How to Set Up a Free Gift With Purchase on Shopify? (3 Methods)

Free gifts look simple, but most Shopify merchants set them up the wrong way and leave money on the table. This guide explains what a gift with purchase really is, why it lifts average order value, the 3 ways to set it up on Shopify, and the best practices that turn a free item into more revenue. At BOGOS, we help Shopify merchants run free gift, bundle, and upsell promotions every day. In this article, I’ll share what works, with real numbers from stores doing it now.

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TL;DR

• A gift with purchase (GWP) gives customers a free item when they hit a condition, like a spend threshold or a specific product.
• GWP adds value without cutting your prices, so your margins stay healthier than with a sitewide discount.
• The global average order value is about $145, and a free gift is one of the fastest ways to push past it.
• You can set up a free gift 3 ways on Shopify: the native Buy X Get Y discount (free), a gift app (recommended), or custom code (for complex stores).
• The native method has one big flaw: it will not add the gift to the cart automatically.
• Real results: Missing Pen earned €36,000 and a 19% AOV lift, and Aotea Gifts hit roughly 70% higher AOV, both without a sitewide discount.
• The single best tip: set your gift threshold about 15% to 30% above your current average order.

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1. What is Gift With Purchase, and How Does It Work?

Gift with purchase (GWP) is a promotional strategy where customers receive a complimentary item or service when they meet specific purchasing conditions. This marketing technique creates added value for shoppers while encouraging larger purchases and brand engagement.

Gift with purchase promotions operate on a simple conditional framework where customers must fulfill certain requirements to unlock their free rewards. Here’s what customers typically need to do and what they can receive:

What Customers Need to Purchase:

• Minimum Cart Value: Spend a specific dollar amount (e.g., “Spend $75, get a free tote bag”)
• Minimum Item Quantity: Buy a certain number of products (e.g., “Buy 3 items, get the 4th free”)
• Specific Product Purchase: Buy particular items to qualify (e.g., “Purchase any skincare set, receive a free travel-size moisturizer”)
• Category-Based Requirements: Shop from specific collections (e.g., “Buy any two makeup products, get a free lip gloss”)

What Customers Can Receive as Gifts:

• Branded merchandise (tote bags, water bottles, accessories)
• Sample or travel-size versions of existing products
• Exclusive or limited-edition items are not available for regular purchase
• Digital rewards (discount codes, exclusive content, early access)
• Service add-ons (free shipping, extended warranties, consultations)

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2. Why Shopify Merchants Use GWP Promotions

The reason GWP works better than a flat discount for many stores comes down to perceived value. A 10% discount on a $80 order saves the customer $8. A free gift valued at $8 (that only costs you $3 to fulfill) feels like a much bigger reward (even though your actual cost is lower).

Beyond that, GWP promotions give you a few specific advantages:

• Higher average order value. Studies show GWP campaigns can lift average order value by up to 30%. For example, Missing Pen, a German luxury stationery store, used BOGOS gifts and bundles to earn €36,000 in extra revenue and a 19% AOV lift, with no sitewide discount.
• Better conversion rates. A visible gift offer (progress bar, popup, banner) gives shoppers a reason to complete checkout instead of abandoning.
• Inventory clearance. Samples, end-of-line products, or low-cost accessories make effective gifts and help you move stock without discounting your core catalog.
• Stronger customer experience. A surprise or earned gift creates a positive unboxing moment, which supports repeat purchases and word-of-mouth.

The trade-off is margin. Every gift has a cost: product cost, packaging, and sometimes extra shipping weight. That’s why the threshold and gift selection matter as much as the offer itself (more on that later).

If you’re comparing GWP to other promotional tactics like BOGO or percentage-off discounts, the key difference is that GWP adds perceived value without reducing the price of anything already in the cart. Your products stay full price. The gift is the incentive.

