Combining discounts

When a cart qualifies for more than one discount, Shopify decides which ones apply together. Each discount says which other kinds of discount it can be combined with, and Shopify combines two discounts only when both allow it. This page covers the Combinations settings on a Discountly discount and how Shopify uses them.

The Combinations settings

At the bottom of the discount editor, Combinations reads "This discount can be combined with:" and has three checkboxes. All three are on for a new discount.

Leave them on unless you have a reason not to. Two discounts on the same item still don't add up: Shopify applies the better one (see How Shopify decides).

What kind of discount each type is

Shopify sorts every discount into one of three classes: product, order or shipping. The checkboxes refer to these classes.

A discount with Also include a shipping discount with this rule turned on is in two classes: its own and shipping. Shopify treats a discount with more than one class as one discount: "When a single discount includes multiple classes, it can combine only with other discounts that allow" all of them. For example, a volume discount with free shipping combines with another discount only if that one allows both product and shipping discounts. (Discount combinations)

How Shopify decides

Shopify applies these rules at checkout, to Discountly's discounts and every other discount alike. From Shopify's help center:

• Both discounts have to agree. "Multiple discounts are applied to an order only when the setting on each discount allows the combination." If one allows it and the other doesn't, they don't combine.
• When they can't combine, the better one wins. Shopify applies "the best discount for the customer's cart". You don't choose which one.
• Product discounts don't stack on one item. Two product discounts can apply to different items in the same cart. On the same item, only one applies, and Shopify picks the better one. (Shopify Plus stores can set up product discounts that stack on the same item; Discountly's discounts don't use that.)
• Order of calculation. Product discounts come off first, then order discounts, then shipping. An order discount is calculated on the subtotal after product discounts.
• One shipping discount per order. "Multiple shipping discounts can't apply to the same order."
• Product with order, and order with order, have a condition. Your store must not use checkout.liquid customizations. All stores can combine product with product (on different items), product with shipping and order with shipping.

Shopify also limits how many discounts a store and a cart can have:

• "You can have a maximum of 25 active automatic discounts." App discounts count. Each live automatic Discountly discount is one of them.
• "Customers can use a maximum of 5 product or order discount codes and 1 shipping discount code on the same order."

More than one logic block

A discount with several logic blocks is still one discount to Shopify, so its blocks never combine or compete through the Combinations settings. Discountly sorts them out first:

• Volume pricing and Product discount: when two blocks match the same item, the larger discount wins on that item, whichever block comes first. Comparing a percentage with an amount, the one that takes more money off the item wins.
• Order discount: when the cart qualifies for several blocks, the block that takes the most off applies.
• Buy X get Y and Free gift: each block adds its own reward when the cart earns it.

To give two discounts that add up on the same order, such as tier pricing on products and $10 off the order, make them two discounts of different classes and leave the matching checkboxes on.

Free gifts and Buy X get Y rewards

The free item is a product discount, so it follows the product rules. For a free gift discount, the Product discounts checkbox reads differently: "If off, the free gift won't apply when another product discount is running. Leave on so the gift works alongside your product promos."

When a product or order discount that doesn't combine with product discounts wins the cart, Shopify won't make the free item free. To avoid charging for a "free" gift:

• The cart embed doesn't add the reward when Discountly can tell such a discount applies to the shopper: one that applies store-wide, or that's limited to customer tags the logged-in shopper has.
• If a reward line ends up at full price anyway, the cart embed takes it out. It tries again on the next page load, so fixing the combination settings brings it back.
• On draft orders, rewards aren't added while a Discountly discount on the order has Product discounts turned off.

Combining with Shopify's own discounts and codes

Discounts you create in Shopify, and other apps' discounts, have their own Combinations settings. A Discountly discount and a Shopify discount combine only if both allow the other's class.

• Discount codes. Customers enter Discountly codes in Shopify's discount code field at checkout, like any other code. A code combines with automatic discounts on the same terms: "Yes, you can apply both automatic discounts and discount codes to the same cart," as long as each allows the other's class. Free gift and Buy X get Y codes on Shopify Plus go in Discountly's own field instead (see Checkout extensions).
• Sale prices aren't discounts. A compare-at price isn't a discount and isn't affected by combinations. Use Items already on sale on the discount to decide what happens to items on sale (see Product discount).
• Other settings stay separate. Items already on sale and Minimum purchase requirements only change the Discountly discount they're on. A Shopify code that combines with it follows its own settings.

See what combines with what

In the Discounts list, the Combines with column shows three icons for each discount: Product discounts, Order discounts and Shipping discounts. An icon that's turned off means the discount doesn't combine with that class.

Live Discountly discounts also appear in Shopify's Discounts list. To see every discount in the store that combines with a class, there: click the search and filter buttons, click Add filter, select Combines with, and pick the classes. (Discount combinations: check if an active discount is combinable)

Worked example: tier pricing plus a sitewide code

Hoodies get 10% off at 4 or more. A newsletter code gives 10% off the order. A customer buying 4 hoodies at $100 should get both.

1. Open the volume pricing discount. Under Combinations, leave Order discounts on.
2. Open the newsletter code (a Shopify order discount, or a Discountly order discount with a code). In its combination settings, allow it to combine with product discounts.
3. Check your store has no checkout.liquid customizations, which product-with-order combinations need.

At checkout: 4 × $100 = $400, the tier takes 10% off the hoodies ($360), then the code takes 10% off that subtotal ($324). With Order discounts off on either one, Shopify applies only the better of the two: here, both save $40, so the customer pays $360.

Worked example: staff pricing that doesn't mix with promotions

Staff get 30% off everything with a product discount limited to the customer tag staff. You don't want staff also using sitewide codes.

1. On the staff discount, turn off Order discounts and Shipping discounts.
2. To keep staff from getting product promotions on other items as well, also turn off Product discounts.

Remember the rule: when discounts can't combine, the better one for the cart wins. If a staff member's cart would save more with another promotion, Shopify applies that instead of the 30%.

Worked example: free shipping in two places

A volume discount includes free shipping through Also include a shipping discount with this rule, and a separate shipping discount gives 50% off shipping over $75. A cart qualifies for both.

The two can't combine. The volume discount is in two classes, product and shipping, so the other discount would have to allow both, and a shipping discount's Shipping discounts box is locked off. Shopify keeps the volume discount, with its tier price and free shipping: "Product and order discounts take priority over shipping discounts when they can't be combined." (Discount combinations) The 50% shipping discount still applies to carts that don't reach a tier.

If you want the best shipping offer to apply on top of tier pricing, give the volume discount no shipping add-on and let a separate shipping discount handle shipping. A product discount and a shipping discount combine when both allow it.

Troubleshooting

Two discounts don't apply together. Check both sides: each needs the other's class ticked, including Shopify discounts and other apps' discounts. For product with order, check the store has no checkout.liquid customizations. If either discount includes a shipping add-on, the other also has to allow shipping discounts.

Only one of two Discountly discounts applies to an item. That's expected: product discounts don't stack on the same item, and Shopify keeps the better one. To give more off, raise one discount's value, or put both offers in one discount as two logic blocks.

A free gift isn't added, or disappears. Another product or order discount that doesn't combine with product discounts is winning the cart. Turn on Product discounts on that discount, or accept that the gift doesn't apply alongside it.

A new automatic discount doesn't apply. Shopify allows 25 active automatic discounts, counting app discounts. Check how many your store has in Shopify's Discounts list.