Apple and Android Wallet GiftCards: A Gateway to New Customer Acquisition for Your Shopify Store

Gift cards distributed via Apple and Android Wallet Passes are a simple, trackable, and frictionless way to bring first-time shoppers into your Shopify store — and nudge them toward long-term loyalty.

At JeriCommerce, we help Shopify Plus brands turn passive gift card transactions into active marketing touchpoints—leveraging mobile wallet integration, push notifications, and real-time engagement without needing an app or login.

Why Gift Cards Deserve a Bigger Role in Marketing

Most gift card systems stop at the transaction. A gift card is purchased, emailed to a friend, and maybe redeemed—without the brand learning who the recipient is, what they do next, or how to bring them back.

Here’s what gets lost when gift cards aren’t integrated into your customer journey:

• You don’t know if the recipient ever used it
• You can’t send follow-up offers or personalized messages
• You miss the chance to convert a new customer into a loyal one

In contrast, wallet-based gift cards offer a way to turn one-off purchases into trackable, retargetable journeys.

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Gift Cards as a Marketing Channel

Forward-thinking brands are reimagining gift cards as a marketing channel. Some key strategies include:

1. 🎯 Gift Cards for Acquisition

Gift cards are the only form of paid acquisition where you’re paid upfront. Unlike discounts or promo codes, gift cards come with full margin and genuine intent—making them ideal for:

• Campaigns like “Give the gift of skincare” or “For the friend who loves coffee”
• Gifting-focused landing pages with SEO and paid traffic
• Referral mechanics (e.g., bonus for both sender and recipient)

2. 📲 Integration with Apple & Google Wallet

Using JeriCommerce’s Shopify app, brands can deliver gift cards as Wallet Passes. This:

• Adds the brand to the recipient’s lock screen
• Shows real-time balance and updates
• Enables push notifications without requiring email or SMS opt-in
• Builds a persistent, app-free customer relationship

3. Post-Gift Retention Campaigns

Most recipients use their gift card and never return. But with Wallet Passes, you can:

• Offer a welcome discount or loyalty invite after first use
• Trigger notifications if the card isn’t redeemed within X days
• Use pass data to segment and retarget high-value recipients

4.  Seamless POS redemption

Gift cards as Wallet Passes can be redeemed quickly and easily at physical points of sale. This:

• Speeds up checkout by allowing users to scan their Wallet Pass directly
• Drives foot traffic by linking digital gift cards to in-store purchases
• Provides a consistent experience across online and offline shopping
  
• Enables tracking of redemption and engagement at the POS

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Why Use Wallet-Based Gift Cards for Acquisition?

Not all new customers are ready to join a loyalty program from day one — but many will say yes to a small discount that feels effortless.

That’s where wallet-based gift cards come in. Using a giftcard creator like JeriCommerce, you can design and distribute cards directly to Apple or Android Wallets. These cards act like coupon-based incentives — but with a few key advantages:

• They’re stored in a mobile wallet, so they’re easily accessible and hard to forget.
• You can distribute them anonymously, so customers don’t need to sign up to benefit.
• You can track real-time engagement: views, installs, redemptions, and even uninstalls.

This turns giftcards into powerful acquisition tools — with metrics to prove their impact.

Two Distribution Strategies for Shopify Brands

Whether you want to reach new audiences broadly or precisely, Wallet giftcards give you flexible options:

1. Public Campaigns — For Acquisition at Scale

Ideal for:

• Offline campaigns (e.g., posters, packaging inserts, QR codes)
• Social media or influencer promotions
• Email newsletters for non-logged-in users

In a public campaign, you generate a single shareable link or QR code. Each person who scans it receives their own unique giftcard code via Wallet Pass — no signup required.

You can even add UTM parameters (like utm_campaign) to track which channel each download came from.

2. Private Campaigns — For Targeted Offers

Ideal for:

• SMS or email campaigns to known prospects
• VIP promotions or waitlists

Here, you export a CSV of unique giftcard links, each tied to a specific customer. These codes can be distributed via any CRM or marketing tool — and each customer sees a pass with their own discount.

The Hidden Benefit: Loyalty Sign-Ups After Redemption

Once a new customer redeems a wallet-based giftcard, you’ve already cleared the biggest hurdle: their first purchase.

From there, inviting them to join your loyalty program feels natural:

• They've already interacted with your brand.
• They see value in what you offer.
• Their Wallet Pass can now become a loyalty pass with a single click.

It’s a smoother journey from acquisition to retention — without forcing sign-up too early.

Full Shopify Integration, Full Control

With JeriCommerce’s giftcard creator, you can:

• Create giftcards linked to Shopify discount codes (or upload your own codes via CSV)
• Track installs, uninstalls, and redemptions
• Run public or private campaigns with ease
• Assign different values and expiration dates
• Push Wallet notifications to drive urgency
• POS integration

All giftcard usage is tied back to Shopify orders, so you get full visibility into campaign ROI — even if the user never joins your loyalty program.

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Metrics to Watch

To make gift card marketing successful, track metrics like:

• Add-to-wallet rate (how many recipients save the card)
• Time-to-redemption
• Follow-up engagement (referrals, loyalty joins)
• Secondary purchase rate

JeriCommerce provides campaign-level analytics for all Wallet Pass interactions, so you can see what’s working—and optimize accordingly.

Use Case: From Gifted Customer to Engaged Buyer

Imagine someone receives a €50 gift card from a DTC skincare brand.

1. Redemption Experience
   They recieve the giftcard as a wallet pass mentioning easy redemption at the POS + “Want to keep track of your balance and get updates? Save your gift card to your wallet.”
2. Wallet Engagement
   After adding the pass, their phone shows the remaining balance—but also a welcome message: “Thanks for trying us! Enjoy 10% off your next order—valid for 7 days.”
3. Follow-up Conversion
   Three days later, the brand sends a push notification to the wallet pass: “Still thinking about it? Your 10% welcome offer ends soon.”
4. Loyalty Invitation
   On the second purchase, the pass updates automatically to invite the customer to join the loyalty program. No email needed.

What started as a one-off gift turns into a personalized, brand-controlled journey—without relying on channels that require sign-ups or app downloads.

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Final Thought

Gift cards shouldn’t be silent revenue. When integrated with mobile wallets and personalized messaging, they can become your most underrated growth channel.

With JeriCommerce, you don’t just sell gift cards.
You use them to acquire, activate, and retain high-value customers—seamlessly, and at scale.

Ready to enhance your customer acquisition and retention? Contact us to implement effective wallet notification strategies. Install JeriCommerce on Shopify today and get your first 50 passes free!

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