Customers can buy one of your memberships as a gift for someone else. The recipient gets an email with a link to claim it, and their access runs for the full gifted duration — the buyer pays once, with no ongoing subscription for either person. Gifting is available on the plans and billing options you choose to enable it for.

When you’d use this

• A customer wants to give a friend or family member access to your membership program.
• You want to sell memberships as a giftable product around the holidays or other gifting occasions.
• You want a one-time prepaid membership that ends cleanly after a set period, rather than a recurring subscription.

How it works

A gifted membership is prepaid: the buyer is charged once for a single membership term, and the recipient’s access starts when they claim it and runs for that term. When the term ends, the recipient can choose to continue on their own — there’s no automatic renewal or ongoing charge.

1. The buyer chooses “As a gift” on the product page

On a product where you’ve enabled gifting, the membership widget shows a choice between buying for myself and buying as a gift. When the buyer picks As a gift, they enter:

• Recipient email (required) — where the claim link is sent.
• Recipient name (optional) — used to personalize the claim page and emails.
• From (optional) — the sender name shown to the recipient.

The buyer then adds the gift to the cart and checks out as normal.

2. The recipient gets a claim email

As soon as the order is paid, Zendra emails the recipient a gift claim invite with a link to claim their membership. The claim link stays valid for 90 days by default.

3. The recipient claims the gift

When the recipient opens the link, they’re prompted to sign in to their Shopify customer account on your store (or create one), then confirm the claim. Their membership activates immediately and access runs for the full gifted duration.

If the recipient opens the link again after claiming, they see an “already claimed” message rather than an error.

4. Access runs for the prepaid term, then ends

The recipient keeps full member access until the prepaid term ends. Before it does, Zendra emails them a reminder that access is ending soon, with the option to continue on their own. When the term ends, a final email lets them know access has ended.

Resending a claim email

If the recipient didn’t receive the email or the link expired, the buyer or recipient can request a new claim email from the claim page. Resends are limited to once every few minutes to prevent abuse.

Common issues

• The recipient can’t claim the gift. They must be signed in to a customer account on your store. If they don’t have one, they’ll be prompted to create one before claiming.
• The claim link expired. Claim links are valid for 90 days. Use the resend option on the claim page to send a fresh link.
• The buyer doesn’t see an “As a gift” option. Gifting has to be enabled on the plan’s billing option and the product has to offer a giftable plan. See Sell gift memberships.
• The recipient was charged again after the term ended. They won’t be — a gifted membership is a single prepaid term with no automatic renewal. Continuing afterward is a separate, optional purchase the recipient makes themselves.

Keep learning

• Sell gift memberships — enable gifting on a plan and set the gifted duration.
• Purchasing a membership — how customers join for themselves.
• The member portal — how members manage their membership and perks.