Why the personal message matters more than the gift itself
Most gifts sent through Kapruka are going to a parent, partner, or close friend the sender cannot visit in person. The recipient opens the box, reads the card, and that message is often the only voice-note-from-home they get that day. If the card is blank, misspelled, or signed by the wrong sibling, the gift lands flat.
In my four years handling customer experience at Kapruka, the single most common post-checkout email I see is not “where is my parcel?” — it is “please fix the message on the card.” That is why we treat the personal message as a serious part of the order, not a checkbox.
Where does the personal message appear on a Kapruka gift order?
The personal message you type at checkout does not go on the delivery slip. It is printed on a separate greeting card that travels inside the package with the gift. That is an important distinction — the courier does not see it, only the recipient does.
Here is where each piece of information on a gift order actually shows up:
| Field you fill in at checkout | Where it appears | Who reads it |
|---|---|---|
| Personal message | Printed on the greeting card inside the box | The recipient only |
| Recipient name and address | Delivery slip on the outside of the parcel | The courier and the recipient |
| Sender name | Order confirmation email + optional signature on the card | You, and the recipient if you sign the message |
| Card category (birthday card, anniversary card, general greeting card) | Determines the card design chosen for the print | The recipient only |
If you are ordering send flowers in Sri Lanka, a birthday cake, or a hamper for someone in Colombo or Kandy, the card is the piece the recipient will keep. Give it the attention it deserves.
How do I add a personal message to an online gift order?
The message field sits on the checkout page, not the product page. This trips up first-time senders, especially diaspora customers ordering from abroad. Here is the exact sequence.
Add the gift to your cart. Pick the item — flowers, a cake, a hamper, or a combination — from the product page and click “Add to Cart”.
Open the cart and proceed to checkout. On the checkout page, scroll past the recipient address block. You will see a text box labelled “Message on the card” or similar wording depending on the category.
Type the personal message. Keep it to about 3–6 lines. Sign it with the name the recipient will recognise (“Loku Akka”, “Thaththa”, “The Perera family”) — not your email display name.
Choose the card style if the option is offered. For anniversary orders, pick the anniversary card option; for birthdays, the birthday card. This changes the printed design, not the message.
Review, then pay in LKR or your card currency. Once payment clears, the order enters the printing queue.
Wait for the confirmation email. It arrives within 5–10 minutes and shows the exact message we will print. This is your last easy chance to spot a typo.
How to change or fix the message after checkout
Once you have paid, the message is not locked instantly — but the window is short. Kapruka prints the card as part of the fulfilment run, and once printing is done, the paper card in the box cannot be edited without reprinting the whole thing.
Open the confirmation email and note the order number. It will start with
VCOMorVBRN.Reply to that email, or use the Kapruka customer support contact form. Put the order number in the subject line. Paste the corrected message in full — do not just describe the change.
Do this the same day if possible. For orders scheduled for next-day delivery, the printing team locks messages the evening before dispatch.
If the order is already out for delivery, the printed card can no longer be changed. Support can still send a follow-up digital note or attach a correction slip to a future order, but the card in the box will read whatever was locked at print time.
Special characters, languages, and formatting: what to watch for
Sinhala and Tamil script print correctly on the card. So do standard punctuation, emoji names spelled out, and short English-Sinhala mixes (“Suba Upan Dinayak, Amma”).
What tends to break is anything pasted from a word processor. Curly quotes (“smart quotes”), em-dashes, and ellipsis characters (…) can sometimes get scrambled by the confirmation email template into visible tags like -HELLIP- even when the printed card comes out fine. If you see that in your confirmation email, do not panic — but do email support to confirm the printed version reads correctly.
Safer choices when typing the message:
– Use straight quotes (") instead of curly quotes.
– Use three periods (...) instead of the single ellipsis character (…).
– Type directly into the checkout box rather than pasting from Word or Google Docs.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Leaving the field blank and assuming you can “add it later.” The card gets printed early in the fulfilment cycle. Blank means a blank card ships.
- Signing with an unfamiliar name. “From Suresh” means nothing to a grandmother who has four grandsons named Suresh. Use the name the recipient calls you.
- Writing the delivery address inside the message. The address belongs in the address block. Putting it in the card confuses the print team.
- Sending the message as a follow-up email without the order number. Support cannot find your order from your name alone. Always paste the
VCOM/VBRNorder number. - Using the message field to communicate with Kapruka. Instructions like “please deliver after 5pm” printed on the greeting card is a real thing we have seen. Delivery instructions go in the delivery notes field, not the card.
A real example
A customer in Melbourne ordered anniversary gifts online for her parents in Nugegoda and forgot to fill in the card field before paying. She emailed us within an hour with the order number and the message she wanted printed — a two-line note signed “Loku Akka & Chooty Akka.” Because the order was scheduled for delivery two days later, we caught it before printing, and the parents received the card as intended.
A separate case: another sender’s message included an ellipsis character that the confirmation email rendered as -HELLIP-. She emailed worried the card would be misprinted. The card itself was fine — only the email template had choked on the character. We replied with a screenshot of the print proof and she was reassured within the hour.
Both situations are fixable. Neither is fixable once the parcel is on the courier’s bike.
Frequently asked questions
How do I add a personal message when placing an online gift order?
Type the message into the “Message on the card” field on the checkout page before you pay. Do not add it on the product page — that field is only visible at checkout.
Can I change the personal message after placing the order?
Yes, if you contact Kapruka support the same day with your order number. Once the order is printed and out for delivery, the card in the box cannot be changed.
Where does the personal message appear on the delivery?
On a separate greeting card printed and placed inside the parcel with the gift. It does not appear on the delivery slip or on the outside of the box.
Why did special characters in my message appear garbled in the confirmation email?
Some characters like the ellipsis and curly quotes can render as tags like -HELLIP- in the confirmation email template. The printed card usually comes out fine, but email support to confirm.
What should I do if I forgot to add a message at checkout?
Reply to your order confirmation email or use the Kapruka contact form. Include your VCOM or VBRN order number and paste the full message you want printed on the card.
Is the personal message printed on the delivery slip?
No. The delivery slip only shows the recipient’s name and address. The personal message is printed on a separate greeting card that goes inside the package.
Related reading on Kapruka
- Birthday gift ideas — pair a birthday card message with a cake, hamper, or bouquet
- Wedding gifts — the card message matters most for weddings the sender cannot attend in person
About the author
Akthar is the Digital Marketing Manager at Kapruka Holdings PLC.
He has spent over four years at Kapruka working across marketing analytics, customer experience, and operations — with direct involvement in diaspora gifting logistics, payment integrations, and customer support workflows. The perspectives in his writing come from running these systems day to day, not from theory.
You can reach Akthar by email or connect with him on LinkedIn.