A gift message isn't just text on an order, it's the one line a buyer is trusting someone to actually read. When an order arrives from a webstore like Shopify or a B2B marketplace like Faire or Maisonette, and that channel captured a note at checkout, a Gift Message from a 1-800-Flowers order arriving through Shopify is a common example, InfiPlex pulls that note in with the rest of the order and saves it as a Checkout Note, in the API and in Order Additional Info, so it's never buried and never something you have to go dig for.
Jump to What You Need
| If You Want To… | Jump To |
|---|---|
| Understand where a checkout note actually comes from | Where Do These Notes Actually Come From? |
| See the full path from checkout to InfiPlex | How Does the Note Get From Checkout to InfiPlex? |
| Find it in the API | How Does It Show Up in the API? |
| Find it without touching the API | Where Do I See It Without the API? |
| Know which channels this applies to | Which Channels Does This Actually Apply To? |
Where Do These Notes Actually Come From?
Most storefronts and marketplaces give the buyer somewhere to leave a note at checkout, a gift message, delivery instructions, a note to the seller, whatever that particular channel calls it. That note gets attached to the order before InfiPlex ever sees it, InfiPlex isn't the one collecting it from the buyer.
The clearest example is a Shopify order that actually originated on 1-800-Flowers. 1-800-Flowers passes the buyer's Gift Message through as the order note on the Shopify order itself, the same field Shopify uses for any order note. By the time InfiPlex pulls that order, the note is already sitting there. InfiPlex doesn't need to know it came from 1-800-Flowers specifically to pick it up, it just reads the order note the way it would for any Shopify order.
B2B marketplaces work the same way. A note added at checkout on Faire or Maisonette, delivery timing, a request from the buyer, a reference tied to the order, arrives on the order the same way a Shopify order note does. InfiPlex reads whatever note field the channel provides and treats it identically regardless of which channel it came from.
How Does the Note Get From Checkout to InfiPlex?
The path is the same no matter which channel the order came from:
- The order is saved at the source, Shopify, Faire, Maisonette, or wherever the order actually happened, with the buyer's note already attached to it.
- InfiPlex pulls the order on its normal sync from that channel, note included, along with everything else on the order.
- InfiPlex saves the note as an order note and specifically flags it as a Checkout Note, in two places at once: the API, and Order Additional Info.
Those last two are worth seeing on their own, since they serve different purposes depending on how your team works.
How Does It Show Up in the API?
InfiPlex calls this kind of note a Checkout Note, a note that came from the buyer at checkout on the marketplace or webstore, not typed in by someone on your team. In the API, that distinction comes through as a flag on the note record itself:
{
"shop_order_note_id": "34176",
"shop_order_note_order_id": "117488",
"note": "Happy Birthday Mom! - Sarah",
"date_created": "2026-08-20 10:16:37",
"is_checkout_note": "1"
}
Each note carries its own shop_order_note_id, links back to the order through shop_order_note_order_id, and is timestamped with date_created. For picking a checkout note out from any other note on the order, though, is_checkout_note is the field to check. When it's set to 1, you know two things without reading a word of the note itself: it came from the end buyer, not your own staff, and it came in through the marketplace or webstore, not a manual entry. That's the signal to use when deciding whether a note belongs on a packing slip, needs to reach a gift message field, or otherwise needs to follow the order somewhere an internal note shouldn't go.
Where Do I See It Without the API?
Not every team wants to go through the API for this. The same note is also saved in Order Additional Info, directly on the order, no code required:
The same rule applies here as in the API: if there's a Customer notes entry in Additional Info, InfiPlex found a checkout note on that order. If there isn't one, the channel didn't send one for that order, there's nothing missing on InfiPlex's end to troubleshoot.
Which Channels Does This Actually Apply To?
The mechanism isn't specific to Shopify or to any one B2B marketplace, it's how InfiPlex handles a checkout note from any connected channel that provides one:
Whether a given order actually has a note depends entirely on the channel, and ultimately the buyer, not on InfiPlex. If a channel's checkout doesn't collect a note, or the buyer leaves it blank, there's simply nothing for InfiPlex to save.
Checkout Notes Questions
Does InfiPlex put the note on the packing slip automatically?
Not by itself. InfiPlex surfaces the note through the API and through Order Additional Info so you can decide where it needs to go, a packing slip, a gift message field, a note to your warehouse team. Whether it actually prints depends on how you or your fulfillment setup uses that data.
What happens if the channel doesn't send a note?
Nothing gets created. No Checkout Note, no Customer notes entry in Additional Info. An order without a note from the channel looks exactly like an order that never had one to begin with.
Is this different from a note I add myself inside InfiPlex?
Yes, that's the whole point of the flag. is_checkout_note distinguishes a note that came from the buyer through the marketplace or webstore from a note your own team typed directly into InfiPlex. Manual notes don't carry that flag.
Does this work the same way for Faire and Maisonette as it does for Shopify?
Yes. The channel is different, but the mechanic isn't: whatever note field that marketplace attaches to the order gets pulled in and saved as a Checkout Note the same way, in the API and in Additional Info.
Where do I look if I don't have API access?
Open the order in InfiPlex and check Order Additional Info for an entry named Customer notes. If it's there, that's the checkout note.
Is "Checkout Note" itself a field I need to check?
No. The API doesn't return the words "Checkout Note" anywhere on the note record, that's just what this article and InfiPlex call a note where is_checkout_note is set to 1. The flag is the only thing your code needs to check.
Need Something This Doesn't Cover?
Contact Us and we'll take a look. Support is included with every InfiPlex plan.
Never lose a buyer's note again
InfiPlex pulls checkout notes from Shopify, Faire, Maisonette, and every other connected channel into the same order record, automatically.
