A free gift with purchase is a common promotional strategy where stores give customers something extra, free of charge, when they buy something. Rather than slashing the price of an item, a brand boosts the appeal of a sale by throwing in a gift.

These gifts often require to be unlocked when specific conditions are met. A customer might need to spend a certain amount, buy a particular product, or maybe even be a first-time buyer. Sometimes, the offer is limited to specific locations. For the customer, it's a nice bonus, making them feel like they're getting more bang for their buck, rather than just a discount.

Shopify sellers often leverage free gifts with purchase to boost sales and the average order value per order, all without lowering their prices. This strategy adds perceived value, rather than lowering the product's worth, helping to maintain a positive brand image while encouraging shoppers to finalize their orders.

These free gift offers also promote product discovery and create a more rewarding shopping experience. The result? Enhanced customer loyalty and increased chances of repeat business.

Why Free Gifts With Purchase Increase Conversions

Offering free gifts with purchase on Shopify boosts sales by creating a sense of added value, all without slashing prices. Shoppers perceive they're getting a better deal, which lessens any reluctance and streamlines their choice to buy.

They also motivate customers to spend more to qualify for the gift, help create urgency, and offer a clear benefit at checkout.

Types of Free Gift With Purchase Offers on Shopify

Shopify merchants have a variety of ways to set up free gift with purchase offers, tailored to their specific objectives and how their customers typically shop. Here are some of the most frequently used and successful approaches.

1. Free Gift on Every Order

As the name implies, this offer provides a free gift with every purchase, no matter the total cost of the order or the items selected.

Best for:

• Building brand awareness

• Encouraging first-time customers

• Major sales events

What to give as a gift:

• Something inexpensive

• Something broadly appealing

For example: samples, stickers, or small accessories

2. Spend Threshold Free Gifts

This setup gives customers a complimentary gift when their shopping cart hits a certain dollar amount. It's a widely used FGWP strategy, primarily because it boosts the average order value.

Ensure the spending requirement is realistic and reflects your usual cart size.

Best for:

• Encouraging customers to add more items to their cart

• Increasing average order value

What to give as a gift:

Consider offering accessories or add-ons that complement the purchased items and seem worthwhile.

3. Buy X Get Y (Product-Based Gifts)

A "Buy X Get Y" promotion is a popular strategy frequently used by stores. In this setup, a complimentary item is gifted when a customer purchases a designated product or group of products.

Best for:

• Promoting new launches

• Clearing slow-moving inventory

• Boosting high-priority products sales

What to give as a gift:

• Complementary products

• Products that enhance the main purchase

• Samples

4. Loyalty and Repeat Customer Gifts

These gifts are ideal for returning customers, loyalty members, or subscribers.

Best for:

• Customer retention

• Strengthening customer loyalty

• Improve customer LTV (lifetime value)

• Encouraging repeat purchases over time

What to give as a gift:

• Exclusive items

• Refills

• Personalized rewards

5. Mystery Free Gifts

Mystery free gifts with purchase add an element of surprise, sparking customer interest and boosting sales, particularly during limited-time flash sales.

Best for:

• Flash sales, clearance events, or any promotion with a ticking clock.

• Getting customers to notice new products.

• Keeping customers interested.

What to give as a gift:

• Things that make sense: products or samples that fit your brand and what your customers are looking for.

6. Bundle-Based Free Gifts

This setup gives customers a freebie when they buy a specific product bundle or a certain quantity of items. It nudges people to add more to their cart and makes inventory management easier since the gifts are linked to particular bundles.

Best for:

• Boosting average order value by getting customers to buy more items

• Promoting carefully chosen product pairings

• Getting rid of inventory that's not selling well

What to give as a gift:

• Items that go well with the bundle and make it feel like a better deal

7. Location, Time, or Segment-Based Gifts

These offers are designed to reach customers depending on where they are, when they shop, or their specific profile such as first-time visitors or wholesale buyers.

Best for:

• Personalized campaigns

• Gifts tailored to a specific region

• Promotions aimed at particular audiences

• Limited-time offers

What to give as a gift:

• A gift crafted for the segment or region in question.

How to Add a Free Gift With Purchase on Shopify

Using Shopify Built-In Buy X Get Y Discounts

Shopify's built-in "Buy X, Get Y" discounts offer merchants a straightforward and cost-free way to implement promotions. Setting up a free gift with a purchase is simple using Shopify’s native feature, which requires no coding skills or technical expertise, making it accessible for beginners.

Shopify's "Buy X, Get Y" discount supports basic free gift promotions, such as requiring a minimum purchase or specific product selection. For these straightforward promotions, Shopify's native setup can assign free products without the need for additional apps.

Here's a quick guide to setting up a free gift with a purchase on Shopify using the built-in "Buy X, Get Y" discount.

• From your Shopify admin, navigate to Discounts -> Create Discount.

