Magento 2 Free Gifts: 4 promotion ideas that grow order value

A free gift with purchase is one of the simplest promotions to explain and one of the hardest for shoppers to ignore. Instead of paying less, the customer walks away with more, giving undecided shoppers another reason to complete their purchase. Done well, it can help raising, drawing, leaving the kind of impression that shows up later in repeat purchases and customer lifetime value.

The difference between a gift that delights and one that goes unnoticed is usually in how the promotion is structured. Below are four ways Magento merchants can structure free gifts, what to think through before launching, and the mistakes worth avoiding.

Why free gifts feel different from discounts

A cart price rule lowers the price. A gift adds something to the purchase. That distinction matters for the shopper, who gets a small bonus rather than a cheaper version of the same order, and for the merchant, who keeps the perceived value of the main product intact.

It also gives you more ways to shape behaviour. A gift tied to cart value nudges customers toward a bigger order. A gift tied to a product introduces them to something they had not considered. A gift they choose themselves makes the offer feel personal. The trick is matching the gift mechanic to the behaviour you want.

Four free gift ideas for Magento stores

1. Buy one product, get a different one free

The offer everyone understands: buy a qualifying product and receive another at no cost. This free product with purchase approach works best when the gift makes sense next to the purchase, such as a case with a pair of earbuds or a travel-size cleanser with a skincare set. Shoppers see the gift on the product page before they decide (a product label on the category page gets it seen even earlier), and it leaves the cart automatically if the main product does.

Use it for new launches, complementary products, or adding value to a seasonal offer without touching the price. For a basic quantity-based promotion, see our guide to setting up Buy X, Get Y Free in Magento 2.

Example: During its 2026 Mid Year Sale, Bosch Malaysia offered a free Bosch ErgoMixx Hand Blender worth RM399 with the purchase of a selected Series 2 dishwasher. Unlike a choose-your-gift promotion, the qualifying product came with a specific free item, making it a clear example of a buy one product, get a different one free offer.

2. Buy X, get Y at a discount

Not every gift has to be free. This type of promotion, often called Purchase with Purchase (PWP), lets customers buy a specific additional product at a special price after purchasing a qualifying item. For example, a coffee retailer might offer selected accessories at 50% off with an eligible coffee machine. Unlike a free gift, the customer still pays for the add-on, but the exclusive discount makes it feel like an extra reward while helping the merchant protect margins.

Not every gift has to be free. Offering a related item at a reduced price, a concept widely known as Purchase with Purchase (PWP), creates a strong incentive when a fully free product would cost too much (such as offering coffee accessories at 50% off when buying a coffee machine). The discounted item appears as an offer the customer can accept, which keeps the main product at full price and still encourages exploring the range, much like a cross-sell with a reason attached. If you are not sure which items to pair, Automatic Related Products can surface the combinations customers already buy together.

Example: Shiseido Hong Kong offered a Purchase with Purchase deal where customers can add an Essential Energy Hydrating Cream Special Set for HK$570 (worth HK$970) with any purchase. Instead of giving the additional product away for free, the promotion uses a substantial discount to make the add-on more attractive.

3. Let customers choose their gift

“Buy product X, pick one of these three” turns a promotion into a small moment of personalisation. Customers select the gift they actually want, choose size or colour where relevant, and can swap it in the cart if they change their mind. A footwear store might offer socks, laces or insoles; a beauty store might offer cleanser, moisturiser or serum.

Keep the list short and the options close in value. Three relevant gifts feel like a choice; ten feel like homework.

Example: Shark UK allowed customers purchasing selected eligible home-cleaning products to choose their free gift at checkout, such as a Pet Power Brush or Precision Duster Tool. Rather than offering the same gift to everyone, the promotion gave shoppers the flexibility to select an accessory that better suited their needs.

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4. Free gift when the order reaches a threshold

If the goal is a larger basket, tie the gift to cart value: spend $50, get a bracelet; spend $100, get a necklace. A cart notice that shows how close the shopper is to the next tier does most of the work.

Set the threshold close to real behaviour. If customers typically spend $80, a $100 threshold is a reachable nudge; $250 is a number they will ignore. It pairs naturally with a free-shipping threshold: according to Baymard Institute, unexpected extra costs such as shipping are the single largest fixable reason shoppers abandon a cart, so a gift plus free shipping at the same threshold answers both questions at once, and a free shipping bar keeps both offers in view while the shopper browses. This mechanic also layers well onto Black Friday or holiday campaigns without another sitewide price cut.

Example: Charlotte Tilbury used tiered free gifts based on order value: shoppers received one gift when spending $110, two gifts at $170, and three gifts at $220. Increasing the rewards at each threshold gave customers an extra incentive to increase their basket value.

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Planning a campaign shoppers will enjoy

Five things to decide before launch:

• Goal. Bigger orders, product discovery, or a new launch? The goal picks the mechanic.
• Gift. A useful, related item beats an unrelated one with a higher retail price.
• Qualification. Customers should know in seconds what to buy or spend.
• Visibility. Show the offer on category and product pages and in the cart, not only at checkout. A gift nobody sees changes nobody’s behaviour.
• Measurement. Track average order value, conversion rate, sales of qualifying products and gift redemptions against the cost of the gifts.

Mistakes that turn a gift into a chore

• Clearing stock instead of adding value. An unrelated leftover item reads as clutter, not a gift.
• Thresholds too far from normal spend. The offer simply gets ignored.
• Overlapping rules. When several campaigns run at once, check how their conditions interact with each other and with existing catalog price rules so a customer does not end up with two gifts, or none, unexpectedly.
• Gifts on already-discounted products. Stacking a gift on a sale item eats margin twice.
• Running out of the gift. Promoting an attractive item without enough inventory ends the experience badly; a small gift card is a useful fallback when physical stock is limited.
• Ignoring the economics. The extra revenue from bigger or more frequent orders should cover the gifts comfortably.

Putting it into practice

A single Buy X, get Y offer is easy to run. Managing several campaigns with different qualifying products, cart thresholds, gift options and schedules is where it becomes work. The Magento 2 Free Gifts extension handles that with rule-based promotions: gifts free, discounted or at a fixed price, added automatically or chosen by the customer, and displayed across the shopping journey. Details and configuration steps are on the product page and in the user guide.

Final words

Free gifts work best when they serve a clear goal rather than sit alongside every other promotion. Pick the mechanic that matches the behaviour you want, choose a gift customers would actually like, make the offer easy to see and understand, and measure whether it moved the numbers. Do that, and the gift becomes the part of the order your customers remember; pairing it with reward points gives that goodwill somewhere to go on the next visit. Try the live demo to see the four ideas above in action, or, if you are weighing options, read our Amasty Free Gift vs Mageplaza Free Gift comparison.