Gift Certificates
The way that things work is a little different than other gift certificate systems; it is not necessary for the recipient of a gift certificate to enter a code. When a user buys a gift certificate, they enter the email of the recipient. If there is already a user associated with this email, the certificate is issued to this user. Otherwise a new user is created and the certificate is issued to them. Then an email is sent informing the recipient that "somebody has purchased a gift certificate for you valued at x dollars, this amount will be credited to your next purchase" (The email is configurable from the settings page). This way it is not necessary for a user to enter a certificate code.
The module handles the case of multiple certificates (and the certificate value >= the order total) properly. There is also the functionality for an to create gift certificates for users as well. The recipient of the certificate can be chosen from an autocomplete field or a pulldown list from the settings page).
Once a gift cert is purchased, the recipient receives an email similar to:
Good news!
You have just received a gift certificate for $150.00 to be used on your next purchase at Your Website.
Message from the sender:
'gift certificate messages goes here'
An account has been created for you with the following details:
Username: newbsgift
Password: xMw4Vc
To use your gift certificate, click on the following link to log in and start shopping:
http://www.yourwebsite.com.au/user
Happy Shopping!
When they log onto the site, they see a message similar to:
Your Gift Certificates
You have $150.00 worth of gift certificates. They can be redeemed when you check out.
There is an additional payment option on the checkout page, so they can choose to use the certificate or pay for the order with standard payment options.
Once they use a certificate, the balance against that certificate is reduced by the purchase amount. Issued certificates and their outstanding value can be viewed at:
https://www.yoursite.au/admin/store/gift_certificates/list
From here you process the order the same way you process a regular order.