When a customer sends a gift through your storefront, they can include a personal gift message, a "From" name, and a "To" name. Zest captures this information during checkout and passes it as structured data to your ecommerce platform (Shopify, Magento, Salesforce, BigCommerce, or Commerce7) when the order is created.
Zest uses a flexible templating system to control exactly how and where this data appears in your orders. This means your fulfillment team sees gift note data in the format they already expect — no changes to your downstream workflow required.
Zest adapts to your existing fulfillment process. During onboarding, Zest maps its output to match the exact fields, labels, and formats your system reads.
Where Gift Note Data Appears in Orders
Gift note data can appear in multiple locations within an order. By default, Zest populates more than one location to help you determine which one your fulfillment system reads.
Location | What It Contains (Default) | Shopify Admin Label |
Order Note | The gift message text | "Notes" section |
Order Attributes | "Gift From" (sender name), "Scheduled Date" | "Additional Details" section |
Order Metafields | Configurable — empty by default | Custom metafields |
Order Tags |
| Order tags |
Default Setup (Shopify)
Out of the box, Zest places:
The gift message in the Order Note field.
The sender name as an order attribute labeled "Gift From."
The scheduled delivery date as an order attribute labeled "Scheduled Date."
Identifying tags like
zest-giftandzest-order-[number]on the order.
During onboarding, you'll work with Zest to confirm which location(s) your fulfillment system reads, and remove any duplicates.
Configuring Gift Note Formatting for Your Fulfillment System
Zest uses a Liquid templating system on the backend to customize exactly how gift note data is formatted. This allows your Zest team to configure:
Field labels — The key/name for each field (e.g., "Gift From", "gift_message", "Gn=")
Field placement — Whether data goes in order notes, attributes, metafields, or tags
Date formatting — How delivery/ship dates appear (e.g., MM-DD-YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD)
Separators and concatenation — Whether To/From/Message are separate fields or combined into one
Special character handling — Filters to strip emojis or non-ASCII characters when needed
All of these changes are configuration-level — no engineering or code changes on your end.
Available Data Fields
The following data is available for placement anywhere in your order:
Field | Description |
| The gift message written by the sender |
| Recipient's name (e-gift) |
| Sender's name |
| Recipient's full name (shipping) |
| Recipient's email |
| Customer/buyer name |
| Customer/buyer email |
| Buyer's company name |
| Scheduled delivery date |
| Zest order number |
| Identifier for the storefront |
| Whether this is a digital gift |
| Whether shipping to a business address |
Information to Gather from Your Fulfillment Team Before Setup
Before your onboarding call, gather the following from your fulfillment or operations team. This checklist ensures Zest can configure your gift note formatting in a single session.
Pre-configuration checklist
Which order field does your fulfillment system read? (order notes, order attributes/additional details, metafields, line item properties)
What are the exact field labels or keys your system expects? (e.g., "Gift Message:", "gift_note", "Gn=", "Gift From")
What are the character limits for each field? (total characters, per-line limits, number of lines)
What date format does your system expect? (MM/DD/YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD, MM-DD-YYYY, etc.)
Should To/From/Message be separate fields or combined into one?
Does your system support special characters and emojis?
A screenshot of a working order that successfully prints gift messages in your system (comparing a working non-Zest order to a Zest order helps identify correct field mapping)
Contact information for your fulfillment team (having them available for a brief technical call accelerates configuration)
Tip: If you're currently printing gift notes from another source, Zest can match that exact format. Send Zest an example of what a working order looks like in your fulfillment system.
Integrating with Specific Fulfillment Platforms
ShipStation
ShipStation maps order notes to its "Note From Buyer" field by default. However, it does not natively support mapping individual order attributes to separate ShipStation fields (like the Gift Note field).
To improve formatting in ShipStation:
Ask ShipStation support to enable the
ignoreNoteAttributesbackend setting. This strips HTML tags from the Note From Buyer field for cleaner display.Simplify Zest settings. If the "Note From Buyer" field is cluttered, consider configuring Zest to only push the gift message to the order note (removing ship date and from field from the note).
Use the ShipStation API (requires development). For the cleanest result, a developer can use the ShipStation API to parse order metadata into separate ShipStation custom fields.
ShipStation's duplicate note issue (described in the Troubleshooting section) is a known behavior where all note attributes are imported into a single "Note From Buyer" field.
