Free gifts are an advantageous marketing technique for your business. Just because you’re giving something away for free, doesn’t mean that there’s no value.
Offering a Shopify free gift within your online store is a fantastic way to increase your brand exposure, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty.
What’s more, a Shopify free gift is really easy to integrate into your online store. Control your quantity breaks and discounts with an integrated Shopify app for a range of features to upsell products and maximize order values, or add a Shopify free gift with a purchase within your Shopify admin.
- Using Shopify’s native Buy X Get Y discount to offer Free Gifts
- Limitations of Shopify’s native Buy X Get Y discount builder
- Benefits of using a Shopify Free Gift App
The set-up you choose depends on the extent of the offers that you’d like to give away. If you’re only going to need one offer for Shopify buy x get y, then applying a Shopify free gift within your admin settings will suffice.
If you’re more likely to offer a range of discounts, such as:
- Shopify free gift
- Mix and match deals
- Discounts on a $ or % base
- Shopify buy x get y
Then you’ll benefit more from an integrated Shopify app to apply your tiered discounts.
Using Shopify’s native Buy X Get Y discount to offer Free Gifts
As we mentioned earlier, there are two methods to activate Shopify buy x get y free within your online store. The first method is to set up Shopify buy x get y within your admin settings and the second is to use an integrated Shopify app for a broader range of discount tools.
Setting up the discounts in the Shopify Admin
Shopify’s basic settings provide the option to activate a Shopify buy x get y offer. This is a straightforward way to activate a free gift when only one conditioning factor is needed. For example, spend over $100 for a free gift.
If you’re wanting to offer a free gift alongside other discount options, then you should skip to the next section.
Follow these steps to activate Shopify buy x get y free:
1) Go to ‘Discounts’ in your Shopify admin section > click ‘Create Discount’
2) In discount types, select Shopify ‘buy x get y’
3) Go to ‘METHOD’ > Select ‘Discount Code’
4) Generate a discount code of your choice (e.g. buy1get1free)
5) Go to ‘CUSTOMER BUYS’
6) Choose ‘minimum quantity of items’ or ‘minimum purchase amount’
7) Input the eligibility conditions to activate the free gift
8) Go to ‘ANY ITEMS FROM’
9) Choose ‘products’ or ‘collections’ for the free gift > Browse and add
10) You will need to further configure your Shopify buy x get y free offer in the ‘CUSTOMER GETS’ and ‘CUSTOMER ELIGIBLITY’ sections.
Limitations of Shopify’s native Buy X Get Y discount builder
Adding a Shopify buy x get y free within the admin settings can be a lengthy process with a number of different steps involved. For more information on what to do via this method, visit Shopify’s discount manual.
Some limitations of the built-in Shopify buy x get y discount include:
Only one discount per order: Shopify’s built-in feature does not allow for more than one discount to be applied per order. This is a major limitation compared to using an app, which will allow for combination discounts on all orders, where applicable.
Non-customizable display: Shopify will automatically add the discount text to your product pages. You won’t be able to choose how it appears or add a catchy title to draw the attention of your customers.
No discount variants: You can’t apply discounts to specific product variants within the built-in settings. If you have a collection of men’s trousers, you can’t apply a discount to a color variant, for example, purple only because they’re not selling. The discount will be applied to all men’s trousers.
For a simplistic way to activate a Shopify buy x get y free, plus more discount options, you should opt for an integrated Shopify app. These are designed to ease the process and enable discounts via a simple user interface.
Here is our guide to activating Shopify buy x get y free with a Shopify app.
Shopify Free Gift App
We recommend Quantity Breaks and Discounts app for a seamless method of adding a Shopify free gift to your online store. This app has been designed to be easy to use, offering a wide range of discounts that you can apply simultaneously on multiple products.
There’s also a customer support team available 24/7 to solve any teething issues when applying your discounts.
Follow these steps to activate discounts using an app:
1) Download ‘Quantity Breaks and Discounts’ from the Shopify App Store
2) Go to ‘Apps’ in your Shopify dashboard > Click ‘Quantity Breaks and Discounts’
3) Click ‘Create Tier’
4) Input a name & choose the discount you’d like to activate
5) In the next section, choose the conditions of your Shopify free gift
6) Select how you’d like to apply the discount
7) Customize your offer (design to your brand)
8) Enable restrictions if necessary
9) Click the ‘Create Tiered Pricing’ button
10) Complete! Your Shopify free gift will be automatically applied at check out.
Benefits of using a Shopify Free Gift App
Using an integrated app like Quantity Breaks and Discounts to offer a Shopify free gift is a great way to boost sales and maximize value, without needing to overcomplicate your online store setup.
Increasing customer satisfaction is the key to running a successful business, and everyone likes getting something for nothing. By offering a Shopify free gift, you will see an improvement in the following areas:
Brand Exposure
People are more likely to talk about brands that offer more than what they pay for. A simple Shopify buy x get y free offer can elevate your brand to reach a broader range of customers, as it is more likely to encourage conversations about your products.
It also means there are more of your products out there. Essentially, you could be doubling the level of exposure to your brand. For example, if you activate a Shopify buy x get y offer where with every purchased t-shirt, you get a free branded tote bag, then you’re heightening the opportunity for your brand to be seen.
Customer Satisfaction
A Shopify buy x get y free offer is a simple tool to make your customers feel appreciated. It reminds them that you value that they have chosen to shop with you, and tends to encourage them to spend more.
A Shopify free gift adds value to your offer that will lead to increased customer satisfaction.
Customer Loyalty
Customer satisfaction leads to customer loyalty, and both can be achieved with a Shopify free gift.
When choosing between purchasing from a company that is selling just the desired product, or a company that is selling the desired product plus a Shopify free gift, then consumers are more likely to choose the free gift option. This intertwines with customer satisfaction, which we know will increase, and happy customers are more likely to return to your store.
A study by Harris Interactive into consumer behaviors regarding free gifts found that 90% of shoppers say a free gift with a purchase increases brand loyalty. Plus, the survey also showed that individuals in the US are more likely to purchase regularly from the online store when offered a free gift, as well as share their positive experience online and offline.
To summarise, offering a Shopify free gift is a way to say thank you to your customers, which will have a positive impact on your business.
Now, let’s run through how to offer free gifts on your Shopify store.
Frequently Asked Questions
When adding Shopify buy x get y free to your online store using an integrated Shopify app, you will be able to add widgets throughout your website to catch your customers’ attention.
Even better, you’ll have the option to customize the design to match your brand. As soon as your customer enters your online store, they will see an eye-catching widget to encourage their spending, where the offer will also be displayed on the relevant product pages and at check-out.
You can offer a Shopify free gift whenever you feel like it.
If you’re experiencing a lull in website visitors, or you have excess inventory that you want to get rid of, then these are both good times to activate your Shopify buy x get y free offer. That way, you’ll boost sales and reduce old inventory that you’re ready to replace.
Of course! You don’t need to offer a free gift to everyone. You can limit your Shopify buy x get y free offer by location or within a set of dates.
You might want to offer a Shopify free gift because it’s Christmas. Then, all you would need to do within your app settings is schedule a time frame, e.g. December 24th to January 5th, and your free gift will only be available during those dates.
Or, your sales in North America might be through the roof but your European numbers are taking a downturn. To boost sales in underperforming locations, simply restrict your Shopify free gift offer to those chosen location/s, and watch your sales rise back up again.
