Free gift with purchase for Shopify - with a progress bar that lifts every order
Last updated: October 2026
Add a gift to the cart at $0 the moment a customer's spend crosses your threshold, and show them exactly how far away it is while they shop. Stack up to five gift tiers, let customers pick their gift, and never give a gift to a cart that has not earned it.
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What is a free gift with purchase campaign on Shopify?
A Free Gift campaign on Shopify adds a gift product to the cart at $0 when the customer's spend crosses a threshold you set, while a progress bar or toast tells them how close they are. The widget adds and removes the gift automatically, and the discount function independently re-checks the threshold before pricing the gift at $0. It differs from the free gift type inside Buy X Get Y, which has a single spend threshold and a popup only: Free Gift adds gift tiers, a persistent progress bar, customer-picked gifts and gift lines that never count toward other campaigns. Free Gift is one of Discount Prime's 14+ campaign types, all in one install.
Everything a threshold gift needs
Spend-threshold gifts
Set a Spend at least amount and the gift is added to the cart at $0 once the order crosses it.
Progress bar or toast
A persistent bar shows the distance to the next gift, or a toast pops up at unlock with an undo.
Up to 5 gift tiers
Spend more, get more: each tier has its own threshold and its own gifts (Ultimate).
Customer picks
Offer up to 6 gifts in a tier and let the customer choose how many you allow (Ultimate).
Self-maintaining cart
The widget removes a gift the cart stopped earning, and the function never discounts an unqualified gift.
Scoped spend and eligibility
Count spend on products, a collection, tag, vendor or type, and limit gifts to customer segments (Ultimate).
Every Free Gift setting, explained
Free Gift is on Prime and above; settings marked Ultimate need the Ultimate plan. On Prime you get one tier with Add automatically; multiple tiers, Customer picks and eligibility beyond all customers need Ultimate. The rows below follow the campaign builder, then the Free Gift widget.
Campaign basics
| Setting | What it does | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign name | The internal name you see in your campaign list. | Prime |
| Storefront title | The title shown on the progress bar and the gift card, for example "Your free gift". |
Qualifying purchase
| Setting | What it does | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Count spend on | Chooses what counts toward the threshold: Any product, Specific products, a Collection, Product tag, Vendor or Product type, with a picker for anything other than Any product. | Prime |
| Once per order | Controls whether the gift is added once per order. With tiers, each tier adds its gift once, so a large cart never gets duplicate gifts. | |
| Spend measured after discounts | The threshold is measured on the price the customer pays, after other discounts, so a sale never makes a customer lose a gift because of the sticker price. This is fixed behavior, not a setting. |
Gift tiers
| Setting | What it does | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Spend at least | The spend threshold for the tier, for example $75. | Prime |
| Gift mode: Add automatically | The tier's gift is added to the cart at $0 as soon as the threshold is crossed, with nothing for the customer to do. | Prime |
| Gift mode: Customer picks | The tier offers a short list and the customer chooses their gift. | Ultimate |
| Picks | How many gifts the customer may choose from the tier's list. Only used with Customer picks. | |
| Gifts (Browse) | Pick the gift products for the tier with Browse, up to 6 gift products per tier. Several gifts in an Add automatically tier are each added. | |
| Add tier | Adds another tier, up to 5 in total. Prime allows one tier. | Ultimate |
| Threshold order check | Each tier's threshold must be higher than the one before. The builder warns if thresholds are out of order instead of re-sorting them. |
Safety rules (fixed)
These always apply and cannot be switched off.
| Setting | What it does | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Only $0 items are auto-added | A gift is only ever added to the cart priced at $0. | |
| Gift lines are invisible to other campaigns | A gift never counts toward another threshold, bundle, cross-sell or free shipping. | |
| Out of stock = skipped | If a gift variant has no stock, the widget offers the next gift in the tier or hides the tier, and the campaign list shows a warning. | |
| Function verifies, widget maintains | A gift left in a cart that no longer qualifies gets no discount, and the widget removes it on the next cart change. |
Storefront display (per campaign)
| Setting | What it does | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Progress bar | A persistent bar showing the distance to the next gift. | Prime |
| Toast notification | A brief pop-up when the gift unlocks, with undo. A good choice when your theme already has a shipping bar. | |
| Silent | No announcement: the gift just appears in the cart at $0. | |
| Manage widget settings | Opens the Free Gift widget to edit its text and colors. |
Eligibility & scheduling
| Setting | What it does | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Customer eligibility | By default every customer qualifies. Limiting the gift to customer segments, for example wholesale accounts only, needs Ultimate. | Ultimate |
| Schedule | Set the start and end dates, then Save. The summary card shows the tiers, the scope and "Ready to activate". | Prime |
Free Gift widget
Found under Widgets, then the Free Gift card, or Manage widget settings inside a gift campaign. The widget requires an active Free Gift campaign.
