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Part 6 of 10 in Starting a Shopify store: the money side.
The default first promotion is “10% off everything”. It’s easy, and it’s usually the most expensive way to get the same sales. Here’s what three common options cost on the same store.
The same store, three promotions
A store sells a $24 product that costs $9. Postage and packing are $8 per order. The average order is 1.3 items. Each option below is set up to feel like a similar deal to the shopper:
| 10% off everything | Buy 2, save 15% | Free gift over $45 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who gets it | Every order | Only orders of 2+ | Only orders of $45+ |
| On a 1-item order ($24) | You give $2.40 | You give $0 | You give $0 |
| On a 2-item order ($48) | You give $4.80 | You give $7.20 | Gift costs you $3.50 |
| Profit, 1-item order | $3.67 | $6.00 | $6.00 |
| Profit, 2-item order | $15.65 | $13.32 | $16.81 |
| What it pushes shoppers to do | Nothing in particular | Add a second item | Add a second item |
Profit after product cost, postage, packing and a 2.9% + 30¢ card fee. The gift is a product that sells for $12 and costs you $3.50.
The percentage discount costs money on every single order, including the one-item orders that would have happened anyway, and with an average of 1.3 items most orders are one item. The other two only cost money when the order gets bigger. Of the two, the gift leaves the most on a two-item order, because it costs you $3.50 and feels like $12. Quantity breaks give away more per order; their strength is that the saving sits right next to the Add to cart button, where the decision is made. Which one moves more of your shoppers to a second item is worth testing.
Which fits your products
| Your products | Best first discount | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Consumables people reorder (coffee, skincare, pet food) | Quantity breaks | “Stock up and save” is natural; a second item shares postage |
| Giftable items, many variants (candles, socks, jewelry) | Quantity breaks with mix and match, or a gift over an amount | People buy one for themselves and one to give |
| Higher-priced, one-per-person items | Free gift over an amount, or a small add-on | Nobody needs two sofas; an accessory raises the order |
| Very thin margins | Free gift | A gift’s cost to you is well below its value to the buyer |
| Clearing old stock | Percentage off, on those items only | Here the goal is to move units, not protect margin |
Make the offer visible
A discount nobody sees doesn’t change behavior. Wherever the discount lives, show it where the decision happens:
- On the product page, next to the Add to cart button: “Buy 2, save 15%”.
- In the cart: “Add 1 more to save 15%” or “Spend $12 more for a free gift”.
- Applied automatically at checkout, with no code to remember.
Shopify’s built-in automatic discounts handle the checkout part. Showing the tiers on the product page and the progress in the cart is what an app like Volumo adds.
Volumo by Centubo. Quantity breaks, free gifts, buy X get Y and bundles shown on your product pages and applied automatically at checkout. Free during launch.
Install on ShopifyAfter your first promotion
Compare the two weeks before with the two weeks during, on three numbers: orders, average order value and profit per order. If orders went up but profit per order fell more than the extra orders made up for, the discount was too deep.
Next in the series: how Shopify app billing works.
Questions people ask
Is a sitewide percentage discount a bad idea?
Not always. It's simple and everyone understands it. It's expensive, though, because it discounts orders you'd have got anyway, and it trains customers to wait for the next sale.
Which discount raises average order value most?
The ones that only kick in when the order grows: quantity breaks, spend more save more and gifts over an amount. A flat percentage lowers the average order unless it brings in many more orders.
Can I combine them?
Yes, but be careful. Check Shopify's discount combination settings so a quantity break doesn't stack with a sitewide code and push orders below cost.