  

• Choose Buy X Get Y as the discount type and Automatic Discount as the method. This option allows you to offer a free item when specific conditions are met.

  

• Define X, the condition that qualifies the customer for the gift, which can be a specific product or collection or even a minimum quantity of items.

  

• Define Y, the product you want to offer as the free gift and set the discount value as 100% off to make the gift free.

  

• You can also set a usage limit to offer one free gift per order or a fixed number of total uses.

• Choose eligibility to decide whether the discount applies to all customers or specific groups.

  

• Make sure to set start and end dates if the promotion is time-bound.

  

• Save the discount and test it by adding qualifying products to the cart.

Limitations to note: 

• The free gift is not auto-added to the cart. Customers have to add it manually.

Using a Shopify Free Gift With Purchase App

Though Shopify's built-in discount feature can handle straightforward gift-with-purchase promotions, a specialized free gift app offers more adaptability, control, and dependability, particularly as your business expands.

These apps automatically manage the addition and removal of the free gift, streamlining the process for customers and minimizing the possibility for errors. They also accommodate complex rules, such as spending thresholds, customer demographics, geographical locations, and time-sensitive offers.

Free gift with purchase apps provide better customization options. They also include features like banners, progress bars, and in-cart notifications to clearly present the offer, track campaign performance, and schedule promotions ahead of time.

In short, free gift apps simplify the management and optimization of free gift with purchase campaigns, making them more obvious for customers.

Best Shopify Free Gift With Purchase Apps Compared

Here’s a quick comparison of popular Shopify apps you can use to run free gift with purchase campaigns.

Monk Free Gift + BOGO

Monk Free Gift stands out for its strong free gift automation and visibility. It automatically adds and removes gifts based on cart conditions and allows merchants to display the offer using banners and in-cart messaging.

Monk helps you design and show offers across product pages, the cart, and checkout with customizable widgets and progress bars. The app also supports advanced eligibility rules and post-purchase upsells, making it versatile for both simple and tiered GWP campaigns.

This makes it well suited for stores that want high control over the free gift configuration and how the free gift is communicated to the customers and managed across the shopping journey.

Ideal for: Merchants who want full control and strong visibility

Gift automation: Yes ✅

Customization- High with banners, progress bars, position control and cart messaging

Rating- 4.9 ⭐ (500+)

Pricing- from $49/month

Qikify Upsell BOGO & Free Gift

Qikify lets you run free gift offers alongside BOGO, Buy X Get Y deals, and cross-sell upsells. It supports automatic free gift addition and offers real-time analytics.

The app also allows multi-tier rewards and display elements like badges and progress bars to increase visibility

Ideal for: Merchants looking to combine free gift with various other promotions

Gift automation: Yes ✅

Customization: Medium- High

Rating- 4.8 ⭐ (600+)

Pricing- from $9.99/month, also has a free plan

Koala Upsell Free Gift BOGO

Koala combines free gifts, BOGO deals, product add-ons, and pop-up upsells in one interface. It is known for an intuitive setup and flexible targeting based on customer behavior or location. 

Ideal for: merchants looking for gift offers with strong targeting options

Gift automation: Yes ✅

Customization: Medium

Rating- 4.9 ⭐ (300+)

Pricing- from $9.99/month

BOGOS.io Free Gift & Bundles

BOGOS is a feature-rich app that supports free gifts with purchases plus BOGO, Buy X Get Y, bundles, mix-and-match deals, and more. It offers auto-add gift options and advanced targeting like geolocation and customer tags, as well as sliders and widgets to highlight gifts. 

Ideal for: Merchants looking for complex GWP promotions and bundles.

Gift automation: Yes ✅

Customization: High

Rating- 5 ⭐(3k+)

Pricing- from $29.99/month, free plan also available

EG Auto Add to Cart Free Gift

EasyGift (EG) focuses on automatically adding free gifts to the cart based on rules like cart value or specific products. It includes scheduling and cart behavior triggers, all in a simple interface that works well for automated campaigns.

Ideal for: stores wanting easy free gifting promotions

Gift automation: Yes ✅

Customization: Medium

Rating- 5 ⭐(900+)

Pricing- from $14.99/month

How to Choose the Right Free Gift App for Your Store

Choosing the right free gift app depends on your goals and how complex your offers are. Use the points below to help you choose the best option for your store.

1. Start with your goal: Decide what you want to achieve. Whether it's boosting the average order value, showing appreciation to loyal customers, or perhaps running special promotions tied to the seasons. The app you choose should align with your primary goal.

2. Check gift automation: Select an app that automatically includes the complimentary gift when the customer meets the criteria and removes it when they no longer do. This prevents misunderstandings and fulfillment mistakes.

3. Look at rule flexibility: Ensure the app aligns with your eligibility requirements, including spending limits, eligible products, target customer groups, and any time-sensitive stipulations.

