Guide
How to add a free gift with purchase in Shopify, automatically
Shopify's Buy X get Y discount makes a gift free, but according to the help center it never adds it to the cart itself. Hand-E AI Discounts adds the gift once the cart value is reached and removes it when the value drops below. For this, you switch on the app once in your theme editor, under App embeds.
A gift the customer has to find first
Spend $60, get a free tote bag. With built-in tools you build this as Buy X get Y: a minimum purchase amount as the condition, the tote bag as the item the customer gets, and the value set to free. But the discount doesn't apply unless the bag is already in the cart.
Shopify's help center says customers have to add all items to their cart themselves and the free item is never added automatically. A customer who doesn't notice the bag doesn't get it, even though they're entitled to it.
The second gap shows up when the customer removes something. If the bag is still in the cart, the discount no longer applies and the bag sits there at its regular price. For a gift that comes and goes by itself, something in your theme has to put the bag into the cart and take it out again.
| Feature | Shopify alone | With Hand-E AI Discounts |
|---|---|---|
| Gift gets into the cart | the customer adds it | automatically, once the app is switched on in the theme editor |
| Cart drops below the threshold | item stays, the discount is gone | gift disappears again |
| Gift at checkout | free as long as the condition is met | free, through the app's discount |
| Choice of several gifts | possible through products or collections | no, exactly one gift variant |
| Setup | one discount | one discount plus turning on the embed in the theme editor once |
Natively: Buy X get Y with a minimum purchase amount
The native discount fully covers the pricing side. Adding and removing the item stays with the customer.
- Setup: A Buy X get Y discount with a minimum purchase amount as the condition, the tote bag as the item the customer gets, and the value set to free. With the maximum number of uses per order you limit the gift to one.
- Notice in the store: Since nothing happens automatically, you need a clearly visible note, for example in the cart or the announcement bar, that the bag can be added from $60.
- No adjusting: If the customer removes products, the bag stays in the cart. If they overlook it, they pay for it.
- After payment: According to the help center, Buy X get Y discounts created in the admin don't apply on the post-purchase page. That is the upsell page some stores show right after payment.
- Good enough if: the gift is an extra the customer picks deliberately, for example a sample of their choice from a collection. That's what Buy X get Y is built for.
How to set up the gift in Hand-E AI Discounts
Two parts work together. The app embed in your theme puts the gift in the cart. The app's discount makes it free at checkout.
- Choose the Gift above cart value discount type.
- Pick exactly one variant as the gift, for example the tote bag in natural white.
- Enter the threshold, for example $60. The cart value is counted without the gift.
- In the Shopify admin, open the theme editor and turn on the Gift above cart value app embed. You do this once, not per discount.
- Test in your store: bring the cart above the threshold and check that the gift appears. Then remove an item and check that it disappears again.
Walkthrough: $60 threshold, tote bag worth $9.90
A customer buys coffee at $24.95 and a mug at $14.90. The table shows step by step what happens in the cart.
| Step | Cart value without gift | Gift | Customer pays for the products |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 × coffee | $49.90 | not in the cart | $49.90 |
| plus 1 mug | $64.80 | in the cart, $0.00 at checkout | $64.80 |
| mug removed again | $49.90 | disappears again | $49.90 |
| a different cart at $52.00 | $52.00 | not in the cart | $52.00 |
Limits you should know
- Depends on your theme: With some themes, the gift only appears after the next page load. That happens when the theme doesn't tell the app right away that the cart changed.
- One gift, one threshold: Each discount has exactly one gift variant above one cart value. A choice of several gifts isn't covered by this discount type.
- No embed, no gift: If the app embed isn't turned on in the theme, nothing puts the gift in the cart.
- Customer's own purchase: If the customer buys the item themselves, their line stays untouched. It isn't turned into the gift.
- The gift is an automatic app discount and takes one of the 25 slots for active automatic discounts.
- If you uninstall the app, Shopify removes the discount.
Common questions
Does the free gift disappear when the cart drops below the threshold?
Does the gift's own price count toward the free gift threshold?
Why doesn't the free gift appear until the page reloads?
Can I let customers choose between several free gifts?
Related problems
An order value discount needs several tiers
Shopify gives an order discount one minimum purchase amount, so one tier. Natively, you build each tier as its own automatic discount, and Shopify applies the one that saves the customer more. Or you set up one Cart value tiers discount in Hand-E AI Discounts.
Read moreProducts should be cheaper together, without a bundle product
Shopify Bundles creates a bundle as a separate product. Buy X get Y has one condition and one discounted group. Hand-E AI Discounts discounts your regular products instead. You split the set into groups, for example camera, card and bag. Once every group is in the cart, each group gets its own discount.
Read moreThe discount is set up but does not apply at checkout
Whether it is an automatic discount or a discount code, check two things first: the discount's own conditions and Shopify's rules for how discounts work together. These are combinations, minimum purchase requirements, customer eligibility, active dates and the limit of 25 active automatic discounts. Go through the points in order, then check the result with a test order.
Read more