How to Add Free Gift With Purchase on Shopify? [Last Updated: April 2025]

Shopify’s free gift with purchase has become a big part of scaling revenue for entrepreneurs. Not only do they encourage customers to complete purchases quickly, but they also serve as a proven strategy in maximizing average order value.

In this blog article, you will explore a step-by-step guide on how to set up free gifts with purchases on Shopify. Plus, discover six dynamic free gifts that can significantly boost your store’s revenue.

1. What is Shopify Free Gift With Purchase?

The free gift with purchase on Shopify is a type of Shopify discount that rewards customers with multiple offers when they meet specific conditions. The two main conditions to consider are minimum cart value and minimum item quantity. 

Implementing Free Gift With Purchase offers numerous advantages that directly impact your bottom line and customer relationships:

• Increases Sales and Average Order Value: Free gifts incentivize customers to spend more to qualify for the offer, often leading to higher basket sizes and increased order values.
• Increased Brand Loyalty: A study conducted by Harris Interactive says that nearly 90% of recipients are “somewhat likely” to buy more frequently from a retailer after receiving a free gift.
• Enhanced Word-of-Mouth: In the same study by Harris Interactive, almost 65% of free gift receivers said they were at least somewhat likely to share their experiences with others online

But which types of free gifts can help grow your business? Our next section reveals the most effective options.

2. What Types of Free Gift With Purchase Can You Create On Shopify?

Here are common types of free gifts with purchases you can create on Shopify:

2.1 Buy one, get one free (BOGO)

Buy One Get One (BOGO) is a special type of Free Gift With Purchase where customers receive a similar free gift with the product they are buying in the qualifying collection. A BOGO promotion is simple but highly effective for boosting your store’s revenue. On Shopify, you can combine BOGO promotions with customer group targeting to maximize your conversion rate.

2.2 Buy X, get Y

This is similar to BOGO but differs in the gifting item. In the ‘Buy X, Get Y’ gifting method, customers receive a free gift(s) (Y) or a discounted price when they purchase a specific quantity of products (X).

2.3 Spend an amount to get a gift

In this Gift With Purchase model, customers must reach a specific total cart value to receive a free gift. Shopify merchants can apply this discount to specific products, categories, or the entire store. Once the customer’s cart reaches the required total amount of spending, the system automatically offers a free gift or suggests an upsell of a relevant product at a discounted price.

2.4 Buy a number of products to get a gift

Similar to the “Spend X amount to get Y” model, customers are required to purchase a number of products or a pre-defined product bundle to get a free gift. Depending on your promotion strategy, this can be a specific product, a list of products, or a specific category.

There are several ways Shopify merchants can customize this type of offer. Here are some common methods you might consider for your Shopify store:

• Require customers to purchase a certain number of toothbrushes to receive free toothpaste.
• Offer a free towel when customers purchase two toothbrushes and one toothpaste.
• Provide a gift when customers purchase each product from a specific list.

2.5 Tiered gift with purchase

A tiered gift with purchase is a promotional strategy where customers receive different gifts based on the amount they spend or the number of items they purchase. This type of offer is often displayed as tiers. When customers move up to different tiers, they will receive bigger discounts or more valuable gifts. Here are two examples of tiered gifts with purchase offers on Shopify:

Based on cart quantity:

• Buy 2 toothbrushes to get a towel.
• Buy 3 toothbrushes to get a toothpaste.
• Buy 4 toothbrushes to get a towel and toothpaste.

Based on total cart value:

• Spend 100$ to get a towel.
• Spend 200$ to get toothpaste.
• Spend 300$ to get a towel and toothpaste.

This method requires merchants to use a third-party extension from the Shopify App Store. However, there is an alternative way to create a tiered gift-with-purchase offer using Shopify’s discount code feature. This option doesn’t require an app but does require customers to manually enter a discount code during checkout to receive the gift. Also, clear communication is crucial to ensure customers fully understand the benefits.

💡 Read more: Creative Gift With Purchase Promotion Ideas to Learn From

3. Two Simple Methods To Create Free Gifts With Purchase On Shopify

There are two common ways to create a Shopify free gift with purchase promotion for your store: Shopify’s native discount and third-party apps. 

• Shopify’s native discount is the built-in feature within Shopify that allows merchants to create and manage basic promotional offers directly from the Shopify admin. These discounts only offer fundamental features. 
• Shopify’s Third-party apps offer advanced promotions like auto add-to-cart, tiered pricing, bundles, and free gifts. These allow merchants to create more engaging promotions for their customers.

Need more details? Here’s our breakdown of the differences between these two methods:

When to choose each option? 

Shopify’s native discount best fits with entrepreneurs who are: 

• Running a short-term, single-product promotion
• Operating with tight budget constraints
• Willing to accept manual gift management 

On the other hand, a third-party app may be recommended for merchants who are:

• Managing multiple concurrent campaigns
• Demanding automated gift fulfillment
• Searching for advanced customer segmentation
• Requiring detailed and comprehensive analytics

💥 The biggest downfall of Shopify Native Discounts is that free gifts will not be automatically added to customer’s cart even though the condition has been met. There are several ways you can automate this process, which we will explain further in this article: How to automatically add a free gift to cart on Shopify?

4. How To Set Up Free Gift With Purchase With Shopify Native Discount

If you are new to Shopify, below is a comprehensive guide on how to add free gifts with purchases with Shopify’s automatic discounts from the admin panel.

Step 1:

Visit your Shopify store dashboard > Click Discounts and choose Buy X get Y.

