How to Offer Free Gifts With Purchases  in WooCommerce?

Offering customers free gifts with their purchases is a smart strategy to encourage repeat business and build brand loyalty. This guide will walk you through the step-by-step processes of offering free gifts with purchases on your WooCommerce store.

Imagine a new customer purchases an item from your store and receives a free gift as a bonus. What do you think their reaction would be? Excited? Delighted? Thrilled? A free gift with purchase provides shoppers with an added incentive to buy. In fact, 90% of customers who receive free gifts are more likely to shop more frequently with the same brand.

Winning a customer is a significant step, but there’s more to consider when creating free gift with purchases (GWP) campaigns. WooCommerce offers multiple strategies to create effective gifts with purchase promotions. Let’s explore them in detail.

WooCommerce free gifts are complimentary products or free gifts with purchases offered to incentivize customers to shop more. When implemented effectively, this strategy can boost sales and elevate the customer experience. More importantly, it is a compelling eCommerce marketing strategy that makes an offer customers can’t resist.

Why Should You Offer WooCommerce Free Gifts With Purchases On Your Store?

Let’s take a look at the key reasons why you should offer WooCommerce free gifts with purchase.

More sales: Free gifts create irresistible offers that encourage customers to make purchases. These enticing deals can drive higher sales for your WooCommerce store.

Build customer loyalty: Offering thoughtful and valuable gifts can build long-term customer relationships. Customers who feel rewarded are more likely to return and remain loyal to your store.

Promote new products or categories: Use WooCommerce free gifts with purchases to generate buzz around newly launched products or categories. Let customers try your new offerings, increasing the chances of word-of-mouth marketing.

Clear out inventory: Free gifts can help move old stock, especially during year-end clearance sales, making room for fresh inventory. This is particularly effective when paired with WooCommerce free gifts with purchase campaigns.

In short, including free gifts with purchase (GWP) marketing strategy into your WooCommerce holiday marketing strategy can lead to increased sales, improved customer satisfaction, and efficient inventory management.

Adding free products as gifts in WooCommerce is a proven way to boost sales and customer satisfaction.

By default, WooCommerce doesn’t have a built-in feature to set up such offers. It requires implementing custom code to set up free gift offers in WooCommerce or the use of plugins. With the many free gift plugins available, we recommend the Smart Coupons for WooCommerce plugin by WebToffee. This plugin simplifies the process of creating coupons and free gift offers. Let’s explore how to add WooCommerce free gifts to the cart using a plugin.

In order to access advanced features for WooCommerce free gift promotions, you’ll need the premium version of the plugin. While the free version supports basic BOGO offers, the premium version offers more advanced features.

To install and activate the WooCommerce coupon plugin,

• Navigate to Plugins > Add New Plugin.
• Upload the .zip file and click Install Now.
• After installation, activate the plugin to start using it.

Let’s explore the top 5 scenarios for WooCommerce free gift with purchase campaigns and how to set them up using the Smart Coupons plugin with examples.

#1: Free Gift with Purchase for a Minimum Spend

Offering WooCommerce free gift for every purchase may not always be ideal. Adding a restriction, such as a minimum spend, encourages larger orders while balancing customer satisfaction with business profitability.

Example: Customers receive a free gift for purchases above $1500.

• Go to Smart Coupons > BOGO to activate the BOGO module and create a new BOGO offer.
• Select Custom and choose Buy product X, get product X/Y. Provide a name and description for the offer.
• In the Customer Gets section, specify the free product details “1 quantity of Specific products for Free”.

• Next, set the Trigger as “Customers spend at least $1500 on any products.” You can also add product or category restrictions. For example, if you want to offer a free gift for purchasing a product from the “Men’s” category, add a category restriction for the offer as “Men.”

• In the Apply offer tab, define how the BOGO offer will work. This feature lets users choose whether the BOGO applies once or repeatedly (or set a custom range), as long as the cart qualifies. Let’s keep it as “Once” for this example.
• Under Display offer on, select Cart and Checkout to display the BOGO offer.
• If required, you can go ahead and schedule the offer to create urgency.
• After you go through all the settings, click Save & Activate.

Now when a customer’s subtotal exceeds $1500, the free product is automatically added to the cart.

#2 WooCommerce Free Gifts Based on Purchase Quantity

Besides the minimum spending limit, another way to encourage larger purchases is by incentivizing customers to buy in higher quantities. For example, a Buy 2 and Get 1 Free. This type of BOGO offer is widely used by retail stores to boost average order value. This is why this has become one of our recommended strategies for triggering free gift offers.

Example: Buy 2 items from Men’s Category and get a free gift.

• Follow the initial setup like the above and create a new BOGO offer.
• Configure what the customer gets, BOGO trigger, and how to apply offer settings like shown below. Here, we have provided two products that are eligible as WooCommerce free gifts. Plus, we had chosen Any of the above options. This lets customers choose one free gift from the available options during their purchase.

• In the Trigger tab, specify the quantity “2” and the category restriction as “Men”.

• After reviewing all the settings, click Save & Activate to enable the BOGO offer.

Now, when a customer purchases a minimum of 2 items from the Men’s category, their cart becomes eligible for the WooCommerce free gift with purchase. They will be presented with both gift options, from which they can choose one, which will then be added to their cart.

#3 Restricting Free Gifts to Specific User Roles

What if you would like to offer free gifts exclusively to certain user roles, such as logged-in customers, subscribers, or authors? With this coupon and free gift plugin, it’s simple to set up. Let’s see how with an example.

