Zest Gift Notes gives you full control over how gift messaging works in your checkout. Whether you want printed notes, digital delivery, or both, you can configure everything directly from your Shopify admin and checkout customizer.
Overview: What Gift Notes Settings Control
Gift Notes settings let you:
Turn printed and digital (email/SMS) gift note delivery on or off.
Customize the text, labels, and help copy your customers see at checkout.
Set character limits and control field visibility for the To, From, and Message fields.
Connect your email service provider (ESP) for digital gifting.
Enable or disable the Multiship Checkout (multi-recipient) feature independently of Gift Notes.
Ensure the Gift Notes block appears in Shop Pay checkout.
Where to Find Settings
Settings are split across two locations. Both are accessible directly from your Shopify admin.
Location 1: Zest App Settings Page
Access via Shopify Admin > Apps > Zest Gift Notes.
Controls:
Printed gift note toggle.
Email and SMS gifting toggles (requires an active ESP connection).
ESP/Klaviyo API connection.
Order note template (how gift message fields map to your order data).
Multiship-related configuration (if applicable).
Location 2: Checkout Block Settings
Access via Shopify Admin > Settings > Checkout > Customize, then click the Zest Gift Notes block in the left sidebar.
Controls:
Gift note checkbox label (default: "Add a gift note").
Help text shown beneath the gift note option.
Character limits for the To, From, and Message fields.
Emoji support toggle.
Multiship entry toggle within checkout.
Tip: These two locations serve different purposes. Think of the app settings page as "what you support" and the checkout block settings as "how it looks and behaves."
Configuring Delivery Methods (Printed, Email, SMS)
In the Zest App Settings Page, you'll find toggles for each delivery method under Capabilities:
Delivery Method | Toggle Location | Requirement |
Printed note | App Settings | None — available by default. |
Email digital card | App Settings | Requires a connected ESP (e.g., Klaviyo). |
SMS digital card | App Settings | Requires a connected ESP with SMS support. |
How the checkout experience adapts:
Printed only: Customers see the gift note fields (To, From, Message). No digital delivery options appear.
Digital only (email/SMS): Customers must enter a recipient email or phone number. The printed note is not included.
Both enabled: Customers see that a printed note will be included, plus an optional field to also send a digital card to the recipient's email or phone.
Important: You cannot enable email or SMS gifting until you have connected a compatible ESP in your app settings. The toggle will not save until that connection is in place — this prevents accidentally sending digital cards without a working email flow.
Customizing Checkout Text, Labels, and Help Text
In the Checkout Block Settings:
Gift Note Checkout Label: Change the default checkbox text (e.g., from "Add a gift note" to "Sending as a gift?" or "Include a gift message"). This is the first thing customers see.
Gift Link Help Text: Add a short line of explanatory text that appears below the gift note option. Use this to explain what happens with the digital card, what the printed note looks like, or to set expectations.
You can update these any time without reinstalling the app or making any code changes.
Setting Up Field Options (To, From, Message, Character Limits, Emojis)
In the Checkout Block Settings, you can configure each gift message field:
Character limits:
From field: Default limit is 50 characters.
To field: Default limit is 50 characters.
Message field: Default limit is 200 characters.
You can raise or lower any of these to match your brand's needs.
Emoji support:
Emoji entry is disabled by default. Enable it in the checkout block settings if you'd like customers to include emojis in their gift messages.
When emojis are disabled, customers will see a validation error if they try to include one.
Field visibility notes:
The To, From, and Message fields are all visible and required in the standard checkout flow.
The From field is always shown and required — including for digital gift orders.
Enabling Digital Gifting and Connecting Your ESP
To enable email or SMS digital gift cards, you must first connect an email service provider.
How to connect your ESP:
Go to Zest App Settings in your Shopify admin.
Navigate to the Integrations section.
Enter your ESP API key (e.g., Klaviyo API key) and save.
Once the integration is connected, the Email Gifting and/or SMS Gifting toggles become available.
Toggle on the delivery method(s) you want to enable and Save.