| Setting | What it does | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Display widget on store | Master on/off switch for the Free Gift widget. | |
| Display mode | Progress bar (persistent), Toast notification (pop-up at unlock, with undo) or Silent (no announcement). It can also be set per campaign in the Storefront display card. | |
| Progress text | The message while below the threshold. Use {amount} and {gift}, for example "{amount} more to unlock {gift}", and keep the placeholders exactly as written. | |
| Unlocked text | Shown once the gift is unlocked. Use {gift}. | |
| Bar background | Color of the empty part of the progress bar. | |
| Bar fill color | Color of the filled part that grows as the cart approaches the threshold. | |
| Text color | Color of the progress and unlocked text. | |
| Button background | Background color of the widget's buttons, such as the toast's undo. | |
| Button text color | Text color of the widget's buttons. | |
| Preview | Shows each display mode, including the undo button for the toast. In Silent mode it states that nothing shows on the page. |
Scenarios (optional templates)
Pick one when you create the campaign to pre-fill the builder.
| Setting | What it does | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Spend & get a gift | One threshold, one gift, added automatically. | Prime |
| Spend more, get more | Multiple thresholds, each a better gift. | Ultimate |
| Let them choose | The customer picks from a short list. | Ultimate |
| Wholesale thank-you gift | A segment-limited gift for wholesale accounts. | Ultimate |
How Free Gift works in Discount Prime
Set the threshold and scope
Choose what counts toward spend, from Any product to a single vendor, and set Spend at least.
Build tiers and pick gifts
Add up to 6 gifts per tier, auto-added or customer-picked, and up to 5 tiers on Ultimate.
Choose the display and launch
Pick Progress bar, Toast or Silent. The widget maintains the cart and the function re-checks every gift.
Why merchants pick Discount Prime for free gifts
The bar does the asking
Shoppers see the distance to the gift on every page while they are still choosing what to buy.
Never gifts an unearned cart
Two systems check each other: the widget maintains the cart, the function prices only qualifying gifts at $0.
Gifts never distort other promos
Gift lines are invisible to free shipping, bundles, cross-sells and every other threshold.
One of 14+ campaign types
Run gifts beside bundles, upsells, BXGY and wholesale pricing in one install.
Free gift questions, answered
How do I increase average order value with a free gift on Shopify?
Show the gift before checkout, not at it. In the Solace Skincare case study, a $75 spend-and-get gift run as a Buy X Get Y did nothing for an average order of $64, because customers only discovered the travel serum once it appeared in the cart. The same gift, rebuilt as a Free Gift campaign with the storefront display set to Progress bar, put a line like "$25.40 more for your free gift" on every page.
The serum cost $3.80 to produce and retailed at $18, and the average order went from $64 to $78. The bar also stayed honest: the threshold is measured on what the customer pays after other discounts, so an $80 cart that a sale brought to $72 still showed the distance to $75 rather than unlocking the gift early.
How do I set up tiered free gifts at different spend levels?
Use Add tier to build a ladder of up to five thresholds, each higher than the one before, with its own gifts. Trailhead Outfitters had order clusters around $120 and $220, so a single threshold could only ever move one of them. They set a carabiner keychain at $75, trail socks at $150 and an insulated bottle at $250, and the bar always named the next unreached gift.
Once per order means each tier adds its gift once, not one gift in total: a $260 cart gets all three, and a $600 cart gets the same three with no duplicates. In the scenario the $120 cluster moved to $158 and the $220 cluster moved to $261. Tiers past the first need the Ultimate plan.
Can customers choose their own free gift on Shopify?
Yes, with the Customer picks gift mode on Ultimate. A tier holds up to six gift options and the Picks setting controls how many the customer may take. Paper & Thread Stationery replaced an auto-added dotted notebook at $60 with a list of four (notebook, gel pens, washi tape, pencil case) and Picks set to 1, so cost per order stayed the same while the guess disappeared.
Their theme already had a shipping bar, so they used Toast notification instead of a second bar. When the washi tape sold out, the picker simply showed three options and the campaign list flagged it. The gift-order return rate went from 6% to under 1%.