Example: All “Subscribers” receive a free gift with their purchase.

• Go to Smart Coupons > Add Coupon and create a new coupon.
• Generate a coupon code and add a coupon description.
• Next, in the General tab, enable the Apply coupon automatically option.
• Navigate to the Checkout options tab and select the applicable roles.
• In the Giveaway products tab, select the free product and set the discount to “100%.”
• After reviewing the settings, click Publish to activate the WooCommerce free gift coupon.

Now, all users assigned the “Subscribers” role will automatically receive a free gift with their purchases. This is just the basic frame of how such coupons can be created. Feel free to add some discount rules in the Usage Restrictions tab for better targeting.

#4 Offer WooCommerce Free Gifts for First-Time Purchases

Offering first-order discounts has become a popular way to convert browsers into buyers. Offering free shipping discounts is the common strategy used here. But what if you pair it with a free gift? With this coupon and free WooCommerce gift plugin, you can set up both easily.

Example: Add a free gift and offer free shipping for first-time buyers above $800.

• Add a new WooCommerce coupon.
• In the General tab, enable Allow free shipping and Apply coupon automatically options.
• Next, go to the Usage restriction tab and set the Minimum spend as “800”.
• Navigate to the Purchase history tab. There, in the Number of orders, set it as equals “0”. This ensures only first-time buyers are eligible for the WooCommerce free gift.
• Finally, go to the Giveaway products tab, select the free product, and set the discount to “100%.”
• After reviewing the settings, click Publish to activate the WooCommerce free gift coupon.

All the shoppers who spend a minimum of $800 in your WooCommerce store will receive a free gift and enjoy free shipping.

#5 Reward Loyal Customers With WooCommerce Free Gifts With Purchase

In order for your brand to grow and succeed, you must have loyal customers. Rewarding them with free gifts for their continued support is a great way to show appreciation. This plugin makes it easy to offer exclusive free gifts based on purchase history.

Example: Customers get a free gift on their 4th purchase.

• Create a new WooCommerce free gift coupon.
• Next, navigate to the Purchase history tab. There, in the Number of orders, set it as equals “3”. This means that for the cart to be eligible for the free gift, customers need to have three completed orders.
• You can mention the purchase period, order total, etc, according to your preferences.

• Finally, go to the Giveaway products tab, select the free product, and set the discount to “100%.”
• After reviewing the settings, click Publish to activate the WooCommerce free gift coupon.

Now, all customers with three completed orders are eligible for the free gift in their next purchase.

That’s it, folks! These examples showcase the top use cases for offering WooCommerce free gifts with purchases. While these setups provide a foundation, the plugin’s advanced discount rules allow you to create customized promotions to maximize their impact.

The Gift with Purchase (GWP) marketing strategy is tried and tested to boost engagement and sales. It has been widely adopted by brands across the world.

A good example is Apple’s Free AirPods campaign for its product iPhone 11. Customers who purchased the iPhone 11 qualified for a free pair of AirPods.

This campaign’s success stemmed from the premium value added by the AirPods. These exclusive gifts resonated with Apple’s target audience, enhancing customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.

Similarly, McDonald’s free cheeseburger offers to new users are another excellent example. By offering one of its most iconic items free for first-time customers, McDonald’s effectively captured their taste buds and encouraged repeat purchases.

The Smart Coupons plugin is an essential tool for managing coupons and Buy One Get One (BOGO) offers. It includes a dedicated BOGO module that enables the creation of advanced promotional offers. While we’ve only touched on the basics of BOGO settings, the plugin supports a variety of buy one get one configurations, such as:

• Buy one or more of a product, get one or more of the same product free.
• Buy a product from one category and get another product from the same category for free.
• Buy one or more of a product, get one or more of a different product free.
• Buy a product from one category and get a product from another category for free.

Beyond BOGO, the plugin excels in coupon management. It allows you to create multiple coupons with advanced usage restrictions, making it easier to set up WooCommerce free gift products using coupons.

Key Features of Smart Coupons for WooCommerce plugin:

• Create WooCommerce coupons and BOGO promotions
• Configure advanced discount rules
• Offer store credits and gift card coupons
• Provide sign-up and first-order discounts
• Add free gift with purchase
• Create coupons based on purchase history
• Show countdown banners
• Set up abandoned cart coupons
• Bulk generate coupon codes

So, that’s how extensive this advanced WooCommerce coupon plugin is. A free version is available, covering basic features. For full access, the premium version comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, ensuring a risk-free experience.

Previously, we discussed offering product giveaways as WooCommerce free gifts with purchases and explored the setup process. Now, let’s look at another rewarding strategy for WooCommerce store owners: gift vouchers.

Gift vouchers are an excellent way to reward customers for high-volume purchases or simply for shopping at your store. WebToffee also provides a WooCommerce gift card solution. The plugin includes a store credit system, supports multiple gift card products, offers customizable templates, and even allows you to schedule gift card deliveries, making it easier to incentivize your customers.

That’s it, folks! We have come to the end of this short guide on how to set up free gifts with purchases in your WooCommerce store. Offering free incentives is an effective way to ensure repeat purchases and loyalty. Customers who have a good shopping experience combined with free gifts are more likely to prioritize your store. So, use this strategy wisely to win over customers, but be mindful of your bottom line to ensure it remains profitable.

Have any questions about the WooCommerce free gift with purchase strategy? Let us know in the comments below!

Thank you for reading!