Gift with Purchase

A gift with purchase gives a free item once the cart reaches a minimum spend or a minimum number of items. With the Promotions app embed on, the app puts the gift in the cart for the shopper as soon as they qualify — and takes it back out if they drop below the minimum.

Setup

1. Open Discounts and click Create discount, then choose Gift with Purchase.

   It sits under Advanced, marked Beta, with the example “Free item on orders over $50”.

2. Name the discount.

   Fill in Title — the name shoppers see when the discount is applied.

   

3. Choose what unlocks the gift and set the minimum.

   The gift unlocks by offers Minimum spend or Minimum quantity. Fill in the Minimum spend or Minimum quantity field below it. Turn on Count only these items if just some products, collections or product tags should count towards the minimum.

   

4. Pick the gift and how many units are free.

   In Free gift, pick 1 to 5 product variants, then set Free quantity — the units given free per order — and, if you want a ceiling, Maximum gifts per order. Optionally turn on Gift tiers first to give more units at higher spend or quantity.

   

5. Turn on any conditions the cart must meet.

   The Conditions card has five rows — Customer tags, Account status, B2B customers, Past orders and Cart attribute. Leave them all off to offer the gift to everyone. Every condition you turn on must pass.

6. Set the storefront behaviour, combinations, markets and dates, then save.

   The Storefront card shows whether the app embed is on and holds Re-add removed gifts. Then check Discount can be combined with, Purchase type, Markets and Active Dates, and save from the bar at the top of the page.

Settings

Title

The name shoppers see when the discount is applied.

Add internal title for reference

Adds a second name only you see, to tell similar discounts apart in your own list.

The gift unlocks by

Minimum spend measures the cart’s merchandise total; Minimum quantity counts the qualifying items. Switching between them clears any tier thresholds you had typed, because an amount ladder is not an items ladder.

Minimum spend / Minimum quantity

The threshold the cart must reach. A minimum spend must be 0.01 or more; a minimum quantity must be a whole number, 1 or more. The gift’s own price and units never count towards it. The field is hidden while Gift tiers is on — the ladder owns the thresholds then.

Count only these items

Narrows what counts towards the minimum to the Products (up to 20), Collections (up to 10) or Product tags (up to 10) you pick. Everything else in the cart is ignored. The gift cannot also be a counted item — the cart could then never qualify, and the app says so on the field.

Gift tiers

Optional ladder: give more free units at higher spend or quantity, up to 5 tiers. Each tier has a Spend or Buy (quantity) threshold and a Get (units free) count, and can carry Different gift for this tier so shoppers who reach it get that gift instead of the main gift. Each order gets one tier’s worth of free units — tiers do not stack.

Free gift

The gift itself: 1 to 5 product variants. With more than one, the free quantity is shared across them rather than given per gift, and Shopify frees the qualifying units in the order you choose below. Gift cards cannot be given as free gifts. When every tier has its own gift, the main gift becomes optional.

Free quantity

Units given free per order, from 1 to 10. With several gifts it is the total across all of them. Hidden while Gift tiers is on — each tier sets its own.

Maximum gifts per order

The most free units one order can get, from 1 to 100. Leave it empty for no limit. It applies in every mode, including tiers.

Cheapest gift goes free first

Shown once the offer holds more than one gift. Off, the priciest of the gifts in the cart is freed first and is the one the app adds automatically; on, the cheapest is.

Same item as the gift

Shown for a minimum-quantity trigger without tiers. Turns the offer into “buy 2, get the 3rd free” on the same item: the gift is one of the qualifying items rather than a different product. While it is on, Count only these items is locked off — the gift pool is what counts — and the offer takes a single gift variant.

Repeat this offer

On for a new gift, and shown when Gift tiers and Same item as the gift are both off. On, every further step past the minimum gives the gift again — a cart at twice the minimum gets it twice. Off, the gift is given once per order however much the shopper buys.

Conditions

Five switch rows; a cart must meet every one you turn on.

• Customer tags — customers who have any of the tags you list, or none of them. Up to 20 tags.
• Account status — only signed-in customers, or only guests.
• B2B customers — only B2B customers, or exclude them.
• Past orders — a minimum, a maximum, or both, on how many orders the customer has placed before. Use 0 as the minimum to include first-time customers.
• Cart attribute — matches an attribute set by your theme or another app, like gift_wrap: yes. Up to 2 attributes; the cart qualifies when it carries any one of them.

Storefront

Shows whether the Promotions app embed is on. With the embed on, the app adds the gift to the cart automatically once the cart qualifies and removes it when it stops qualifying. Without it, shoppers add the gift themselves and it still becomes free. With more than one gift, the app adds one of them — the cheapest or priciest, per the setting above — and a shopper who wants a different one removes it and adds their own. Gifts must be published to your Online Store to be added.