How do I give wholesale customers a free gift without a deeper discount?
Scope the spend and limit eligibility. Harbor Roast Coffee could not cut wholesale prices any further, so instead of a deeper tier they gave a $22 branded pour-over kit on orders of $1,000 or more, with Count spend on set to their own vendor and eligibility limited to the Wholesale segment (Ultimate). Retail shoppers never saw it, and third-party filters did not count toward the threshold.
Because the threshold is measured after Wholesale / B2B Pricing applies, a café paying $1,040 at wholesale prices qualified on the number it actually paid. The kit is a $0 line that never touches the wholesale tier math, and the share of wholesale orders above $1,000 rose from 38% to 52%.
Free Gift vs Buy X Get Y (free gift type)
Buy X Get Y also has a simple free gift type. Use it for a one-off gift; use Free Gift when the goal is moving order value past a line.
| Free Gift | Buy X Get Y (free gift type) | |
|---|---|---|
| Reward trigger | Spend threshold, with tiers | Spend threshold (single) |
| Progress bar / toast | Yes | Popup only |
| Customer chooses gift | Yes (Ultimate) | No |
| Gift counts toward other campaigns | Never | Follows BOGO rules |
| Best for | AOV, spend ladders | Simple one-off gifts |
Trusted by Shopify merchants
“I can't say enough good things about DiscountPrime and the incredible support I received! The app optimizes promotions with volume deals, discounts, and strategic pricing, making it a breeze to create effective sales campaigns. The ability to set max/min purchase requirements for tier-based campaigns is a fantastic feature. The widget customization and compatibility with popular themes add a layer of flexibility that is truly unmatched. Highly recommended!”
“Prime: Volume & Bulk Discount is a game-changer! The app is super easy to use, with all the functionalities we needed to manage bulk discounts effortlessly. The best part? The support team is amazing-polite, responsive, and incredibly helpful. They made everything so smooth, and we're beyond satisfied. Highly recommend this app to anyone looking to boost their sales with volume discounts!”
“Perfect app! Does exactly what it promises - easy discount setup, clean interface, and great support. Everything worked out of the box without any issues. Very happy with the experience.”
Free Gift FAQ
Which Discount Prime plan do I need for Free Gift?
Free Gift is on Prime and above. On Prime you get one gift tier with Add automatically, plus the progress bar, toast or silent display. Multiple tiers (up to 5), the Customer picks gift mode, and limiting the gift to specific customer segments all need the Ultimate plan.
Does the customer need a discount code to get the free gift?
No. Free Gift is automatic. When the cart crosses the threshold, the widget adds the gift at $0, and the discount function independently re-checks the threshold before pricing it at $0. If the cart drops back below, the widget removes the gift on the next cart change and it is never discounted.
How does Free Gift work with my other discounts?
The threshold is measured on the price the customer pays after other discounts, so set it with sale prices in mind. The gift line itself is invisible to every other campaign: it never counts toward another threshold, a bundle, a cross-sell or free shipping, so it cannot distort any other promotion running in the same cart.
Why didn't the free gift appear in the cart?
Usually the cart is below the threshold after discounts, which is the most common surprise: an $80 cart that a sale brings to $70 does not reach a $75 gift. The other causes are that the gift variant is out of stock, which hides the tier and shows a warning in the campaign list, or that the customer is not eligible.
Can the customer remove the free gift?
Yes, customers can remove the gift from the cart. If the cart still qualifies after the next cart change, the widget may add it again. If you want customers to be able to decline a gift, use customer eligibility or a different threshold so the gift is not re-added to carts that do not want it.
Should I use Free Gift or Buy X Get Y for a gift at a spend threshold?
Use Free Gift. Buy X Get Y has a simple free gift type with a single threshold and a popup, which suits a one-off gift. Free Gift adds a progress bar, tiers and customer picks, and the bar is what moves the order: a gift customers only discover at checkout rarely changes what they buy.
Can I give more than one free gift?
Yes, in three ways. Put several gifts in one Add automatically tier and each is added. Build several tiers with Add tier on Ultimate, so bigger carts unlock better gifts. Or use Customer picks on Ultimate, where a tier offers up to 6 gifts and the Picks setting decides how many the customer may choose.
Related reading
Turn a free gift into a bigger order
Spend thresholds with a progress bar, up to five gift tiers, customer-picked gifts and a cart that maintains itself.
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