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3. Common Types of Gift With Purchase You Can Create on Shopify

Before setting anything up, it helps to know what kinds of gift offers are possible. The “right” type depends on your goal — whether you want to push AOV higher, promote a specific product, or let customers feel like they’re choosing their reward.

👉 If you’re looking for more ways to increase your Shopify store’s AOV, this article breaks down 10 common strategies Shopify merchants use to boost their store’s average order value: Shopify AOV: What It Is, 2026 Benchmarks, and 10 Ways to Increase It

Here are the 5 most common GWP offer types Shopify merchants use.

Spend Threshold Gift

This is the most popular GWP format. The customer’s cart subtotal must reach a minimum amount before the gift unlocks.

It works well because the mechanic is simple for shoppers to understand, and it directly targets AOV. You set the threshold above your current average order value, so customers naturally add more items to qualify.

Example: “Spend $75, get a free travel-size moisturizer.” If your current AOV is $60, the $75 threshold pulls most orders up by at least one extra product.

One thing to watch: set the threshold too high and redemption drops sharply. Sources show that a good starting point is 15–30% above your current AOV. You can test from there.

Product-Specific Gift

Instead of a cart total, the trigger is a specific product or collection. When a customer adds the qualifying item, the gift becomes available.

This type is useful for product launches, hero SKU promotions, or moving paired inventory. It’s also effective when you want to reward customers for buying higher-margin items specifically, rather than just spending more overall.

Example: “Buy any full-size serum → get a free sample kit.” The gift is tied to the serum purchase, not the cart value.

The limitation is that it doesn’t push AOV the way a threshold does. It’s better suited to conversion goals or product awareness.

Quantity-Based Gift

The trigger here is how many items the customer adds — either from a specific collection or store-wide. Once they hit the required quantity, the gift unlocks.

This works well for consumables, accessories, or collections where you want to encourage multi-unit purchases. It’s a natural fit for stores selling items customers buy in multiples (skincare, supplements, socks, candles).

Example: “Buy 3 candles, get a free matchbox set.”

Keep in mind that quantity-based triggers can create edge cases with product variants. Make sure your setup counts variants correctly — three different scents of the same candle should still qualify.

👉 Set up guide: How to offer GWP on Shopify with multiple purchase criteria

Tiered Gifts

Tiered GWP offers set multiple thresholds, each unlocking a better gift. The higher the customer spends, the more valuable the reward.

This is the strongest AOV driver because it gives customers a reason to keep adding items even after they’ve passed the first threshold. It also creates a “gamified” feeling — shoppers can see what they’ll unlock next.

Example: Spend $50 → free sample. Spend $100 → full-size product. Spend $150 → full-size product + branded pouch.

The trade-off is complexity. You need enough gift inventory at each tier, and the setup requires an app — Shopify’s native discount system doesn’t support multiple gift levels in a single promotion.

Customer-Pick Gift

Instead of auto-adding a single predetermined gift, you let the customer choose from two or three options. This requires an app with a gift picker UI (usually a gift pop-up).

Letting customers choose increases perceived value because they feel in control. It also reduces the risk of the gift feeling irrelevant — a problem when you auto-add a single item that not every customer wants.

Example: “Spend $80 → pick 1 of 3 free accessories (phone grip, tote bag, or sticker pack).”

This approach needs more planning: you’re managing inventory across multiple gift SKUs, and you need an app that handles the selection interface cleanly in your theme’s cart drawer or cart page.

👉 Set up guide: How to Enable Free Gift Selection on Shopify

4. 3 Ways to Add a Free Gift With Purchase on Shopify

There are four ways to set up a gift with purchase on Shopify. They range from a free, no-code option that takes five minutes to a developer-level script that runs at checkout.

