According to the US Census Bureau, 2021 saw a whopping 5.4 million new business applications, meaning 2022 is now a more competitive landscape for eCommerce businesses than ever before. As a result, businesses need to offer shoppers every possible incentive to purchase from their store instead of a competitor.
One way to do this is by offering discounts on multiple items in your Shopify store. This not only encourages customers to buy more than one item at a time (increasing your average order value) but can also increase customer loyalty and encourage repeat purchases.
If you have multiple items that you want to offer a discount on, it’s possible to set it up on Shopify. In this article, we’ll show you how to create Shopify discounts for multiple items.
Creating Discounts
If you want to offer discounts on multiple items in your Shopify store, the first thing you need to learn is how to create discounts on Shopify. There are two methods of discounts you can apply:
- Automatic Discounts: These are discounts that are automatically applied at checkout, often when customers meet certain conditions, such as spending a certain amount of money, being a first-time shopper, or being a part of a loyalty program.
- Discount Codes: These are codes manually entered by customers at checkout and can be used to offer a variety of discounts, such as percentage-based discounts, free shipping, or buy one, get one free offers.
It’s important to note that Shopify’s discount dashboard only allows you to activate one automatic discount at a time. Also, automatic discounts will take precedence over discount codes, meaning customers cannot use discount codes when there is already an automatic discount applied.
Aside from methods, there are also discount types you can choose from. Here they are below:
- Amount off discounts: These give customers a fixed value or percentage off on products. Shipping costs don’t apply.
- Buy X get Y discounts: These are discounts you can offer if you want to add freebies.
- Free shipping discounts: With these discounts, customers do not need to pay for shipping fees.
Step 1: Select Discount Type
Go to your Shopify dashboard, and click “Discounts” on the left panel. This will pull up the Discounts menu. From here, navigate to the “Create a discount” button on the top right of the section.
A pop-up menu will appear and show you discount type options. Select the discount type you want. Once a discount type is selected, the pop-up menu will close and you will be redirected to different customization options for the discount.
Step 2: Choose Discount Method
Make sure to choose which discount method you prefer, as the other customization sections will depend on this. For example, if you pick “Automatic discount”, a different set of options will appear.
Step 3: Configure Discount Options
For whichever method you chose, make sure to configure all the options available. For example, when it comes to Discount Code options, determine the “Value” section, “Minimum purchase requirements” section, “Custom eligibility” section, “Maximum discount” section, and “Active dates” section.
If you choose Automatic Discount, you need to only fill up the “Value” section, “Minimum purchase requirements” section, and “Active dates” section.
When you’re done, don’t forget to hit “Save” to confirm all your choices.
To see whether your discount is active, go back to the main “Discounts” menu. You’ll see the discount you just created with the “Active” status indicated.
Setting Up Shopify Discounts for Multiple Items
Let’s say you want to offer customers the option to apply a discount on multiple items. Unfortunately, this is not yet an option on the main Shopify platform.
You can currently only apply a product-specific discount on multiple quantities of a single product. For example, customers can add a discount code to 10 quantities of a product.
If you want to have certain features like applying a 10% discount if a customer buys 3 different items, you will need to utilize a Shopify app that offers this functionality.
Step 1: Add a Discount-focused App on Shopify
One glance at the marketplace will show you the vast number of apps available. It’s important to do your research and pick an app that provides the features you need.
We recommend using the Bulk Discount & Sales Manager app, because its functionalities are designed for managing multiple discounts with ease. You can generate discount codes in bulk and even add a countdown timer to your store.
Once you’ve decided on an app, visit the app’s page and select “Add app”. This will automatically integrate the app on your Shopify dashboard.
Step 2: Configure the Discounts App Settings
To access the app you just added, go to your Shopify platform and navigate to the “Apps” on the left-hand panel. Then click on the discounts app you’ve chosen.
A separate dashboard will appear, with new tabs you can check out and configure. For our example, navigate to the “Settings” tab to set things up.
The Bulk Discount & Sales Manager app offers various customization options on discount labels like sale badge, checkout label, and quantity remaining signs, none of which are available as features on the main Shopify platform.
You can tweak these settings before setting up discounts for multiple items.
Step 3: Create Discounts on Multiple Items
The Bulk Discount & Sales Manager app allows you to apply a discount to multiple products in your store. To enable this, navigate to the “My Rules” tab and click on “Create rule”.
These fields need to be filled up first before you can select which items the discount will be applied to. When you reach the “Applies to” section, choose the “Products and variants” option, then click “Browse products” at the bottom of the section.
Here, you can easily select the items that customers can apply this specific discount to. Click on “Save” to confirm.
Be sure to configure the remaining sections on the dashboard, like the dates and the product tags. Scroll down and hit “Save” to confirm the new rule.
The new rule will show up on the main “Rules” menu. The app even allows you to create multiple discount rules and activate them on the same dates. Now you know how to create a Shopify discount on multiple items!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can. But you cannot do it without adding an app. While the Shopify platform itself lets you configure multiple discounts, it doesn’t offer features that allow discounts on multiple items. You can currently only set a discount on multiple quantities of a single product.
Fortunately, there are apps available on Shopify’s App Store that provide more customization for your discounts. We recommend trying out the Bulk Discount & Sales Manager app.
No, you cannot. In Shopify’s platform, automatic discounts will take priority over discount codes. If an automatic discount has already been applied to a specific order, the customer cannot add a discount code.
With so many Shopify stores competing for customers’ attention, it will be difficult for you to get by without offering some discounts or promos. But simply setting a discount may not be enough.
However, applying discounts to multiple items can entice customers to try out more of your products. If these discounts are successful and your customers love your items, your average order value could increase.
