When an order is placed through Zest Concierge, Zest automatically captures the gift message and sends it to the corresponding Shopify order as structured data. From there, your fulfillment system picks it up and prints it — on a packing slip, a branded card, or however you've set things up. You own the process; Zest just makes sure the right data is in the right place.
The key principle to keep in mind: Zest controls what goes into Shopify. Your fulfillment team controls what happens between Shopify and your printer or shipping software.
During onboarding, Zest bridges those two worlds — configuring your gift message output to match exactly what your downstream system expects.
Where Gift Note Data Appears in Shopify Orders
Zest can populate gift note data in up to four locations within a Shopify order. The right location depends entirely on what your fulfillment system can read.
Order Notes: The top-level notes field on a Shopify order. This is the most commonly used location and maps directly to the "Note From Buyer" field in ShipStation.
Additional Details (Order Attributes): Key-value pairs listed under "Additional Details" on the order. By default, Zest populates fields like "Gift From" and "Scheduled Date" here.
Order Metafields: Structured data fields that can be read by fulfillment systems with Shopify metafield support.
Order Tags: Short labels attached to the order. In Concierge, you can also set project-level tags that automatically apply to all orders within that project.
By default, Zest populates both Order Notes and Additional Details. This is intentional — it helps you and your fulfillment team identify which field your system reads. Once you've confirmed the right location, contact Zest to remove the duplicate so only one field is populated going forward.
Gift message formatting for Concierge orders must be configured with Zest support — this is not yet available as a self-service setting in the app.
Note: There is a distinction between gift notes (customer-facing, printed on fulfillment materials) and project notes (internal-only, not visible to customers and not sent to Shopify).
Configuring Gift Note Formatting for Your Fulfillment System
Zest uses a flexible formatting system on the backend so your gift message data arrives in Shopify exactly as your fulfillment system expects. During onboarding, Zest performs a mapping exercise to understand your current data flow and configures its output to match your exact specifications — field names, formatting, character limits.
To set this up, Zest needs the following from you:
Which Shopify field your system reads — Order Notes, Additional Details (order attributes), metafields, or line item properties.
The exact field labels or keys your system expects — For example:
Gift Note:, gift_message, orGn=.Character limits — Per-field limits (for the To, From, and Message fields individually) and any per-line limits.
Date format — For scheduled ship or delivery dates:
MM/DD/YYYY,YYYY-MM-DD, etc.Whether fields should be separate or combined — Does your system support separate To, From, and Message fields — or does it require a single combined field?
It’s also helpful if you can share a screenshot of a working order that already prints gift messages successfully. (Comparing a working non-Zest order with a Zest order is the fastest way to identify the correct field mapping.) Once configured, your fulfillment process should require no changes — Zest plugs into your existing workflow.
Note: Configuration changes apply to orders placed after the change takes effect. If formatting is updated during active business hours, orders placed before and after the change may have slightly different formats. We recommend scheduling configuration updates during low-traffic periods.
Integrating with Specific Fulfillment Platforms
ShipStation
ShipStation maps Shopify Order Notes to its "Note From Buyer" field by default. It does not natively support mapping individual Shopify order attributes (like Gift From or Scheduled Date) to separate ShipStation fields.
A few options to improve the experience:
Ask ShipStation support to enable the ignoreNoteAttributes backend setting. This strips HTML formatting tags from the Note From Buyer field, resulting in cleaner plain-text output. Note: this only removes formatting — all fields still appear together in a single Note From Buyer value, not as separate fields.
Simplify your Zest configuration. If you only need the gift message (and not the ship date or From field), Zest can be configured to push just the message to Order Notes, reducing clutter.
Use the ShipStation API (requires a developer). A developer can use the ShipStation API to read Shopify order metadata and map individual fields into separate ShipStation custom fields. This provides the cleanest separation but requires development work.
Important: Gift messages may appear twice in ShipStation's Note From Buyer field if Zest is pushing to both Order Notes and Order Attributes. Once you've confirmed which field ShipStation reads, contact Zest to remove the duplicate.
ShipWorks
ShipWorks can be configured to read from specific Shopify order fields, including attributes and metafields. Work with your ShipWorks administrator during onboarding to map Zest's output fields to the corresponding ShipWorks fields.
Important for brands using both Concierge and Storefronts: If your brand uses both surfaces, your fulfillment system may receive gift note data in different locations within the Shopify order depending on the order source. Make sure your fulfillment team is aware of this and has mapped both scenarios.
ERP Systems
Zest can format gift messages to match your ERP's exact requirements. Provide Zest with the Shopify field your ERP reads, the expected label format, and any character limits.
A few ERP-specific notes:
Some ERPs (like Fulfil) require gift messages as line item properties rather than order-level fields. Zest can accommodate this, but it requires specific setup during onboarding.
For ERPs with a single message field (like NetSuite), Zest can concatenate the To, From, and Message into one combined value.
A 30-minute technical call with your ERP team is recommended during setup.
Combining or Separating To, From, and Message Fields
Zest gives you full flexibility over how gift message fields are structured in Shopify.
