---
title: "Cart discounts: Volume, Order goal, Shipping and Advanced"
description: "Tiered volume discounts, order goals, shipping discounts and a rule builder for Shopify's cart and checkout. Automatic or code, by segment or market."
url: "https://smart-bundles.io/features/cart-discounts"
updated: "2026-11-02"
product: "SMART Bundles App & Upsells"
section: "Features"
---


# Cart discounts: Volume, Order goal, Shipping and Advanced

Besides bundles, SMART Bundles creates discount types that work only in the cart and at checkout: **Volume discount**, **Order goal**, **Shipping discount** and **Advanced discount**, plus **Buy X get Y**. Each can be automatic or a code and limited to customer segments; all but Advanced discount can also be limited to markets. Nothing shows on the product page.

![The app's Create new discount page with bundle template cards, Free gifts and Other discount types](https://smart-bundles.io/screens/admin-create-new-discount.png)

*Create new discount: start from a bundle template or another discount type.*

You find them under **Create new discount** > **Other discount types**, which the app describes as: "These apply in the cart and at checkout, automatically or with a code. Nothing shows on the product page." Each is a Shopify discount Function, so it runs inside Shopify's own cart and checkout. Buy X get Y has its own page: [Buy X, get Y](https://smart-bundles.io/features/buy-x-get-y).

## Settings every type shares

- **Application method:** **Automatic** or **Code**, fixed once the discount is created. A code discount has one code, typed in or made with **Generate**, and a **Maximum discount uses** card: "Limit number of times this discount can be used in total" and "Limit to one use per customer".
- **Eligibility:** **All customers**, **Customer segments** or **Markets** (the Advanced discount editor has no market list, so use segments there).
- **Conditions** (Volume, Order goal, Shipping and Buy X get Y): a **Customer** rule (has any tags, has none of tags, has all tags) and a **Location** rule by country (is any, is not any).
- **Purchase types:** **Applies on one time purchases**, **Applies on subscription purchases** and a **Recurring cycle limit**.
- **Combines with:** **Product discounts**, **Order discounts** and **Shipping discounts** (a Shipping discount has no **Shipping discounts** box and doesn't combine with other shipping discounts). Shopify combines two discounts only when each allows the other's class ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/discounts/discount-combinations)).
- **Active dates:** one start and an optional end.

## Volume discount

"This discount type allows you to provide a discount based on the amount of products being purchased." Use it for tiers that apply in the cart, by quantity or by spend.

- **Based on:** **Product quantity** or **Product price**.
- **Any items from:** **Products**, **Products other than**, **Variants**, **Variants other than**, **Collections**, **Collections other than** or **All products**, with a **Purchase type**. Unlike a bundle, it can target single variants.
- **Exclude products with compare at price (already on sale)**.
- **Group by:** **All products** (everything counts together), **Product** or **Variant** (each reaches its tier on its own).
- **Tiers**, up to 10: **Required quantity** (or **Required amount**), **Discount label**, and **Percentage off**, **Amount off per item** or **Fixed price per item**.
- **One tier applies:** the highest reached, on every qualifying unit of the group.

## Order goal

- "This discount type allows you to provide a goal for your customers to reach": an order discount once the cart reaches an amount.
- **Tiers**, up to 10: **Required amount**, **Discount label**, and **Percentage off** or **Amount off** the order.
- **Products excluded from discount:** "These products will be excluded from the discount when calculating it." Excluded items don't count toward the goal either.
- There is no progress bar or "spend X more" message on the storefront.

## Shipping discount

- **Purchase requirements:** **No purchase requirements**, **Minimum order amount** or **Minimum quantity**.
- **Rate names** (**contains** or **is**): "If no rate names are added, the discount will be applied to all shipping rates."
- **Rate types:** **Shipping**, **Local delivery**, **Pickup point**, **Local pickup** and **Retail**.
- **Discount:** **Percentage**, **Amount off** or **Fixed price**, with **Add discount cap** and a **Discount label**.
- Ticking **Shipping discounts** under Combines with on another discount doesn't make shipping free. It only lets a separate shipping discount apply alongside it.

## Advanced discount

"Combine order, product, and shipping discounts into one, applied together at checkout." It's a rule builder for cases the other types don't cover.