Re-add removed gifts

Off, a gift the shopper removes stays removed for their visit. On, the gift is added back while the cart still qualifies.

Discount can be combined with:

Product discounts is ticked for a new gift on purpose: if the gift cannot combine with product discounts, it disappears whenever a bigger product discount applies to the cart. Order discounts and Shipping discounts are off by default.

Purchase type

One-time purchases, Subscription products, or both — at least one is required. Ticking subscriptions adds a choice of First payment only, Limited number of payments (up to 100) or All recurring payments.

Markets

Apply to all markets covers every current and future market. Apply to specific markets lets you pick up to 20; at least one is required once you switch to it.

Active Dates

Start Date and Start Time say when the offer begins, and Set End Date adds an end. All times are in your store’s timezone, which the card names on screen.

Examples

Free tote on orders over 100

Title: Free tote over 100
The gift unlocks by: Minimum spend
Minimum spend: 100
Free gift: Canvas tote — Natural
Free quantity: 1
Repeat this offer: off

Free sample once three items are in the cart, counted on one collection

Title: Free sample with 3 items
The gift unlocks by: Minimum quantity
Minimum quantity: 3
Count only these items: on
Item type: Collections
Select collections: Skincare
Free gift: Travel serum 10ml
Free quantity: 1

Buy 2, get the 3rd free on the same item

Title: Buy 2 get 1 free
The gift unlocks by: Minimum quantity
Minimum quantity: 2
Free gift: Cotton socks — Black
Free quantity: 1
Same item as the gift: on

A gift ladder that gets better as they spend

Title: Spend and get more
The gift unlocks by: Minimum spend
Gift tiers: on
Tier 1 → Spend: 75 · Get (units free): 1
Tier 2 → Spend: 150 · Get (units free): 2
Free gift: Mini candle
Maximum gifts per order: 2

How it shows to the shopper

Shopify checks the cart, and once it reaches the minimum the gift is free. With the Promotions app embed on, the app also puts the gift in the cart for the shopper, so they see the free line without doing anything — and it is removed again if the cart drops below the minimum. Without the embed, or on Shopify POS, the gift is not added automatically: the shopper (or your POS staff) adds it and it is discounted as usual.

When the offer holds several gifts, the app adds one of them and the shopper can swap it for another gift from the same offer; it still becomes free.

Limits and notes

• Gifts: 1 to 5 product variants. Across the main gift and every tier’s own gift: up to 10 variants from up to 5 products.
• Free quantity: 1 to 10 units per order.
• Maximum gifts per order: 1 to 100, or empty for no limit.
• Gift tiers: up to 5, each giving 1 to 10 free units, with rising thresholds.
• Count only these items: up to 20 products, 10 collections, or 10 product tags.
• Customer tags: up to 20. Cart attributes: up to 2.
• Markets: up to 20 when you pick specific markets.
• Subscriptions: up to 100 recurring payments when you choose a limited number.
• Gift cards can never be free gifts. The app checks every pick against Shopify and refuses them.
• The gift never counts towards its own trigger — not its price, not its units.
• The gift cannot also be a counted item. If it is, the cart can never qualify; use Same item as the gift or pick a different gift.
• Tiers do not stack. Each order gets one tier’s worth of free units.
• Auto-adding needs the app embed. With it off, the discount still works — only the automatic cart line is missing. On Shopify POS the gift is never added automatically.
• Combinations are Shopify’s call. Ticking a box tells Shopify this discount may run alongside that kind; Shopify decides what actually applies.

FAQ

Does the shopper have to add the gift themselves? Not when the Promotions app embed is on — the app adds the gift as soon as the cart qualifies and removes it when it stops qualifying. Without the embed the shopper adds it themselves and it still becomes free.

Can I give a gift card as the gift? No. The app checks every pick against Shopify and refuses gift-card products.

Does the gift’s own price count towards the minimum? No. The gift is left out of both the total and the count, so adding it can never push a cart over the line on its own.

What happens on Shopify POS? The gift is not added to the cart automatically — POS has no theme and no app embed. Staff ring the gift up and it is discounted as usual.

Why does the free gift disappear when another discount applies? Because the gift is not set to combine with product discounts. Tick Product discounts in Discount can be combined with — it is on by default for a new gift.

Related

• Buy X Get Y — free or discounted items driven by what is bought, with full buy and get rules.
• Order discount — money off the order once it reaches a minimum.
• Where discounts show — how automatic discounts reach the shopper in the cart.