BOGO Offers for Shopify Stores

A buy one, get one free offer (BOGO) gives the shopper a second copy of a product when they buy the first. It suits products people use up or share, where a second unit is easy to sell and a stocked shelf is worth more to you than the unit's cost.

When it fits

• The product has a high gross margin. A pair costs you two units for one price, so the margin must clear 50 percent before the pair earns anything on its own.
• Customers buy it repeatedly, so a second unit pulls forward a purchase they would make later.
• You have stock depth. A BOGO doubles the units each order ships.

It is a poor fit for a product most shoppers buy one of at full price. Those shoppers cost you a free unit and add nothing.

How the template builds it

The app's Buy one, get one (BOGO) template is described as "Buy a product, get another copy free." Its example is a pair of socks that comes with a second pair. Two native limits are worth knowing before you build: Shopify's Buy X get Y discount lets you cap how many times the offer applies to each order, and its Help Center says customers must add all items to their cart manually.

If you want the free item to be a different product, use Buy X, get Y instead.

Check the math first

The deciding number is the share of BOGO buyers who would have bought a single unit at full price anyway. The BOGO break-even calculator turns your price, cost and that share into a break-even point, using the formula from BOGO margin math.

Other reading before you launch:

• How to create a BOGO offer on Shopify
• How to limit BOGO to one per customer
• BOGO alternatives for when the margin does not clear the bar

Stacking

Shopify's Help Center explains which discounts can combine and which cannot. Read Discount combinations before you run a BOGO alongside a code or a shipping offer.