Gift Purchases

One of the unique features of Raffle for WooCommerce is the ability for customers to purchase raffle tickets as gifts for others. Each ticket can be assigned to a different recipient in a single order.

Enabling gift purchases

Gift purchasing can be enabled globally or per-raffle.

Global setting

• Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Raffle.
• In the General section, check Enable Gift Purchase.
• Save changes.

Per-product override

• Edit your raffle product.
• Go to Raffle Settings tab.
• Set Allow Gift Purchases to "Yes" (or "Use global setting" to follow global).
• Save the product.

How it works

Product page

When gift purchasing is enabled, the raffle product page shows:

• A "This is a gift for someone else" checkbox.
• An optional gift note explaining the feature.

If the customer checks the gift box on the product page, the item is pre-flagged as a gift in the cart.

Checkout experience

At checkout, customers see a Gift Purchase section for any raffle items that have gift enabled:

Pre-flagged items (gift checked on product page):

• Recipient fields appear immediately, expanded.
• One set of fields per ticket (matching the cart quantity).

Not pre-flagged (customer decides to gift at checkout):

• A checkbox appears: "This is a gift for someone else".
• When checked, recipient fields expand.

Per-ticket recipients

Each ticket gets its own recipient with these fields:

Adding multiple recipients

Customers can buy tickets for multiple people in a single order:

• Fill in the first recipient's details.
• Click "+ Add another recipient" to add more.
• Each new recipient adds a ticket to the order automatically.
• Use the "Remove" button to remove a recipient if needed.

The cart quantity updates automatically to match the number of recipients.

Changing mind at checkout

Customers can switch between regular and gift purchase at checkout:

• Regular → Gift: Check the gift box at checkout, add recipients. Quantity updates to match.
• Gift → Regular: Uncheck the gift box. Quantity remains; per-customer limits re-apply.

Checkout compatibility

Gift purchasing works with both checkout types:

Classic checkout

• Fields appear below the order notes section.
• AJAX-powered: adding/removing recipients updates cart quantity in real time.
• Standard WooCommerce form styling.

Block Checkout

• Fields appear in a dedicated section within the checkout flow.
• Integrates with WooCommerce Store API for real-time quantity sync.
• Native block editor styling.
• No build process required.

What happens after checkout

• Order is placed with per-ticket gift recipient data attached.
• Tickets are generated; each ticket is assigned to its specific recipient.
• Purchaser receives standard order confirmation email.
• Each recipient receives a "Gift Received" notification email (if email was provided).
• Winner selection uses the recipient's name, not the purchaser's.

Email notifications

To purchaser

Standard WooCommerce order confirmation, plus:

• Confirmation that tickets were gifted.
• Recipient name(s).
• Ticket numbers.

To recipient

Special "Gift Received" email including:

• Who sent the gift
• Gift message (if provided)
• Raffle details
• Ticket number(s)
• Link to view raffle

Note: Recipient email is required for notification delivery.

My account integration

Purchaser's view

In My Account → My Tickets, purchasers see:

• Gifted badge on tickets they bought for others.
• Recipient name displayed.

Recipient's view

If the recipient has an account with the same email:

• Received badge on tickets gifted to them.
• Purchaser name displayed (as "Gift from...").

Admin view

Order details

Gift orders show:

• Order-level gift flag.
• Per-ticket recipient details (name, email, message) for each line item.
• All recipients listed in the order meta section.

Orders list

• Gift orders show a heart icon in the "Gift" column.
• Easy to identify gift purchases at a glance.

Tickets admin

In WooCommerce → Raffle Tickets:

• "Is Gift" column shows Yes/No.
• Filter tickets by gift status.

Cart behavior

Non-gift raffle items

When a per-customer ticket limit is set, non-gift raffle items have:

• Read-only quantity in the cart, which prevents exceeding the per-customer limit.
• Server-side enforcement on any quantity change attempt.

Gift items

Gift items remain fully editable in the cart because each ticket goes to a different person. The per-customer limit does not apply to gift purchases.

Winner selection

Important: When a gift ticket wins, the recipient is the winner, not the purchaser.

• Winner notification goes to the recipient's email.
• Prize fulfillment is for the recipient.
• Audit trail shows both purchaser and recipient.

Use cases

Charity fundraisers

• Supporters buy tickets for elderly relatives who can't purchase online.
• Corporate sponsors purchase tickets for multiple employees in one order.

Family events

• Parents buy tickets for children.
• Family members gift entries to each other.

Club raffles

• Members purchase tickets for spouses/partners.
• Gift tickets as birthday presents.

Best practices

• Enable gift early: Set it when creating the raffle, not after sales start.
• Set reasonable limits: Per-customer limits apply to the purchaser's own tickets, not gift tickets.
• Clear terms: Explain that the winner is the recipient, not the purchaser.
• Encourage email collection: Recipient emails are required for notifications and are important for winner contact.

FAQ

Q: Can one person buy gifts for multiple people? A: Yes. Each ticket can be assigned to a different recipient. Click "+ Add another recipient" at checkout to add more. The cart quantity updates automatically.

Q: Can a customer switch from regular to gift at checkout? A: Yes. Even if the customer didn't check the gift box on the product page, they can check it at checkout and add recipients.

Q: What if the recipient doesn't have an account? A: They'll still win if selected. They can create an account with the same email to see their tickets in My Account.

Q: Can the purchaser see if the recipient won? A: Yes, they receive notification as the order owner.

Q: Does the per-customer limit apply to gift tickets? A: No. Per-customer limits only apply to tickets the customer buys for themselves. Gift tickets are exempt because each goes to a different person.