Introduction

Gifting is all about gift packaging, i.e. preparing an order or product respectively in a way that it is sent in the shape of a gift (e.g. it is sent as a birthday present). It is NOT about gift cards that can be ordered and redeemed later on.

The supported core features are:

• Gift wrapping
  The backoffice user can configure the products to be used as wrap (i.e. packaging) for shop products. The customer can then see this information in the storefront and select one of them during checkout. Gift wrapping is intended to prepare the related product with a gift wrap such that it can be used as a present.
• Gift messaging
  The backoffice user can configure which products are used as the messaging "card" for their products. The customer can then see this information in the storefront and select one of them during checkout including the information printed on it (basically a to, from and message they can enter). It's intended to pack the related product together with such a messaging card as congratulation or note.
• Packing slip messaging
  A to, from and message the customer can enter during checkout. A free of charge note is then placed on the packing slip that comes with the order. It's intended to be used as a 'congratulations' message or note mechanism and is - in contrast to the gift message - always free of charge.

Glossary

Gift Wrapping

Providing gift wrapping to the customer basically consists of 2 steps:

1. Enable the feature
2. Set up products for gift wrapping

Regarding gift wrapping, the Channel | Applications | <ApplicationName> - Shopping Cart & Checkout section provides the ability to enable or disable gift wrapping for the channel. This setting has an impact on each place within the storefront where gifting functionality (in this case the gift wrapping) is provided to the customer.
Setting up products for gift wrapping itself consists of multiple steps:

1. Set a product A as being able to be gift wrapped (this is a product custom attribute)
2. Classify a product B as gift wrap (this is an assigned in the Service Types system classification catalog in the category the Gift Wrap. )
3. Link product B to product A as potential gift wrap option (this is a Gift Wrap product link)

Due to the fact that a gift wrap is managed the same as every other product, the full feature set of products is available to it, especially various attributes and prices. The system classification catalog category (Gift Wrap) is prepared with 3 custom attributes you need to know as they influence the store behavior:

• ExcludeFromSearchIndex
  Enforces that the assigned gift wrap products are not part of the search index as they should not be searchable in the storefront.
• OrderableAsDependentOnly
  As gift wraps are always bought/selected in context of a product they are linked to, it must not be possible to buy them alone. This is assured by this attribute.
• ExcludeFromShipping
  By default, the gift wrap is not included in shipping cost calculation.

The content shown to the user on CMS-managed pages are also CMS components. These have one for gift wrapping showing whether or not this feature is available (for the related product) in terms of:

• Being enabled via preference
• Having at least one available gift wrap

Seeing this kind of indicator (Gift wrap available, Gift message available), the customer will immediately know if he can later on choose a gift wrap or not. As you can see, gift wrap information is always somehow related to another product (it is linked to) - this is why a gift wrap will be selectable at item level during checkout.

Gift Messaging

Providing gift messaging to the customer basically consists of 2 steps:

1. Enable and configure the feature
2. Set up products for gift messaging

Regarding gift messaging, the Channel | Applications | <ApplicationName> - Shopping Cart & Checkout section provides the ability to enable or disable gift messaging for the channel. This setting has impact on each place within the storefront where gifting functionality (in this case the gift messaging) is provided to the customer. In addition, you can restrict the length of the message that is printed on the card.
Setting up products for gift messaging itself consists of multiple steps:

1. Classify a product B as gift message (this is an assignment to the Gift Message catalog category of the Service Types system classification catalog)
2. Link product B to product A as potential gift message option (this is a Gift Message product link)

Due to the fact that a gift message is managed just as every other product, the full feature set of products is available to it, especially various attributes and prices. The system classification catalog category (Gift Message) is prepared with 3 custom attributes you need to know as they influence the store behavior:

• ExcludeFromSearchIndex
  Enforces that the assigned gift message products are not part of the search index as they should not be searchable in the storefront.
• OrderableAsDependentOnly
  As gift messages are always bought/selected in context of a product they are linked to, it must not be possible to buy them alone. This is assured by this attribute.
• ExcludeFromShipping
  By default, the gift message is not included in shipping cost calculation.

The content shown to the user on CMS-managed pages are also CMS components, having one for gift messaging showing information if this feature is available (for the related product) in terms of:

• Being enabled via preference
• Having at least one available gift message

Seeing this kind of indicator, the customer will immediately know if he can later on choose a gift message or not. As you can see, gift message information is always somehow related to another product (it is linked to) - this is why a gift message will be selectable on item level during checkout.

Packing Slip Messaging

Providing packing slip messaging to the customer is basically just 1 step:

1. Enable and configure the feature

Regarding packing slip messaging, the Channel | Applications | <ApplicationName> - Shopping Cart & Checkout section provides the ability to enable or disable gift messaging for the channel. This setting has impact on each place within the storefront where gifting functionality (in this case the packing slip messaging) is provided to the customer. In addition, you can restrict the length of the message that is printed on the packing slip.

The content shown to the user on CMS-managed pages are also CMS components, having one for packing slip messaging showing information if this feature is available (for the related product) in terms of:

• Being enabled via preference

Seeing this kind of indicator, the customer will immediately know if they can later on choose to add a packing slip message. As you can see, packing slip message information is not related to any product (but rather a shipping bucket) - this is why a packing slip message will be selectable on shipping bucket level during checkout.

Checkout

During checkout there are 3 main actions than can be performed by the customer in context of gifting functionality:

1. Mark items as desired for gifting (shipping methods page)
2. Select actual gift option (gift options page)
3. Revise gift option selections (order review page)

As a line item can be of quantity greater than one, there is the need to split it up such that gift wrapping/messaging can be applied on item level instead of just line item level. So let's say my cart contains one line item of quantity 5:

• iPod
  • Quantity: 5
  • Available gift wraps:
    • Red paper
    • Blue paper
    • Yellow paper

Now for Christmas each of my 3 children should get one, but as they have different favorite colors, I'd like to add a gift wrap individually. The one for myself and my wife do not need to be wrapped:

• iPod
  • Quantity: 1
  • Chosen gift wrap: Red paper
• iPod
  • Quantity: 1
  • Chosen gift wrap: Blue paper
• iPod
  • Quantity: 1
  • Chosen gift wrap: Yellow paper
• iPod
  • Quantity: 2
  • Chosen gift wrap: None

The line item-to-item splitting as described above is intended to realize such use case. Any non-gifted split items (of the same root line item) will not become separate instances but again collapse to one line item with the corresponding quantity.

As each added gift wrap or gift message can imply an additional cost, this has to be shown as part of the cart's/order's cost summary. The actual approach is to show a sum of all such gifting costs as one line within the cost summary section (interpreting gifting as a service) - they are not shown in an itemized manner.