Before walking through each one, here’s a quick comparison so you can jump to the method that fits your store:

Factor	Native discount	Gift app	Custom code
Cost	Free	From about $15 to $30/month	High (developer time)
Setup difficulty	Easy	Easy	Hard
Auto-add gift to cart	No	Yes	Yes
Tiered gifts	No	Yes	Yes
Customization	Low	High	Full
Best for	A single basic offer	Most stores	Complex or headless stores

Most Shopify merchants will get the best results from Method 1 (for simple offers) or Method 2 (for anything more flexible). Method 3 is a developer-dependent alternative for stores that want custom control or are already on Shopify Plus.

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Method 1: Use Shopify’s Built-in “Buy X Get Y” Discount

Shopify has no one-click free gift feature, but its built-in Buy X Get Y discount comes close. It is free and needs no app, which makes it a fine starting point for a basic, one-off offer.

Here’s how to set it up:

• Step 1: In your Shopify admin, go to Discounts → Create discount → Select Buy X Get Y

• Step 2: Under “Customer buys,” set the condition: either a minimum quantity of specific products or a minimum purchase amount (this is your threshold).

• Step 3: Under “Customer gets,” choose the gift product and set the discount to 100% off (making it free).

• Step 4: Set the maximum number of uses per order — typically 1, so customers can’t claim multiple gifts.

• Step 5: Under “Discount type,” choose Automatic, so it applies without a code.

• Step 6: Save the discount and test it in your storefront.

One big caveat: this method will not add the gift to the cart automatically. The customer must add it themselves before checkout. So you must tell them clearly with a banner, pop-up, or cart note, such as “Spend $75 and add your free gift before checkout.”

There is a second limit. Shopify runs only one automatic discount at a time, so tiered gift campaigns are not possible with this method.

This option is best for merchants who want a free, no-frills way to test a single gift offer.

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Method 2: A gift with purchase app (recommended)

For auto-adding a free gift to the cart, tiered gifts, and a smoother customer experience, a dedicated app is the better choice. An app adds the gift to the cart automatically, supports multiple offers at once, and lets you target the right shoppers.

Here are 3 of the top-rated free gift apps on the Shopify App Store:

App	Rating	Free plan	Paid plans from	Best for
BOGOS: Free Gift Bundle Upsell	5.0 (3,700+ reviews)	Yes (30 lifetime orders)	$29.99/month	Advanced gift logic plus bundles and upsells in one app
EG Auto Add to Cart Free Gift	5.0 (1,000+ reviews)	No (trial only)	$14.99/month	Simple, reliable gift automation
Monk Free Gift + BOGO + Cart Upsell	4.8 (200+ reviews)	Yes	$30/month	Medium stores want reliable gift promotions with multi-language support

👉 For more reviews of Shopify Gift-with-purchase apps, check out this blog: Top 8 Must-Have Shopify Free Gift With Purchase App To Boost AOV

The right pick depends on your needs. EG is great if you want lightweight gift automation. Gift Box suits stores that want a simple, slick gift pop-up with gift choice and a fast, no-code setup. BOGOS is the strongest fit if you want deep gift rules and want to run bundles, discounts, and upsells from one place. It auto-adds gifts, supports a gift slider, and targets by cart value, customer tag, location, and more.

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Method 3: Custom code (for complex stores)

If neither the native method nor an app fits your exact needs, you can build a free gift with custom code. This gives you full control, but it costs the most and needs a developer.

Custom code suits large stores, headless setups, or unusual rules that off-the-shelf apps do not handle. Modern builds use Shopify Functions. Note that Shopify Scripts, the older tool many guides still mention, is deprecated, so build on Functions instead.

For most stores, this is overkill. Reach for it only when an app genuinely cannot do what you need.

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5. How to set up a gift with purchase with the BOGOS app

Here is the full step-by-step setup with BOGOS. In this example, we will show you how to do a “Spend $100 to get gift” offer

• Step 1: Install BOGOS from the Shopify App Store and open the app from your admin.
• Step 2: In BOGOS admin dashboard, click Create offer → Gift Offer → Choose “Spend X amount to get gift” template

• Step 3: Set the minimum and maximum cart values, then choose which products you want to apply this offer to.

