How to offer a free gift with purchase on Shopify

Updated November 2, 2026 · SMART Bundles App & Upsells (E-TRADE PARTNER)

Shopify's built-in Buy X get Y discount can make a gift free once the cart reaches a quantity or a spend, but Shopify never adds the gift to the cart: the customer has to add it. SMART Bundles App & Upsells' Free gift adds the gift product to the cart by itself when the cart reaches a tier, or while a code is on the cart, and removes it when the cart stops qualifying.

The built-in way: a Buy X get Y discount

1. In Shopify admin, create a Buy X get Y discount, automatic or with a code.
2. Under Customer buys, choose a minimum quantity of items or a minimum purchase amount, and the products or collections that count.
3. Under Customer gets, add the gift product, a quantity, and set the discount to Free.
4. Optionally set a maximum number of uses per order. Usage is unlimited by default.

All of this is on Shopify's Buy X get Y help page. For spend thresholds, the same page says the minimum counts product prices only, never shipping or taxes, at full price before other discounts. An item that another combinable product discount already discounted doesn't count toward the minimum at all.

Where the built-in way falls short

• The gift is never added automatically. Customers must add every item, the gift included. A customer who doesn't know about the gift doesn't get it. See Buy X get Y: why the free item isn't added.
• One step per discount. A ladder (gift A over $50, gift B over $100) needs one discount per step.
• POS: automatic discounts apply only at locations with a POS Pro subscription (Buy X get Y).
• Subscriptions: the "get" item must be a one-time purchase (Subscription discounts). Shopify's developer docs say pre-orders don't support Buy X get Y discounts (Pre-orders and TBYB).
• Old gift scripts don't help. Shopify Scripts were deprecated on June 30, 2026, and even Shopify's own gift script example didn't add the gift to the cart (line item script examples). See Tiered discounts after Shopify Scripts.

Some guides still say Shopify runs only one automatic discount at a time, so a gift can't run next to a sale. Shopify allows up to 25 active automatic discounts, app discounts included (Automatic discounts), and whether two discounts apply together depends on their combination settings.

How SMART Bundles adds the gift: Free gift

In the app (it appears as SMART Discounts in your Shopify admin), Create new discount > Free gifts > Free gift. The editor has these cards:

Steps

1. Turn on the app embed: theme editor > App embeds > Deal widget from SMART Discounts > Save. The gift is added only while the embed is on, and the app checks this when you start a Free gift. See Turn on the app embed.
2. Open Create new discount and pick Free gift.
3. Enter a Discount name (only you see it) and choose the Application method: Automatic or Code.
4. Set the Trigger and Counts toward the tier.
5. Add your tiers and pick each gift's variant. A gift product must be active on the Online Store sales channel; the editor warns you if it isn't.
6. Set eligibility, combinations and dates, then click Create. It goes live on its start date (now, by default).
7. Test in a new browser tab: add products until the tier is reached and watch the gift appear, then remove items and watch it go.

Full walkthrough: Set up a free gift. Tier rules: Free gift tiers. Code gifts: Free gift with a discount code.

What shoppers see

• The gift arrives as its own cart line at the tier's Free quantity, on any page of the store. The cart and drawer refresh without the drawer popping open.
• At checkout the gift carries its checkout label. Keep the gift product's real price in Shopify: the app's discount makes it free only while it's earned.
• A raised gift quantity is set back. Extra units added the normal way are charged.
• If the shopper deletes the gift, it isn't added again in that tab while the tier stays reached.
• When the cart drops below the tier, the gift is removed. The checkout button waits a moment for a running update.
• For a code gift, the gift is added only while the code is on the cart: through the cart's discount field, if your theme has one, or a /discount/CODE link.

Where Free gift can't add the gift

• Buy it now, express buttons on the product page and cart links that open checkout directly. They skip the cart.
• A code typed only at checkout. The storefront can't add lines there.
• Shopify POS. Free gift never applies in POS.
• Headless or Hydrogen storefronts, and apps that change the cart outside your theme. Checkouts that replace Shopify's own checkout don't run the app's discounts.
• Not built: a choice between several gift products, a "spend $X more" message, and collections as the counted products.

If a gift doesn't show up, work through Free gift not added to cart.

Gifts inside a bundle

The product page bundle widget has two more gift options, added by the widget when the shopper picks an offer:

• A gift on an offer: in an offer, click Add gift and pick the product. The offer card shows "+ FREE GIFT 🎁" (editable). The Bundle with a free gift template starts with a gift on a tier.
• Progressive gifts (Extras tab): a gift ladder. Each gift is a product or Free shipping, unlocked at Offer #N and higher, Offer #N only or Spend at least.... Show progress prints "Add {{n}} more" or "Spend {{amount}} more". Spend counts the bundle's target products at prices before discounts. See Progressive gifts.
• A bundle gift is removed when its bundle leaves the cart.

Which gift option to use

Frequently asked questions