When a customer takes a gift card as their return outcome, Swap creates a gift card order in Shopify, prefixed SGC. Two Shopify settings decide whether the customer actually receives the code.
ℹ️ This feature is available in Returns V2 only.
Before you start
Access to your Shopify admin with permission to change store settings.
Gift cards enabled as a return outcome in Swap.
Both settings below are Shopify's rather than Swap's, so they are changed in your Shopify admin.
What has to be true in Shopify
Gift cards have to be fulfilled. Shopify fulfils gift cards automatically by default, once the order is paid, and that is when the code is sent. If your store has instead been set to fulfil orders manually, gift cards are included in that, and SGC orders will sit unfulfilled until somebody actions them. The setting lives under Settings → General → Order processing — Shopify's own gift card settings documentation covers the steps and the exact options.
The gift card notification has to be switched on. Shopify sends the code with its New gift card notification, which fires when the gift card in an order is fulfilled. If that notification is off, the SGC order will show as Fulfilled and your customer will still receive nothing. Search for gift cards in your Shopify settings to find it.
The second point is the one that catches people out, because the order looks correct from the Swap side and from the Shopify order list.
If a customer has not received their gift card
Work through these in order.
Find the SGC order in Shopify and check its fulfilment status. If it is unfulfilled, your store is set to fulfil manually. Fulfil the order to release the code, then change the setting if you want it handled automatically in future.
If it shows as Fulfilled, check the New gift card notification. A fulfilled order with the notification switched off produces exactly this symptom.
Check the order's risk level. Shopify does not automatically fulfil gift cards in an order flagged medium or high risk, whatever your fulfilment setting says. Those have to be fulfilled by hand from the order's detail page.
Using Shopify Flow instead
Where the store-wide setting is too blunt — for example if you fulfil most orders manually but want gift cards released straight away — Shopify Flow can fulfil gift card orders on a trigger you choose. See Shopify's Shopify Flow documentation for how to build one.
Only one approach is needed. If Shopify is already fulfilling gift cards automatically, a Flow adds nothing.