Note: If you want to combine cart value with cart quantity condition, click on “Add main condition“

• Step 4: Choose the gift product the customer will receive, and add more than one if you want to offer a choice.

Note: If you want customers to choose a gift from a list via a gift pop-up, set the “number of gifts customers receive” to be lower than the number of selected gift products. You can then customize the gift pop-up design in the “Customize” dashboard

• Step 5: Add a “Sub-condition” to limit which customer segments this offer applies to.

• Step 6: Set “Offer Priority” and add “Cart messages” to inform customers about the offer.

• Step 7: Set the start and end dates, then save and publish the offer.
• Step 8: Test it on your live store on both desktop and mobile to confirm the gift applies correctly.

A few tips make the setup pay off. Use auto add to cart so the gift drops in without a manual step. Turn on a gift slider when you want customers to pick their own reward. Add a progress bar for tiered offers so shoppers can see how close they are to the next gift.

One more advantage: BOGOS runs more than gifts. You can also build product bundles, cart and checkout upsells, and volume discounts from the same dashboard, which keeps your promotions from clashing.

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6. 7 best practices for high-converting gift with purchase offers

A free gift only pays off when it is set up with care. These seven practices make the difference between a promotion that grows your store and one that just costs you margin.

• Set the threshold above your AOV. Aim for about 15% to 30% above your current average order. That nudges customers to spend a little more without scaring them off.
• Pick a gift that fits. A relevant, useful gift beats a random one every time. Missing Pen gave Kaweco ink with Kaweco pens, and the match made the gift feel like curation.
• Auto-add the gift and make it visible. Add the gift to the cart for the customer, then show the offer with a banner, product badge, or progress bar so no one misses it.
• Add urgency. A limited-time or “while supplies last” frame pushes faster decisions.
• Protect your margins. Keep the gift cost low against the order value. In the Missing Pen offers, gifts ran about 14% to 20% of the order, which felt generous to buyers but stayed profitable.
• Segment your customers. Tailor offers to new shoppers, VIPs, or specific collections. A targeted gift converts better than a generic one.
• Measure results. Track each offer so you can keep the winners and cut the rest.

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7. 5 common mistakes to avoid

Even a good idea fails with poor execution. Watch for these five mistakes.

• Setting the threshold wrong. Too high, and no one reaches it. Too low, and you give away margin you did not need to.
• Choosing a weak gift. A low-value or unrelated gift can hurt your brand more than help it.
• Forgetting to tell customers. With the native method, shoppers must add the gift themselves. If you do not say so clearly, they reach checkout disappointed.
• No limit per order. Without a cap, customers can claim multiple gifts and drain your margin.
• Not tracking anything. If you do not measure AOV and redemption, you cannot tell which offers actually work.

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8. How to measure if your gift with purchase is working

Run every offer like a test. These four numbers tell you the truth.

• Average order value. Compare AOV before and during the campaign. A clear lift means the offer is doing its job.
• Conversion rate. Check whether more visitors are completing a purchase.
• Gift redemption rate. See how many qualifying orders actually claimed the gift. Low redemption often means the offer is hard to see.
• Margin per order. Confirm that the bigger carts still leave healthy profit after the gift cost.

Most gift apps, including BOGOS, report these numbers in a built-in dashboard, so you can adjust offers without guesswork.

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9. Final words

A gift with purchase is one of the simplest ways to grow your Shopify store without slashing prices. It lifts average order value, recovers hesitant carts, clears slow stock, and builds loyalty, all while keeping your products at full price.

The proof is in real stores. Missing Pen earned €36,000 and a 19% AOV lift, and Aotea Gifts reached roughly 70% higher AOV, both with gifts and bundles instead of sitewide discounts.

Start small. Pick one offer type, set your threshold a little above your average order, choose a gift that fits, and make it easy to see. When you are ready to automate it and track the results, BOGOS lets you run gifts, bundles, and upsells from one dashboard and get started for free.

10. FAQs