The buy X get Y promotion lets customers receive a free gift(s) (Y) when they purchase a specific quantity of products (X).

Choose the Automatic discount method and name the free gift.

Step 2:

Choose the minimum quantity of items if you want customers to buy a specific number of products. Choose the minimum purchase amount if you want them to spend a particular amount of money.

Then, select specific products or collections. Repeat these steps for the Customer gets section and click Free.

Decide whether to combine this offer with other available discounts. You can also set a maximum number of promotions used per order, e.g., only once or multiple times.

Lastly, set the start and end times for the promotion.

After meeting the conditions, you have to ask customers to manually add the free gift to their cart.

5. Creating a Free Gift With Purchase using the Shopify app

Rather than setting up promotions with Shopify’s native discount feature, you can leverage specialized extensions to scale your revenue dramatically.

For example, Glam42, a growing cosmetics and perfume retailer, saw its sales multiply by 8 times after implementing BOGOS promotional offers. Similarly, Epic Loot Shop, a Viking jewelry retailer, boosted its conversion rate by 41% when it started using the BOGOS app for its promotion campaigns.

So, what does BOGOS offer? How has this top-notch solution maintained its position as Shopify’s leading free gift for nearly a decade? The following section will cover everything you need to know. 

BOGOS Free Gift & Bundle allows entrepreneurs to create high-converting promotions that streamline the customer experience and skyrocket sales. 

Key features: 

• Create and run multiple offers: Buy one get one, tiered value offers, gift with purchase, and free or discounted gifts
• Reward unique gifts for specific customer segments to gain better retention and satisfaction
• Built-in integrations for cart drawers, translate apps, themes, subscriptions, and more

Shopify rating: 4.9/5 (2,100+ reviews)

Customer support: Documentation, FAQs, live chat, email, video call

Pricing: From Basic plan ($29.99/month) to Professional plan ($49.99/month), Unlimited plan ($69.99/month), and Plus plan ($99.99/month)

🚀 Ready to see these benefits in action? Watch our step-by-step video tutorial below to learn how BOGOS can help you quickly launch powerful gift promotions on your Shopify store

6. How To Create Gift With Purchase For Specific Customers On Shopify?

As mentioned above, merchants use two primary methods to set up a gift-with-purchase promotion for their stores. Shopify’s native app discount allows users to set up simple gift-with-purchase promotions based on standard segment components such as: 

• Customers who haven’t purchased
• Customers who have purchased more than once
• Abandoned checkouts in the last 30 days
• Email subscribers
• Customers who have purchased at least once  

Along with the basic segmentation options, Free Gift apps like BOGOS offer advanced targeting capabilities such as:

• Location-based offer.
• Offer for subscriptions.
• Specific sale channels like the Mobile app and POS.
• Order history like spending history.

Still want to explore more Shopify gift promotion options and compare their features? Check out our comprehensive guide to the Top 8 must-have Shopify free gift with purchase apps to find the perfect solution for your store’s specific needs.

7. Best Practices For Building Free Gift With Purchase

Here are some helpful tips to help users leverage the promotion campaigns and achieve remarkable milestones.

7.1 Ensuring a seamless user experience

The checkout process plays a crucial role in determining the success of your free gift promotion. Therefore, this step should be hassle-free for buyers. Consider using third-party apps to automate the procedure, minimizing manual work for your customers. 

Besides, appealing banners of gifts at the top of your website or on relevant product pages become key to attracting customers. On the other hand, make sure you closely track the free gift inventory to avoid overselling.

7.2 Monitoring and optimizing free gift campaigns

If you want to maximize the effectiveness of your Shopify free gift-with-purchase campaign, you must utilize reliable analytics tools. Based on the data insights collected, you can adjust your strategies for improvement.

A few options include:

• Shopify Analytics: This approach is suitable for brand owners who want to set up promotions using Shopify’s internal functionality
• Google Analytics: This is one of the most popular tracking and reporting platforms with insightful data for your website 
• Third-party apps: Shopify free gift apps like BOGOS are brilliant moves for merchants to boost their store growth. They provide detailed analytics by measuring crucial metrics like conversion rate, AOV (average order value), CAC (customer acquisition cost), and ROI (Return on investment).

7.3 Avoiding common pitfalls

Avoid these common mistakes when implementing a free gift with purchase offer on Shopify to ultimately increase your average order value.

• Lack of clear communication: In some cases, you may not inform your customers clearly about the free gift offer. To solve this, display the deal prominently through banners, pop-ups, and product page notifications
• Lack of free gift highlight in cart: You must make the free gift visible in the cart summary and checkout page. This will confirm that they get it and increase their satisfaction
• Complicated redemption process: Customers will leave you out if they find your processes complicated and time-consuming. That is why you should make your Shopify gift-to-cart process automated and seamless 
• Ignore inventory management: Not managing your free gift inventory may lead to stockouts and disappointed buyers. Remember to track this inventory accurately and set up alerts for low stock. 

8. Conclusion

If you’re new to e-commerce and prefer to start with experimental steps, Shopify’s default settings offer an excellent entry point. This free approach is easy to set up and provides the basic features to manage small promotional campaigns.

However, for merchants looking to elevate their business, third-party apps provide enhanced capabilities to maximize the impact of Shopify free gift with purchase promotions. 

Explore insightful resources at our BOGOS Shopify resources to discover everything you need to launch an effective Shopify free gift with purchase strategy successfully.

9. FAQs