- **Product groups** from **All products**, **Specific product(s)**, **Specific variant(s)**, **Specific collection(s)**, **Product tag**, **Has selling plan (subscription based)**, **SKU**, **Has compare at price (on sale)**, **Price per single quantity**, **Compare at price per single quantity**, **Product quantity** or **Variant quantity**. Text rules include **contains**, **starts with** and **matches regex**.
- **Actions:** **Add product discount** (**Percentage off**, **Amount off**, **Fixed amount** or **Volume discount** tiers, with **Apply to first X amount of products**, **Application order** and **Apply based on compare at price**), **Add order discount** (with **Exclude product groups (from calculation)**) and **Add shipping discount** (with **Delivery method names** and **Delivery method types**).
- **Conditions** on each action: **Customer tag**, **Product group total**, **Product group quantity**, **Country**, **Language**, **City**, **State/province**, **Postal code** and **Compare product groups**. Every condition must be true; "If no conditions are added, the discount will always apply."
- **One discount, several classes.** Shopify lets one function apply product, order and shipping savings together ([Discount Function API](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/functions/latest/discount)). Such a discount combines only with discounts that allow all of its classes ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/discounts/discount-combinations)).
- **A size bar** shows how much of the 10 KB configuration limit your rules use. The settings live in a metafield, Shopify doesn't pass metafields over 10,000 bytes to a function, and list inputs can't exceed 100 elements ([Shopify developer docs](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/functions/input-output)). The app refuses to save a discount over either limit instead of saving one that never applies.

## Shopify rules that apply to all of them

- **25 automatic discounts.** A store can have at most 25 active automatic discounts, app discounts included. The app shows "Only 25 automatic discounts can be active at once." when you hit it.
- **Order of calculation:** product discounts first, then order discounts on the revised subtotal, then shipping.
- **Codes per order:** customers can use up to 5 product or order discount codes and 1 shipping discount code on one order.
- **No stacking without permission:** when discounts can't combine, Shopify applies the best one for the customer's cart. Several product discounts on the same line item need Shopify Plus and matching discount tags, which the app's editors don't set.

Source for all four: [Combining discounts, Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/discounts/discount-combinations).

## Limits

- **Nothing on the product page.** For tiers shoppers can see and pick, use a [Quantity breaks](https://smart-bundles.io/features/quantity-breaks) bundle.
- **One code per discount,** set by hand. No bulk, prefix or wildcard codes.
- **One schedule.** One start and end per discount; no repeating daily or weekly windows.
- **Shopify's checkout only.** Checkouts that replace Shopify's own don't run these discounts.

## How to set it up

1. In **SMART Discounts**, click **Create new discount** and pick a type under **Other discount types**.
2. Enter the **Discount name**, choose **Automatic** or **Code**, and fill in the rules and tiers.
3. Set **Eligibility**, **Combines with** and **Active dates**, then click **Create**.

Step-by-step help: [Volume discounts](https://smart-bundles.io/help/cart-discounts/volume-discounts), [Order goal discounts](https://smart-bundles.io/help/cart-discounts/order-goal-discounts), [Shipping discounts](https://smart-bundles.io/help/cart-discounts/shipping-discounts), [Advanced discounts](https://smart-bundles.io/help/cart-discounts/advanced-discounts), [Automatic or code, and schedules](https://smart-bundles.io/help/cart-discounts/automatic-or-code-and-schedules) and [Customer eligibility](https://smart-bundles.io/help/cart-discounts/customer-eligibility).

## Related guides

- [How to combine discounts on Shopify](https://smart-bundles.io/guides/combine-discounts-on-shopify)
- [Shopify discount not applying: a checklist](https://smart-bundles.io/guides/shopify-discount-not-applying)
- [Tiered discounts after Shopify Scripts](https://smart-bundles.io/guides/tiered-discounts-after-shopify-scripts)
- [How to set up quantity breaks on Shopify](https://smart-bundles.io/guides/quantity-breaks-on-shopify)

**Set up your cart discounts** Install SMART Bundles and create a Volume, Order goal, Shipping or Advanced discount. Every type is included in the free plan. [Install SMART Bundles App & Upsells on the Shopify App Store](https://apps.shopify.com/smart-automatic-discounts).

## Frequently asked questions

### Can one customer use an automatic discount more than once?

Yes. Usage limits and **Limit to one use per customer** exist only on code discounts. Create a code version to limit repeat use.

### Why doesn't my code stack with the automatic discount?

Both discounts must allow combining with each other's class in **Combines with**. If they can't combine, Shopify applies the better one for the customer.

### Can I switch a discount from automatic to code?

Not after it's created. Click **Duplicate**, pick the other method on the copy, save it, then deactivate the original.