Automatic discounts not combining, why is this?

Topic summary

A merchant is experiencing conflicts between two automatic discount promotions in Shopify. They offer:

Current Setup:

  • Free bottle for orders over £74.99
  • Tiered discounts on electrolyte tubes (10% for 3, 15% for 6, 20% for 9)

The Problem:
When electrolyte tubes trigger the tiered discount, the free bottle promotion fails to apply even when the cart exceeds £74.99. The free bottle discount works correctly with other products.

Root Cause:
Shopify’s native discount system prevents combining Buy X Get Y promotions with other product discounts on the same items. The platform automatically applies whichever discount provides greater value, not both simultaneously.

Proposed Solutions:

  1. Accept Shopify’s limitation (discounts won’t stack)
  2. Use a third-party app like BOGOS that allows discount stacking and combination rules

Status: Unresolved - the merchant must either modify their discount strategy or implement an app-based solution to achieve the desired discount combination.

Summarized with AI on October 30. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.

I want to offer a free bottle with all orders over £74.99 (automatic discount as seen below).

But i also offer tiered discounts for my electrolyte tubes to encourage bundles of 3, 6, and 9 tubes.

  • 3 tubes = 10% off

  • 6 tubes = 15% off

  • 9 tubes = 20% off

However if my cart contains these electrolytes tubes with the automatic tiered discount automatically


applied, the free bottle discount will not work when a total of £74.99 is surpassed.

The free bottle discount works fine when other products that are not electrolyte tubes are in the cart (see below)

Is there a way that i can allow for both automatic discounts to apply?

Many thanks,

James

Hi James,

I highly recommend reading Shopify’s “Discount Combinations” helpdesk article:

https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/discounts/combining-discounts/discount-combinations

As mentioned in this article:

“Products that are part of a Buy X get Y discount are ineligible for further product discounts. If a customer enters a discount code that applies to products in a Buy X get Y discount, then the Buy X get Y discount is removed and only the discount code that the customer entered is applied to the order.”

Best,

Tobe

Hi @jamesjackson1 :blush: I’m Ellie, a Shopify promotion expert with 4 years of experience!

This is how Shopify’s native discount system works:

If you offer both a Buy X Get Y and an amount-off discount for a product, Shopify will automatically calculate which offer provides the most value (the cheapest after discount) for the customer, then apply it to the order, to prevent unexpected overlapping discounts.

However, if you want to combine these 2 offers (so they work together) and have a streamlined, time-saving, cost-effective solution, I highly recommend you to:

Step 1: Inactive these 2 offer types using Shopify automatic discount

Step 2: Use the BOGOS app (#1 Shopify Promotion App) because all offers you create with BOGOS can either be combined together or set to avoid overlapping with each other! To combine, just:

  • Utilize "Spend X amount to get gift(s)" gift offer template to quickly create “a free bottle with all orders over £74.99” offer. Plus: the free bottle will be automatically added to cart (no manual search for & add it to cart like using shopify native discount).

  • Create a quantity breaks widget. We can also help with customizing the quantity breaks widget layout, every content & color detail to better match your store’s branding. Here’s an example of a real Shopify store using it

Step 3: Utilize BOGOS to launch gifts, bundles, upsells, discounts all in one app for an efficient, cost-effective solution.

Utilize your 7-free day trial to try it now! And if you need any help, even with small things, just let me know—I’m always here to help!

I truly hope my recommendations help. Appreciate it if you could Like and Accept as Solution if my answer was helpful!