Compatible ESPs: Klaviyo, Attentive, Braze, Customer.io, Drip, Iterable, Mailchimp, Omnisend, Postscript, Sendlane, Yotpo, and others (including a custom HTTP option and Shopify Flow).
Before going live with digital gifting: Make sure you've built and tested the required transactional email flows in your ESP using Zest's event triggers. Enabling the toggle without those flows in place means recipients won't receive their digital cards.
Tip for reducing customer confusion: Some customers enter their own email address instead of the recipient's. Consider customizing the placeholder text for the recipient email field (e.g., "Enter the recipient's email — not yours") to reduce misdirected gift cards.
Gift Notes and Multiship Checkout: Independent Toggles
Gift Notes and Multiship (multi-recipient) Checkout are separate features within the same app installation. You do not need to enable both.
Feature | Controlled by |
Gift Notes (single recipient) | Gift Note feature flag |
Multiship (multi-recipient) | Enable Multiship toggle in checkout block |
To launch with Gift Notes only:
Make sure your app subscription includes Gift Notes.
Leave the Enable Multiship toggle off in the checkout block settings. This hides the multi-recipient call-to-action in checkout.
When Multiship is enabled, each recipient in a multi-address order can receive their own personalized gift message. The Zest checkout block must be present for both single and multi-recipient checkout flows.
Shop Pay and Checkout Placement
Shop Pay:
The Zest Gift Notes block can be included in Shop Pay checkout. To enable this:
Go to Checkout Block Settings (checkout customizer).
Find the Include block in Shop Pay toggle.
Turn it on and save.
This ensures customers using Shop Pay see the same gift note experience as those using standard Shopify checkout.
Checkout placement:
The Gift Notes module is a Shopify checkout extension and lives on the checkout page. It cannot be placed on the product page or cart page.
If you want to inform customers earlier in their journey, you can add a text callout on product pages or in your cart drawer (managed by your storefront theme, not the Zest app) to let them know gift note options are available at checkout.
Common Gift Notes Configuration Scenarios
Printed-only launch
Goal: Launch with physical gift notes only.
In App Settings, make sure Printed Note is toggled on.
Leave Email Gifting and SMS Gifting toggled off (no ESP required).
Customers will see the gift note form at checkout with To, From, and Message fields only.
When you're ready to add digital gifting, connect your ESP first, build your email flows, test them, then enable the toggle.
Digital-only launch
Goal: Offer only digital gift cards, no physical printed note.
In App Settings, toggle Printed Note off.
Connect your ESP, then toggle Email Gifting and/or SMS Gifting on.
At checkout, customers will be required to enter a recipient email or phone number.
Heads up: Even with digital gifting disabled, a "Share Your Note & Tracking" modal may still appear as an optional element for customers. This is expected behavior and does not affect the printed note fulfillment flow.
Phased rollout (start printed, add digital)
Launch with printed notes only (see above).
While live with printed notes, build and test your digital gift card flows in your ESP.
Once tested, connect your ESP in App Settings and enable Email Gifting.
No reinstallation or downtime required — the checkout block updates automatically.
Paid upsell + free digital note
Important: If you offer a paid handwritten card upsell (as a separate product SKU) alongside the Zest gift note, only enable Email Gifting in Zest — do not also enable the Printed Note capability. If both are on, the checkout copy will tell customers a printed note is included regardless of whether the paid upsell SKU is in their cart, which causes confusion.
Common Questions
Can the gift note be shown only for certain products or hidden based on cart contents?
Not currently. The gift note option appears in checkout whenever it is enabled. Conditional display by product tag or cart contents is not yet available.
Can I charge customers for adding a gift message?
Direct monetization of the gift note field is not currently supported. As a workaround, add a handwritten card as a separate product SKU; the actual message text is collected in the Zest module at checkout.
Can I make the recipient email field required?
Not currently. Making it mandatory is not supported. Customers who don't have the recipient's contact info can still add a printed gift note without providing an email.
Can I disable the "Alert at Delivery" notification timing option?
There is no current setting to disable this option independently.