If your fulfillment system supports separate fields, Zest can push:
Gift To → recipient name
Gift From → sender name
Gift Message → the message body
If your system requires a single combined field, Zest can concatenate everything into one value. Common formats include:
To: [recipient name], [message], From: [sender name][message] — [sender name]Happy Holidays! - John Smith
You can customize:
The separator between fields (dashes, colons, line breaks, or any character)
The field order (message first, then From — or any other sequence)
Whether labels like "To:" and "From:" are included
Tip: Most customers naturally sign their messages, so a separate "From" field may not always be necessary. A signature-style format like [message] - [sender name] is often the simplest and cleanest option.
Line break caveat: Some fulfillment systems strip line breaks from text fields. If your system does this, the To and From fields may merge with the message body, making it hard to read. In that case, Zest recommends using character separators (dashes, colons) instead of line breaks as the delimiter between fields.
Printing Physical Gift Notes
Zest captures gift note data and passes it to Shopify — the printing itself is handled by your fulfillment setup. Here are the three most common approaches:
Print on your existing packing slip. Configure your packing slip template to pull from the gift note field in your fulfillment system. This is the simplest approach if your system already supports gift note printing.
Print on separate branded cardstock. Set up a dedicated printer in your fulfillment line that triggers when it detects a gift note on an order. Your fulfillment team configures the trigger logic based on the presence of gift note metadata on the Shopify order.
Partner with Yuzu. Yuzu is a Zest partner that provides printers, paper stock, and full setup assistance for gift note printing. If you're starting from scratch or want a turnkey solution, ask your Zest contact about the Yuzu partnership.
Going digital? Some brands opt for digital-only gift notes and skip physical printing entirely — often for eco-friendly reasons. Zest supports both approaches.
Getting the sender name right on printed notes: Use the "Gift From" field from your Zest order data (not Shopify's default customer name field). Shopify's customer name field is not reliably populated for gift orders and may not reflect the actual sender.
Corporate gifting through Concierge often involves premium printed card inserts rather than standard packing slip messages. Gift message formatting and print configuration for Concierge must be set up with Zest support.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Gift message appears twice in my orders or on packing slips
By default, Zest populates gift note data in both Order Notes and Additional Details to help identify which field your fulfillment system reads. Once you've confirmed the correct location, contact Zest to remove the duplicate. Specify which field to keep and which to remove.
In ShipStation specifically, this duplication occurs because all Shopify order attributes are combined into a single "Note From Buyer" field.
Gift message is being truncated or cut off
Truncation usually happens when your fulfillment system has character or line limits that are shorter than what customers are entering. Solutions:
Ask Zest to enable character limits in your checkout settings so customers are warned before they exceed the limit.
Set per-field character limits that match your fulfillment system's constraints (common limits: 4 lines at 80 characters each, or 320 total characters).
Test with maximum-length messages during setup — don't wait until a real order gets truncated.
"Gift From" or sender name isn't appearing correctly
Verify that the Gift From field is enabled for all order types in your Zest settings — it may be turned on only for eGift orders by default.
If your fulfillment system can't map the sender name as a separate field, ask Zest to concatenate it into the gift message (e.g., Happy Holidays! - John Smith).
Some fulfillment platforms auto-fill the "From" field with the recipient's name when no sender name is provided. Ensure your system is configured to only print a "From" value when Zest has explicitly provided one, and test with blank-sender scenarios.
File uploads or logos aren't showing up in my fulfillment system
When a customer uploads a file (such as a logo for a branded note), Zest passes it as a URL in the order data. Your fulfillment team needs to check for this field on orders and open the link to access the file — the file is not embedded directly in the order. Make sure your fulfillment process includes a step to handle uploaded file URLs.
Concierge project notes aren't showing up on Shopify orders
The Notes field on a Concierge project is internal only — it is not sent to Shopify and is not visible to recipients or fulfillment systems. This is by design.
If you need a message or instruction to appear on Shopify orders from a specific project, use project-level Shopify tags with a specific syntax (for example: pack-note: Include ribbon). Alternatively, create separate Concierge projects when different fulfillment instructions are needed for different groups of orders.
Orders placed before and after a configuration change have different formats
If gift message formatting is updated while orders are actively being placed, orders submitted before the change will use the old format and orders after will use the new format. To minimize disruption, schedule configuration changes during low-traffic hours and give your fulfillment team a heads up that a brief inconsistency period may occur.
Customers enter minimal or sparse gift messages
Gift messages are required fields, so customers must enter something before completing their order. However, a customer could technically enter minimal text (like a few spaces). If your fulfillment workflow uses the presence of any gift message text to trigger card printing, be aware that technically sparse entries are possible — your fulfillment logic should account for this edge case.
Custom printed card product causes duplicate gift messages
If your brand offers a custom printed card as an add-on product and also prints gift messages on packing slips, duplicates may occur. Ask your 3PL or fulfillment team to set up conditional logic that suppresses the packing slip gift message when the custom card product is present in the order.