I keep reading and checking Viart on it's releases and I keep waiting for you guys to add this feature on your shopping cart. Although I'm impressed by certain features in Viart over other carts, I"m amazed that Viart is the only cart I've seen that doesn't have a "Gift Certificate" system.
 
Believe it or not, not having a "Gift Certificate" system on your cart has kept me from purchasing it. The holidays and birthdays are my biggest thing with gift certificates.

I use of other systems none of which offers gift certificates.
 
Viart does have Gift Vouchers so I am not sure what the difference is?
 
I am adding them to my store and they work well [except that they charge delivery if ordered separately so I guess Viart just needs to have a look at this ]

Gift Certificates are different in regards that they are treated as seperate Items for purchase.
 
They are treated like normal products.
 
The customers can purchase the gift certificate for others as a gift etc.
 
Check out Amazon.
 
This is quite a famous feature.

Thanks for responding guys.
 
ChristopherO....Yes "Gift Certificates" is very different than Gift Voucher. When someone purchases a gift certificate, let's say it's for $100 dollars, it is then stored by the shopping cart as a credit so that whomever receives it they can make a purchase against the credit the gift certificate has.
 
This is very common in any store. Again, if Viart had this I'd buy it in a second. But since it doesn't I'll stick to SunShop and OsCommerce.

Hello,
 
Gift Certificates and Gift Vouchers are actually the same.
 
Firstly, you can use the product type called 'Gift Voucher'. When a user purchases any product from this type he automatically receives a coupon code for this voucher which he can later use or present to another person.
 
Then you can use this voucher to pay for the products. In other words, this voucher can be used as credits (like you described). For example, if a product costs $100 and you have a voucher on $150, then $100 will be deducted from the voucher and later you will be able to buy something for the rest of $50.
 
As for using a Gift Voucher as the payment for shipping, so far it is not possible. However, we plan to add this functionality in the nearest future.
 
You may find it useful to read a few articles from our online manual about Gift Vouchers, namely:
 
http://www.viart.com/online_store_gift_voucher.html
http://www.viart.com/shopping_cart_discount_coupons_and_vouchers.html
 
With kind regards,
ViArt Support Team
 

Actually, Guys this is right.
I use these as stand alone products already
I also like the facility that the receiver of the gift can use the voucher as many times as s/he likes until it is all spent.
I am very happy with this.

Thanks for the clarification

Although the gift voucher may simulate this function it is "not" a true Gift Certificate. A Gift Certificate is money in the form of credit and it is to be used towards an entire purchase, including shipping, handling, taxes, etc., otherwise it is not a gift certificate if it can't pay the entire order purchase amount. A gift certificate is an actual purchase item not a voucher that has no expiration. Upon purchasing a gift certificate you should be able to pay with a credit card on checkout and specify the intended recipient whom will be receiving it.
 
So until Viart makes this so, it can't purchase it. I hope they do it fast and soon though.

Hi ChristopherO I don't know if you are still visiting/noticing old posts like this one but just in case.... When customer has purchased the gift certificate , do you have to action it in admin ? I looks like i have to do this at the moment or maybe i am doing some thing daft! Here is my other post i left earlier today about this same thing. http://www.viart.com/gift_voucher.html
I only mention it again here because it is apropos to your subject string thanks Paul

paulsoffe
 
In truth I don't know until I get me hands on the product and start using it.
 
"do you have to action it in admin " - I certainly hop not - this would be crazy, it should be totally automatic.
 
Chris

My experience so far is that you need to authorize the gift certificate when the customer purchased it as a stand alone product. After authorization, the system would send emails with a code to both purchaser and recipient (if they are different).
 
I'm using 3.4.7 and don't know if there's an update on the feature.

We have coupons set up as exclusive (cannot be used with other coupons), but in this case, people can not apply the gift certificate (or gift voucher) if a coupon is already in use. Since a gift certificate=money, customer should be able to use it in any condition. Can Viart address this issue?