A branded link and the buyer's message convert far better than a bare code.

FAQ

Is there a built-in gift feature?

No — gifting is composed from two journeys (purchase and redemption) plus a redeemable value (modeled as a credit with a code/link). That's a feature, not a limitation: you control exactly how gifts are sold, delivered, and converted.

Who ends up with the subscription?

The recipient. The buyer only pays; the subscription is created on the recipient's account when they redeem, funded by the gifted credit.

What happens when the gifted months run out?

Your choice — auto-convert to paid (capture a card at redemption) or let it lapse and trigger a win-back. Decide up front and tell the recipient.