Combinable discounts - EARLY ACCESS ONLY - Free shipping discount with other discounts?!

Shopify Discussion

Topic summary

Shopify introduced combinable discounts as part of their Summer 2022 Editions, initially available only through early access. The feature allows merchants to combine different discount types—such as free shipping codes with product discounts—and run multiple automatic discounts simultaneously.

Key capabilities:

  • Stores with access see a “combines with” column on the /admin/discounts page
  • Manual and automatic discounts now appear in a single unified view
  • Automatic free shipping discounts were later added with combinable options, including settings for countries, minimum purchase amounts, and exclusions

Limitations identified:

  • Does not support true “stacking” where VIP customers receive additional discounts on top of existing permanent discounts (apps like Volume Boost may conflict)
  • Native solution still requires customers to enter separate codes for each discount type
  • Some users reported errors when applying discount codes alongside automatic discounts post-update
  • Bulk/tiered pricing discounts (e.g., volume-based pricing tiers) remain unsupported

Workarounds:

  • Shopify Functions enable custom logic for more complex discount combinations but require development expertise
  • Third-party apps can create single codes that apply multiple discount effects simultaneously
Summarized with AI on October 27. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
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Announced as part of Shopify Editions - combinable discounts , currently only available in Early Access :

Combining discounts is in early access and is only available to certain merchants.> ~ https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/discounts/combining-discounts

Yes finally coming to shopify a native solution to stack combine discounts.

Such as letting shoppers enter* free shipping discount codes with product discounts, among others combos.
And multiple active automatic discounts.

Beside free shipping, What’s some other uses of this feature your going to try?

If you’ve been waiting for this feature, does it meet expectations?
If you try the feature reply to let others know if you like it or specific examples of limitations you’ve found.
If find a bug submit it to shopify promotions&discount support

How do I know if I can combine discounts yet?

Check your stores /admin/discounts page
If it’s enabled for that store there will be a new column that says “combines with” , and there is no longer a separate area for manual and automatic discounts . Go ahead and click into a discount and there will be a combinations section for that discount . You can see rough example of what new ui looks in the blog articles images and video https://www.shopify.com/blog/discount-combinations

Overview of the combinable discounts feature

Store with early access can enabled discounts to opt-in to combine discount together of in certain ways for certain classes(order discounts, product discounts, and shipping discounts).

The best discount in favor of the customer is always applied when they are shopping.

Keep in mind that keyword “certain” , this is not an everything works with anything feature, see examples in the manual and some of the limitations below .
AFAIK discounts do not automatically enable the combining feature , nor is this a store level setting, you have to set it in each individual discount.

I don’t know yet if the combine status can be changed with a bulk action.

Discounts applied in favor of shoppers does mean it’s VERY different than a system that favors the business in discount calculations ALWAYS do the math and ALWAYS test new discounts espcially now if they can combine.

Defined Limitations, from the manual -

Note: Currently, order discounts can’t be combined with product discounts.> > You can combine the following classes of discounts:> > - order discounts with free shipping discounts> - product discounts (buy X get Y, money off) with free shipping discounts> - product discounts with other product discounts> > https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/discounts/combining-discounts

The docs have a considerations section which outlines some of the limitations of what CANNOT be combined
Roughly:

  • No more than one discount ever applies to any single item in an order.
  • If a customer applies discounts but they can’t be combined the best discount for the customer’s cart is always applied.
  • Discounts only combine if each discount is set to allow combining.
  • Creating discounts and setting them to combine doesn’t mean you have t flip back and forth to enable combining after discounts are created.
  • Max of 25 automatic discounts.

Links

Shopify Discounts Manual

Editions Board

Announcement pages

Blog

Dev docs

Related Community discussions that need updating

5 Likes
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Got excited when I saw this but apparently, it is not what I was hoping for. I wanted to “stack” discounts for my VIP customers.

I.E. They already always receive a discount on all items we offer. I wanted to be able to occasionally have a sale where they would get an additional amount off their already discounted price.

Am I right that this is not possible? I use the app Volume Boost to always give certain tagged customers the discount.

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Apparently I do not have early access but just reading this thread makes me believe that it still doesn’t go far enough. I need to be able to apply bulk discounts so I can introduce pricing tiers. For example: buy 10 blue widgets get 0.50p off per item, buy 20 blue widgets get £1 off per item etc.

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FYI I was able to add a discount on top of the one volume boost adds. It can only be done with coupon codes and they had to add a coupon code box to the cart page I think.

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I started getting error if I try to apply a discount code when automatic discount is active

Here is the error message returned:

code: “DISCOUNT_ALREADY_APPLIED”
field: [‘discountCode’]
message: “Discount code A discount has been applied to this order. You can’t add another discount.”
__typename: “CheckoutUserError”

It was possible before the 2022 summer update to apply discount code when automatic discount was active. Any chance to change how it works?

FYI, some Shopify sites are using discount code to realize free gift offer (e.g. if you spend more than xx, you can get a gift of customer’s choice).

1 Like
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Automatic free shipping discounts have been added and also have a combinable option.

https://changelog.shopify.com/posts/new-automatic-free-shipping-discount> > You can now offer automatic free shipping to your customers, directly from Shopify admin, without having to rely on a discount code, Scripts, or an app.> > This update will allow you to increase buyer conversion and provide a better customer experience by rewarding your customers with free shipping, without requiring them to input a code.> > Learn more here.> > https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/discounts/discount-types/free-shipping#create-an-automatic-free-shipping-discount

Options: Countries, Exclude shipping rates over a certain amount, Toggle offering on POS-Pro, Minimum Purchase amount,Minimum Quantity of items, Combinations (product & order discounts), Active dates. Possibly purchase type (one-time-purchase,subscriptions, or both)

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Shopify’s built-in “Combine Discounts” feature still requires multiple separate codes to be entered by the customer one for each discount type (e.g., order and shipping). There’s currently no native support for applying multiple discount effects with a single code. Combinable discounts with single code can be created using shopify functions which offer more flexibility through custom logic but require development work.

Single code discounts‑swiftbee app allows you to create one discount code that applies multiple effects at once like combining a percentage discount and free shipping.