ShipWorks
ShipWorks can typically read order notes and order attributes. Work with Zest during onboarding to map fields to the locations ShipWorks expects.
ERP Systems (NetSuite, Fulfil, and Others)
Fulfil and similar ERPs may require gift messages as line item properties rather than order-level fields — Zest can accommodate this.
NetSuite and ERPs with a single message field can receive a concatenated To/From/Message in one field.
A 30-minute technical call with your ERP team is recommended during setup to ensure correct field mapping.
Provide Zest with: the exact field your ERP reads (order notes, metafields, line item properties), the field label format, and any character limits.
Combining or Separating To/From/Message Fields
By default, Zest keeps gift note data in separate fields:
Message → Order Note
From (sender name) → Order Attribute ("Gift From")
To (recipient name) → Available via recipient name on the order
Combining Into a Single Field
If your fulfillment system can only read a single gift message field, Zest can concatenate all fields into one. Common combined formats include:
To: [name], [message], From: [name][message] - [sender name]From: [sender], To: [recipient] — [message]
You can customize:
Separators — dashes, colons, line breaks, commas
Field order — message first, sender first, etc.
Label inclusion — whether "To:" and "From:" labels appear
Note: Many customers naturally sign their messages (e.g., "Happy Birthday! Love, Sarah"), so a separate "From" field may not always be necessary. Discuss with your Zest team whether collecting the From field adds value for your use case.
"From" Field Settings
The "From" (sender name) field has its own settings:
By default, the From field is collected for e-gift orders only
You can enable it for all order types (including physical/shipped gifts) in your Checkout Settings
The field label shown to customers is customizable
Printing Physical Gift Notes
Zest captures gift note data and passes it as metadata on orders — Zest does not handle printing directly. Your fulfillment team controls the printing process. Here are three common approaches:
Option 1: Print on Your Existing Packing Slip
Configure your packing slip template to pull from the gift note field (typically order notes or a specific attribute). Most fulfillment platforms and WMS systems support custom packing slip templates.
Option 2: Print on Separate Branded Cardstock
Set up a dedicated printer in your fulfillment line triggered by order metadata. When a gift note is present, the system prints the message on branded card stock.
Option 3: Partner with Yuzu
Yuzu is a Zest partner that provides printers, specialty paper, and full setup assistance for gift note printing. They handle the hardware and configuration so your team can focus on fulfillment.
Good to know: About 85% of brands offer physical printed gift notes. Others use digital-only delivery for eco-friendly reasons. Both are fully supported.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Gift note appearing twice in orders or on packing slips
Why it happens: By default, Zest populates gift note data in both the Order Note and Order Attributes sections. This dual placement helps you identify which field your fulfillment system uses.
How to fix:
Confirm which field your fulfillment system reads
Contact Zest to remove the duplicate field — specify which location to keep and which to remove
Changes are typically implemented within 24 hours
In ShipStation specifically, this duplication occurs because ShipStation imports all note attributes into a single "Note From Buyer" field alongside the order note.
Gift messages being truncated or losing content
Why it happens: Your fulfillment system has line or character limits that don't match what customers enter.
How to fix:
Set character limits in Zest. Configure the maximum character count in your Checkout Settings (default is 2,000 characters — your fulfillment system may need a lower limit like 320 characters or 4 lines at 80 characters each).
Set line limits in Zest. Enable maximum line validation to prevent customers from entering too many lines.
Watch for line break stripping. Some downstream systems (e.g., ShipCompliant) strip line breaks, causing fields to merge unexpectedly.
Test with maximum-length messages during setup to catch truncation issues early.
"Gift From" / sender name not appearing on packing slips
Why it happens: The "Gift From" field is collected by Zest and pushed to order data, but your fulfillment system must be separately configured to map and print this field.
How to fix:
Verify the "From" field is enabled for all order types in your Zest Checkout Settings (by default, it's enabled only for e-gift orders)
If your fulfillment system can't map it as a separate field, Zest can concatenate it with the gift message (e.g., "Happy Holidays! - John Smith")
Use the "Gift From" order attribute rather than the default customer name field, which may not contain the gift sender's name
File uploads (logos) not appearing
When a customer uploads a file (like a logo), Zest passes it as an order attribute containing a URL to the uploaded file. Your fulfillment team can click the link to view or download the file. Make sure your team knows to look for the "Logo URL" attribute on applicable orders.