You’ve spent the time researching options, and finding the right tools that will take your store strategy to the next level. When you’ve finally settled on a new app to add to your store’s stack, there’s just one more hurdle to overcome - pricing plans. Deciding on the right plan often is just as tough as picking the app itself. Do you pay for the highest tier option and get access to all the features right away? Or do you test out a free plan and see if you need more features later on?
Govalo offers three different tiered pricing options - Essential, Premium, and Enterprise. With each step up, merchants gain access to more advanced features and integrations. Essential, however, is a great starting point for any gifting strategy. It isn’t our “basic” or “starter” plan, we call it “essential” because it comes with all the tools needed to quickly and easily create a great gift card experience.
There is only so much information on the Shopify App Store to help you understand what comes with each plan. So today, let’s look at the main features of Govalo’s Essential plan.
How much does Govalo’s Essential plan cost?
Before we dive into the features included, let’s start with the basics - pricing. Govalo’s Essential plan is free to install, and all plans come with a 7 day free trial. That means there’s no recurring monthly charge to use the app, however there is a percentage charged for each gift card issued. Essential charges 2.9% for each gift card issued.
What this means is you only really pay for the gift cards you actually sell, but no monthly fee to use the features that come with Essential. So if you don’t sell any gift cards in a month, you don’t pay anything that month. This gives merchants flexibility especially if gift sales are typically very seasonal.
#1 - Customize your gift card, your way
First and foremost, the Essential plan includes the star of the show - Govalo’s highly customizable gift cards. And it goes both ways - you can completely customize it to suit your brand, and the customer can equally customize their gift card to suit their gifting needs.
On the brand side, you can change the language and wording of the gift card user interface that customers see. This makes it easy if you want to add your region’s language, or you want to add a little bit of brand flair. You can also add multiple images for gift cards, rather than just a single image which comes standard with Shopify’s native gift cards.
From the customer’s perspective, they can fully customize their gift card much the same way they would any other gift. They can add the name of their recipient as well as a gift note, adding that personal touch that’s usually missing from the experience of buying a gift card. They can also send it directly to their recipient by entering their email address, and can select the date on which they want it to be sent. Or if the customer prefers, they can have the gift card sent to their own email address.
#2 - Offer better customer service with timelines and resend tools
Top notch customer service is key to a happy customer and retention. With Essential, you get tools that make it easier to provide customers better support when it comes to their gift cards. The first of these tools is the gift card timeline. As the term suggests, this allows you to see a history of the activity for a gift card from the point it’s purchased.
This allows you clear vision on what’s happened with a gift card - if the email was sent successfully, or if the recipient has opened it for example. So if the original customer reaches out to check that the gift card has been received, your support team can quickly check this and offer a confident response.
And if the recipient hasn’t opened it, or there’s an issue with the details entered, you can also use the resend tool. With this you can either resend the gift card to the recipient, or edit the email address and resend to the original customer.
#3 - Create multiple gift card products
When you create a native Shopify gift card, you just have the one product available. With Govalo’s Essential plan, you have more flexibility to do more with gift cards by creating multiple gift card products. This can be useful in a number of different situations - both for learning more about how your customers shop for gifts, and for promoting your gift products.
You could, for example, create different gift cards to suit different occasions. Birthdays, congratulations, anniversaries, etc. You’ll then have a clearer idea of what occasions your customers usually shop for. You could also create temporary collections of gift cards for holidays, such as Christmas or Hanukkah. You can then use the data from these separately to your usual gift card sales.
This feature also adds to the flexibility and personalization your customers have at their fingertips. Each gift card product for a different occasion can be populated with multiple image options as mentioned earlier. That way rather than one single option for that occasion, they can choose from a range of images that suit their needs best.
#4 - Bulk issue gift cards easily
Need to issue a number of gift cards quickly? Govalo makes it possible to bulk issue as many gift cards as you need. All you need to do is upload a CSV file with the details for each gift card, and Govalo takes care of the rest.
This feature is especially helpful if you’re running a promotion and need to create a number of codes, or you’ve just closed a giveaway and need to issue out gift cards to the lucky winners. It’s also valuable if you happen to be selling a large number of gift cards at once to a corporate client. You don’t need to issue each gift card individually, it can all be done at once. Plus there’s a CSV template provided, so you can guarantee everything is entered correctly and you won’t have to deal with any missed data.
Note: If you upgrade to Premium, there is a feature to add the ability to purchase multiple gift cards directly from your storefront.
#5 - Give customers more options with the out-of-stock feature
Picture this - it’s coming up to Christmas, and you’ve spent hours researching the perfect gift for a friend. Let’s say it’s skin care related, and you don’t really know much about that particular type of product. You go to buy the product…and it’s out of stock! This is a very frustrating and all too familiar situation for many customers, especially in the run up to major holidays. In most cases, there isn’t really an option B - they just have to start from scratch and find something else.
That is unless you provide them with a really easy alternative - a gift card. Govalo Essential comes with an out-of-stock feature, which when enabled displays the option to purchase a gift card when an item is unavailable.
Helping your customers find the right gifts involves offering both flexibility and ease. The option to instead buy a gift card gives them a new, easy solution where there otherwise would be a dead end.
#6 - Clear and easy to use dashboard with analytics
When you’re running a busy Shopify store, there’s a lot to think about. From inventory management, to forecasting, to content. That makes it essential that you can get a clear view on everything that’s happening with your store, including gift cards. Govalo’s Essential plan includes an easy-to-use dashboard accessible from Shopify Admin.
Here you’ll get an overview of gift card sales, gift cards issued, and more. As well as these basic analytics, you also have quick access to tools like issuing a gift card, and the ability to view gift cards using different filters. Plus, if you need a helping hand you can find a direct link to our support documentation as well as our support chat with instant answers and easy access to our team.
#7 - Offer more flexibility with Shopify POS compatible QR codes
Have a store in the real world as well as the digital world? You probably don’t want to have to mess around with different gift cards for both, right? This can cause frustration not just for a merchant, but for the customer as well. Imagine you’re given a gift card to use at your favorite store, only to go in person and you can only use it online.
Govalo saves your customers the stress and provides them with a much better, more flexible experience. Essential plans come with the option to add Shopify POS compatible QR codes to gift card emails.
This makes it straightforward for your customers to redeem their gift card on your online store, or in person. It also keeps all your gift cards in one easy to manage location within Govalo on Shopify Admin.
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Choosing the right pricing plan for an app for your store can be challenging. With a little extra information about how Govalo’s Essential plan could fit into your strategy, we hope to empower you to make more informed, confident decisions. Together, we’ll be able to reinvent the gifting experience on Shopify.