A holiday gift with purchase gives shoppers a free product above a minimum spend during Christmas, New Year or Lunar New Year. The work is in the timing: each season needs its own gift in stock, its own start and end dates, and a look that fits. Set all three up before December gets busy and the offers can run on their own.
If you ran a Black Friday gift, you already have most of the pieces. If not, the Black Friday plan and the complete guide cover the basics.
The season at a glance
- Christmas. From early December until your last day to ship before December 25. Gifts bought here are often gifts for someone else, so a gift that works as a stocking filler fits well.
- New Year. From December 26 to early January. Shoppers spend gift cards and buy for themselves. A self-care or "fresh start" gift fits.
- Lunar New Year. In 2027 it falls on February 6. If you sell to shoppers in Vietnam, China, Korea or Singapore, or to diaspora communities, this is the big gifting moment. Start two to three weeks before.
Your carrier's last shipping date before Christmas is the real end of the Christmas offer. After it, the gift still works, but the order won't arrive in time. Say so on the offer, or end the offer that day.
Christmas
Pick a gift that travels light and looks good unwrapped: a mini, a sample set, a small accessory. Count your stock now; a Christmas gift that runs out on December 15 leaves the offer promising something you can't send. More on choosing in picking the right gift product.
For the look, Tidebird Gift Lift's Festive theme uses pine green, a scalloped launcher and a light snow touch. Pair it with a celebration animation when the gift unlocks: confetti, a gift box, sparkles, fireworks, a chip morph or a ribbon.
New Year
The week after Christmas is quieter, and many shoppers have gift cards. Gift cards don't count toward the minimum in Gift Lift, so a cart paid by gift card still needs to reach the spend on its products.
A smaller minimum and a gift for the shopper themselves work well here. If you used tiers for Christmas, one tier may be enough for this week.
Lunar New Year
For stores selling to Vietnamese and other Asian-market shoppers, Lunar New Year (Tết in Vietnam) is a gifting season of its own. Gifts often go to family, so a gift that fits a household works better than a personal sample.
Gift Lift has a Tết theme in red and gold with a lucky envelope launcher.
Set them up ahead
Schedule each offer. In the offer, set a start date and time and an end date and time. Times use your store's time zone, and the offer starts and stops on its own.
Run them one after another. Only one gift offer can be active at a time. Between seasons, change the gift and dates on your offer, or end one offer and activate the next. Write the hand-over dates in your calendar.
Switch the look by date. Under Customize, then Themes, turn on Switch theme for a season, pick the seasonal theme and two dates. The start date is included and the end date is not. After the end, the widget goes back to your saved look.
Scheduled gift offers, Festive and Tết themes, and a look that switches by date. Free right now.
Holiday checklist
- One gift per season, with stock counted for the whole run.
- The Christmas offer ends on your last shipping day, or says when orders will arrive.
- Start and end dates set for each offer, in your store's time zone.
- The seasonal look switches on and off by date.
- A test order for each season before it starts.
Questions merchants ask
How early should I set up a Christmas gift offer?
Count and order gift stock in November, and have the offer built and tested by the start of December.
Do gift cards count toward the minimum spend?
In Tidebird Gift Lift, no. The minimum counts item prices before discounts, without the gift and gift cards.
When is Lunar New Year in 2027?
February 6, 2027. Start a Lunar New Year offer two to three weeks before so it covers the gift-buying weeks.
Can the widget look change for the holidays without me doing it on the day?
Yes. In Gift Lift, a seasonal theme runs between two dates you pick and then switches back to your saved look.