4. Evaluate visibility and messaging: Assess how well the app communicates the free gift offer. It should prominently display the promotion through banners, messages in the shopping cart, or progress trackers, making the advantage clear to customers.

5. Ease of setups: Consider the ease of setup. The app should be straightforward to configure and manage, avoiding technical hurdles, particularly if you intend to run frequent campaigns.

6. Compare pricing and support: Select an app that fits your financial constraints and provides dependable customer support, especially during periods of high sales volume.

Free Gift With Purchase vs Discounts: when to use?

Free gifts and discounts both boost sales, though they work best in different situations. Choosing the right approach depends on your goal and how you want customers to perceive your brand.

Offering a free gift is a smart move when you want to enhance perceived value without cutting prices. This strategy is particularly useful for increasing the average order value, introducing customers to new or related products, or thanking repeat customers. It's also a good way to maintain brand integrity, as the product's price stays the same.

Offering discounts is a smart move when you're looking to quickly increase sales or clear out stock. Customers readily grasp the concept, and it can create a sense of urgency, especially during those limited-time offers or sales designed to move items quickly. But be careful, as constant discounting can condition customers to hold off on purchases, potentially diminishing the perceived value of your products.

In simple terms, give free gifts when your goal is to cultivate lasting value and customer loyalty. Use discounts when you need to act fast and keep things straightforward.

Best Practices for FGWP on Shopify

• Choosing the right gift: Selecting the perfect gift involves considering its usefulness, relevance to your offering, and the value it provides to the recipient. Accessories, samples, refills, and items that naturally complement your product tend to be the most effective. The gift should feel like a pleasant surprise, not a last-minute, inexpensive afterthought.

• Setting the right spending threshold: Establishing the right spending limit is crucial. The minimum spend should feel reasonable and attainable. It should gently nudge customers to add a couple of extra items to their cart, rather than forcing them into an impractical purchase. Use your average order value and customer buying patterns as a guide for setting this threshold.

• Avoiding inventory and margin issues: Careful inventory planning and real-time gift stock tracking are essential. Consider product costs, packaging, and shipping to protect your profit margins. Implement limits and controls to prevent overspending or stock shortages during a campaign.

• Promoting the offer clearly: Careful inventory planning and real-time gift stock tracking are essential. Consider product costs, packaging, and shipping to protect your profit margins. Implement limits and controls to prevent overspending or stock shortages during a campaign.

Common Mistakes to Avoid With FGWP on Shopify

• Choosing an irrelevant gift: A gift that does not relate to your main product can feel random and forgettable. Relevance is just as important as the perceived worth of the gift itself.

• Offering a low-quality gift: Cheap or poorly made gifts can hurt brand perception instead of improving it.

• Setting unclear eligibility rules: Unclear eligibility requirements can lead to customer confusion, potentially resulting in abandoned purchases.

• Running out of gift inventory: Promoting a free gift that's out of stock generates disappointment and customer service headaches. Careful inventory planning and setting limits are essential.

• Using unrealistic spending thresholds: Setting spending limits that are too steep can backfire, pushing customers away instead of enticing them.

• Relying on manual fulfillment: Manually adding gifts increases the risk of missed items and order errors. Automation is essential.

• Not testing the offer before launch: Skipping pre-launch testing is a recipe for disaster. Even minor setup problems can ruin the checkout process. Always run through various scenarios before you launch.

• Overusing free gift promotions: Frequent free gift promotions can backfire, too. Customers might start expecting them, which can diminish the perceived value.

Conclusion:

Free gift with purchase promotions are most effective when they're crafted with care and executed flawlessly. Sidestepping frequent pitfalls like choosing the wrong gift, unclear terms, running out of stock, and failing to automate safeguards both customer satisfaction and your bottom line.

A well-considered free gift can feel genuine, provide tangible benefits, and contribute to sustained growth, rather than just a quick sales boost. The secret lies in keeping the offer straightforward, pertinent, and dependable throughout the entire shopping experience. Choosing the right application is also crucial.

FAQs:

1. How do I add a free gift automatically in Shopify?

You can add a free gift automatically in Shopify by using a third-party free gifting app from the Shopify App Store. 

2. Can Shopify auto-add free gifts to the cart?

No, Shopify’s native Buy X Get Y discount cannot auto-add gifts to the cart. You can use a free gifting app from the Shopify App Store to automatically add free gifts to the cart.

3. Are free gift apps safe for checkout?

Yes, free gift apps are safe for checkout when you use trusted apps from the Shopify App Store, as they add gifts before checkout without handling payments.

4. What is the best free gift app for Shopify?

Monk is one of the best free gift apps for Shopify, trusted by merchants and built specifically for the Shopify ecosystem. It is highly rated with a 4.9-star average and over 500 reviews.

Merchants prefer Monk for its reliable automation, flexible gifting rules, and strong customer support. It allows stores to run free gift with purchase campaigns smoothly while keeping the cart experience clear and conversion-focused.