How to set up Prepaid Gift subscriptions

This customization is built using Skio’s Prepaid subscriptions feature, learn more about Prepaid subscriptions in our help doc here. 

Gift subscriptions are charged right away and start as soon as the recipient claims them. To delay delivery (like for a holiday), you’ll need to handle it via fulfillment or build it custom. Recipients can reschedule deliveries in their portal. Skio doesn’t currently support gift scheduling.

What are Prepaid gift subscriptions?

Prepaid gift subscriptions allow a customer to pay upfront for a subscription and send it as a gift. The recipient gets full control of the subscription including their own login, while the gifter’s payment is only used for the initial purchase.

For example, you buy a 3-month subscription for your friend. Your card is charged once, but your friend receives the subscription, manages deliveries, and can later subscribe on their own once the gift ends.

Why offer prepaid gifting?

Offering gifting helps grow your brand through word of mouth while keeping customer data secure.

• Drive new customer acquisition through referrals.

• Give customers more flexibility when buying for others.

• Protect personal info by keeping billing and recipient accounts separate.

How to set up prepaid gifting

Step 1: Create the prepaid selling plan

Set up a prepaid selling plan for the product you want to offer as a gift:

1. In the lefthand menu of your Skio Dashboard, go to Features > Selling Plans.

2. Create a prepaid subscription plan. 

3. Set a fixed number of cycles to match the gift duration. For example: a 12-month subscription with monthly delivery = 12 cycles. Note that the number set here must align with your billing and delivery cycle. For example, if you have a billing cycle of 3 months, your max cycle can be 6 cycles, 12 cycles, etc. 

Note

Create a prepaid subscription selling plan for the product you want to offer as a gift. Make sure to set a max cycle that covers the entire prepaid period. For example, if you're offering a yearly prepaid subscription with monthly deliveries, set the max cycles to 12 to cover all 12 months.

Step 2: Add the gifting widget in Shopify

The Skio Prepaid Gift widget adds special fields for the recipient's email and message. This ensures Skio treats it as a gift, not a regular subscription. 

1. In your Shopify Admin, go to Online Store > Themes, then click Customize.

2. At the top, switch from Home page to Products.

3. Select the product template (usually Default product).

4. Click Add block > Apps > Skio Prepaid Gift.

5. Drag the block under the existing Skio selling plan picker that you first set up to ensure the gifting form appears right below.

6. In the widget settings:

   • Confirm the Form ID matches your product form.

   • Ensure both Form and Selling Plan Input show a green check.

     • If either is red, check the Form ID.

     • Missing Selling Plan Input likely means the Skio block is missing.

7. (Optional) Customize the gifter-facing copy in the widget.

8. Click Save in the top-right corner.

The Prepaid Gift widget applies to all prepaid plans on that template. There's no way to restrict it to "gift-only" plans. 

Step 3: Set up recipient email notifications

Recipients receive an email prompting them to activate their subscription. Customize the email under Tools > Notifications > Prepaid gift received in Skio.

Note

Using Klaviyo or Postscript? You can trigger flows with the Prepaid gift received metric or a webhook.

Step 4: Enable checkout validation

To ensure proper gifting data is captured at checkout and a seamless gifting flow, you must enable Skio's validation rule:

1. Go to Shopify Admin > Settings > Checkout.

2. Click Add rule > Validation > Skio.

3. Activate Cart Checkout Validation.

For custom product pages

A gift subscription requires two line item properties:

• _prepaidGiftEmail (recipient's email)

• _prepaidGiftMessage (optional message)

If you're using a custom PDP, you must add these fields manually in your form:

<input name="_prepaidGiftEmail" type="email" />
<input name="_prepaidGiftMessage" type="text" />

These ensure Skio processes the order as a gift.

What the gifting experience looks like as the gifter

As the gifter, you'll start by selecting the product and any options, such as the variant and subscription interval. After that, you'll be asked to enter the recipient's email and an optional gift message. This message will appear in the initial email sent to the recipient, along with a link to activate and manage their subscription.

During checkout, make sure to enter the recipient's email and shipping address, not your own. You'll then complete the order using your own payment method. This ensures the recipient receives the subscription directly while your payment is only used for the initial gift. 

When you log in to your customer portal, you will be able to view the gifted subscription clearly labeled as a gift with a Gift subscription badge . However, your access is limited:

• You can view the subscription status and delivery info.

• You cannot edit the subscription or make changes to the recipient's information.

Viewing the subscription as the gift recipient

As the gift recipient, you'll receive the email that was set up in Step 3 with a link to claim your gift.

Once claimed and you log in to your customer portal, you'll see the gift subscription clearly labeled as a gift with a Gift subscription badge and a banner with a link to renew. 

How does a gift recipient renew their subscription?

In the gift recipient's customer portal, there will be a banner explaining that they are looking at a gifted subscription with a link to renew. When they click on the link they will be directed to a renewal flow. 

If they choose to continue, here’s what the renewal flow looks like:

1. Product selection: The recipient starts on the same product they were originally gifted. They can choose their preferred product variant and subscription interval.

2. Shipping and payment: Next, they’ll confirm their shipping address and select a payment method. If no payment method is on file, they’ll be prompted to add one.

3. Confirmation: After reviewing their selections, they’ll land on a confirmation page. Once they click Renew, their new subscription is created.

4. Subscription activated: The recipient is redirected to their Subscriptions page, where they’ll see their active, self-managed subscription moving forward.

What recipients and gifters can do