Holiday 2025 Playbook: Add Gift Wrap and Gift Notes in WooCommerce, Lift AOV, and Keep Reporting Clean

Shoppers don’t just buy products in Q4—they buy solutions to social problems: “I need a present, it has to feel special, and I don’t have time.” If your store makes gifting effortless, you win those impulse moments and the friends-and-family orders that follow. The simplest, highest-impact lift is offering premium gift wrap and a short gift note—priced as a small add-on that meaningfully nudges average order value (AOV).

That’s exactly what Gift Wrapper does: it adds configurable gift wrap and gift messages on product pages, at the cart line-item level, and at checkout, while treating wraps as real WooCommerce products for clean tax, inventory, and analytics. Prefer to test the basics on staging first? There’s also Gift Wrapper on WordPress.org.

Why gifting works (and how to measure it)

Gift wrap solves three frictions at once: it saves the buyer time, increases the perceived value of the gift, and removes uncertainty about presentation. From a store’s perspective, gifting is a tidy upsell that’s easy to explain and easy to fulfill.

Because Gift Wrapper can register wraps as separate line items, you can track:

• Attach rate: orders with ≥1 wrap ÷ total orders

• AOV delta: average value for wrapped orders vs non-wrapped

• Style revenue: revenue per wrap SKU to know what to restock

• Seasonality: week-over-week attach rate from early November through January

That’s the difference between “we think this helped” and “we know it added €X per order.”

What you can offer (choose one or mix)

• Product-level wrap on the PDP (best for items frequently bought as gifts)

• Per-item wrap in the cart (perfect for multi-gift orders)

• Order-level wrap at checkout (fast path for buyers who skipped earlier prompts)

• Gift messages at any stage (cap at ~200 characters)

You can run all three in parallel or start with PDP + cart and add a quick order-level note at checkout once you’ve validated the flow.

Setup in 10 minutes

1. Create wrap “products.”
   Add SKUs such as Classic Wrap, Holiday Paper, and Premium Gift Box. Set prices (e.g., €3.99 and €7.99), assign tax class (it can differ from merchandise), and enable stock if styles are limited.

2. Place the controls.

• PDP: checkbox or “Add Gift Wrap” button above/below Add to Cart

• Cart: enable per-line-item wrap and editing

• Checkout: one-click “Wrap entire order” and/or “Add gift message”

3. Set exclusions and rules.
   Exclude bulky or drop-shipped SKUs and entire categories as needed. Create separate wrap groups for PDP vs checkout if you want different options in each place.

4. Decide the UI.

• Checkbox for speed

• Slide-down panel for 1–3 options

• Modal with thumbnails when you’re showing multiple styles

5. Run a live test.
   Add two products, wrap just one on the PDP, and add a global note at checkout. Confirm separate line items, pricing/tax, stock decrement, thank-you page, and email output.

Merchandising that actually converts

• Make the value explicit. “Add gift wrap (€3.99) + gift message” converts better than “Gift wrap available.”

• Show, don’t tell. If you use a modal, add small thumbnails for styles; visuals move decisions faster.

• Use a premium option. A higher-priced “Gift Box + tissue + handwritten card” can lift revenue more than a race-to-the-bottom paper wrap.

• Cap message length. 150–200 characters with a visible counter keeps packing slips readable and ops happy.

• Exclude headaches. Furniture and odd-shape items should be excluded by category so no one is stuck improvising.

Pricing strategy: where to start

• Baseline: set entry wrap around 7–12% of median AOV for your key giftable category.

• Premium tier: 1.7× to 2.3× the baseline if it includes a rigid box and card.

• Seasonal uplift: raise prices 10–20% during peak weeks if attach rate stays strong; drop back after New Year.

• Free-wrap thresholds: reserve “free wrap” for order value thresholds you’d like to hit (be explicit in copy).

Run a quick two-week test per price point and compare attach rate × margin. Because wraps are line items, it’s easy to analyze per SKU.

Placement tests to run in November

• PDP vs checkout default.
  Two weeks with PDP-first, two with checkout-first, then keep the winner. PDP usually wins on giftable SKUs; checkout captures the procrastinators.

• Modal vs slide-down.
  If you offer multiple styles, a modal with images typically outperforms a text list. Measure clicks to selection and final attach rate.

• Copy variants.
  Test “Add gift wrap (€3.99) + gift note” vs “Gift box (€7.99) + handwritten card.” The second often carries more perceived value.

Operations playbook (so fulfillment doesn’t hate you)

• Distinct SKUs per wrap style to keep pick/pack unambiguous.

• Packing slip format: show wrapped line items with the associated gift message underneath each applicable product.

• Returns policy: define whether wrap is refundable; typically no, unless the product is returned unopened.

• Inventory: manage stock for limited papers and boxes. When an SKU hits zero, it automatically stops showing.

• Edge cases: hide wrap on marketplace/drop-ship items; ensure message text doesn’t print on invoices when not desired.

Analytics: what to watch weekly

• Attach rate by category and by style

• AOV lift for wrapped vs non-wrapped orders

• Refunds/complaints mentioning wrapping quality (a sign to adjust materials)

• Checkout drop-off if you placed a new prompt too aggressively late in the funnel

• Mobile performance of the chosen UI (modal close friction is a common culprit)

If you send e-commerce events to GA4, include wrap line items so you can segment explorations by “orders containing wrap.”

Real-world scenarios

• Gift-heavy catalog (books, toys, beauty). Put the PDP control above Add to Cart on top 50 SKUs; use a modal with thumbnails; add cart line-item editing.

• Generalist store. Offer order-level wrap only at checkout for simplicity, then expand to PDP on a curated gift collection.

• Corporate gifting. Enable cart line-item wrap and per-item notes so buyers can separate gifts in one order; invoice clarity is a bonus.

Troubleshooting quick list

• Wrap not showing. Check category/SKU exclusions and template placement.

• Taxes look wrong. Verify the wrap product’s tax class and your tax zone settings.

• Notes not in emails. Ensure email templates include the wrap line item and its meta.

• Inventory not decrementing. Use “manage stock” on wrap SKUs; treat boxes/premium papers as physical inventory.

Free vs PRO—where to start

Kick the tires with the free build on staging: Gift Wrapper. Once you’re ready for full configuration—exclusions by product/category, per-item cart wrap, UI variations (checkbox, slide, modal), Elementor widget, translation options, and template overrides—install Gift Wrapper on production.

The holiday checklist (copy/paste)

• Create two wrap SKUs (entry + premium) with clear names, prices, tax classes, and stock.

• Place PDP control above Add to Cart on your top giftables.

• Enable per-item cart wrap and a short order-level note at checkout.

• Add a modal with thumbnails for multi-style selection.

• Cap notes at 180 characters, show a counter.

• Exclude bulky/drop-ship SKUs and the relevant categories.

• QA the full flow: PDP → cart edit → checkout → thank-you → emails → inventory decrement.

• Track attach rate and AOV weekly; adjust price and placement as needed.

Final take

Gifting should feel effortless for buyers and predictable for your team. Gift Wrapper gives you that balance: a simple shopper UI and first-class back-office hygiene with separate line items for tax, stock, and analytics. Start with a basic checkbox and one premium option, measure attach rate and AOV, and scale into a seasonal set as the numbers justify it.