Why we built Checkout Edits
Gift with purchase is one of the oldest, most reliable ways to lift average order value. Yet the apps that do it on Shopify almost all make the same trade: they bolt their logic onto your storefront in ways that leak.
Install a few and look at your collections — you'll find ghost products and exclusion rules like "product type is not equal to free gift" injected into every smart collection, plus webhook chains that re-inject them whenever you touch a collection. The gift logic itself usually runs as a theme script, adding weight to every page load. It works, but it quietly corrupts your catalog and slows your store.
We thought the gift should live where the cart actually is: at checkout.
What "native" actually means
Checkout Edits is built on Shopify's checkout UI extensions and Shopify Functions. That changes what's possible — and what's not possible:
- No ghost products, no collection pollution. Nothing is added to your catalog. The gift is a normal product you already sell; Checkout Edits just adds it to the cart at checkout when the trigger is met.
- Actually free, and only the gift. When the gift is added, the extension writes a signed, HMAC-verified token to a hidden cart metafield. A Shopify Discount Function reads it and applies 100% off — to exactly the authorized gift line, and nothing else — even if the buyer adds more items.
- Works with every wallet. Because it runs inside Shopify's checkout, it behaves correctly with Shop Pay, Apple Pay, and Google Pay — not just the standard flow.
- No theme code. You add the gift through the checkout editor and point it at a shortcode. There's nothing to edit in your theme, and nothing to break the next time you switch themes.
What's in v1
- Free Gift — give away one or more products when the cart qualifies.
- Triggers — always-on, cart value (set per presentment currency), a product or variant in the cart, an item count, or a discount code (we can create the 0%-off trigger code for you).
- Auto or manual — drop the gift in automatically, or show a card with an "Add" button so buyers opt in.
- Multiple gifts and subscription gifts — gift a product on a selling plan with the first order free; renewals bill normally.
- Auto-revoke — the gift is removed the instant the cart no longer qualifies, so nobody keeps a gift they didn't earn.
- Draft & publish, quantity control, and always-live product data (edits store IDs and fetch titles/images/prices live, so nothing goes stale).
What's next
Free Gift is the first edit type — the architecture is built so more "edits" slot in over time (upsells, progress bars, and other checkout customizations are on the roadmap). But we'd rather build the next thing based on what real stores actually ask for.
If you run a gift offer with Checkout Edits, tell us what's missing. We'll prioritize from there.