Discounts are not the only offers you can use for promos. In fact, you can boost AOV without slashing prices — and maintain value perception — by running a “Gift With Purchase” (or GWP) promo.
When a customer spends a certain amount or buys a specific number of products, they get something for free.
Functionally, it’s not that different from a discount. But it works so well because it shifts the frame from saving money to getting more value.
That said…
You need to nail the details for this to succeed. The threshold amount, the gift itself, and other factors contribute to your GWP campaign’s performance.
In this article, I’ll share with you five pieces of a successful GWP promo based on my experience running these for clients.
1. Set the Threshold Properly
The magic of a threshold-based GWP promo is that it nudges customers to spend a little more than usual to unlock that free thing.
Sure, more money out of their pocket. But to them, the free gift offsets it.
However, you must set the threshold just right. Not so low that it doesn’t encourage more purchases… but not so high that customers feel “priced out of it” (like they don’t need that much stuff from you).
1.4x-1.6x your Average Order Value (AOV) is a good starting point I’ve used with brands. It strikes that balance pretty well. Customers must add to their typical order, but not a massive amount.
However, round up or down to a round number.
For example, I worked with a golf brand that had a ~$62 average order value (AOV). We set a $100+ threshold. That’s 1.61x (so barely over the upper end), but the $100+ “round number” makes it feel more satisfying to reach.
Plus, some of the brand’s products cost over $100. This gives customers a chance to grab one thing and instantly get the gift.
Overall, that threshold should feel like a stretch… not a leap. Get it right and you’ll maximize AOV (and sales) without driving away buyers.
2. Choose the Right Gift
The gift itself makes or breaks the promo. Customers have to find it valuable enough to make that larger purchase…
But it also needs to pay off for you — meaning it should be profitable.
Pick something too cheap? Customers won’t care.
Pick something too expensive? The promo might cost you (unless you have a plan to upsell/cross-sell these specific customers on other things later).
Good news is you have some flex in these things. You could make a cheaper gift feel more valuable, while higher-priced gifts may not cost you as much margin, depending on what it is.
Here are a few gift selection strategies:
High-Margin Gifts
High-margin gifts let you give away something more valuable without a proportionate hit to your margins.
Digital products are ideal since there is negligible to no cost of goods sold. The only “cost” is the time and money spent making the thing. Courses, higher-priced eBooks, or a long period of free access to a membership are a few ideas.
For instance, for that brand I mentioned earlier — once the customer hit the $100 threshold, they unlocked free access to the founder’s main digital course (which itself is around $100 usually).
Physical products can work, too. Samples (especially of a product you want to sell more of later, thus recouping some “losses” on the gift) or branded add-ons (like a leather keychain for a boot company) might work well.
These are cheaper to produce yet are valuable to the customer.
Scarcity/Urgency-Driven Gifts
People want what they can’t have, and don’t like to lose things. Thus, scarcity and urgency can make an average gift feel more valuable.
For instance, a higher-ticket golf brand I worked with had 10 of a particular sought-after golf club on hand. First 10 people to respond/purchase got the free club.
That, plus the urgent deadline (it was a 48-hour sale with a surprise extension) drove a lot of people to respond to the brand’s sales team requesting more info.
Gifts That Complement Products
Some of the best gifts feel like natural add-ons.
A good example is a “buy 2 get 1 free” promo I ran for a supplement brand at the end of August 2024. The details were:
The customer gets a free bottle of our minerals/electrolytes supplement when they buy 2 bottles of our muscle maintenance/metabolism supplement.
The muscle maintenance/metabolism one helps them keep muscle while staying lean. The mineral supplement supports hydration and replaces lost electrolytes from sweat.
They work together to help you hit the gym harder, recover better, keep the extra pounds off during the summer, and feel good (hydrated) during the hot weather of late August/early September.
3. Add AOV-Boosting Widgets
Don’t leave your promo up to chance once it’s live. Add some AOV-boosting widgets to your site to guide customers toward that threshold.
Some of these could include:
- “Customers also buy”
- “Frequently bought together”
- Sticky cart banners
- Checkout reminders
- Web push notifications (those little notifications that pop up in the browser)
These little things can remind customers to add more to their carts and help them accomplish their goals (especially widgets that find great product pairings).
One other tactic:
Display a visual of the gift in their cart if you automatically add it upon reaching the threshold. Adds perceived value and reminds customers what’s at stake.
4. Gamify the Experience
People get a nice sense of satisfaction when they see progress toward a goal. Gamifying your GWP promo helps here.
A few examples include:
- Progress bar: This fills up as they add items to their cart. Higher dollar value = fuller bar until they hit the threshold. You can make this a banner at the top/side of their screen and a widget in their cart.
- Dynamic notices: Notices or messages that appear as they get closer to reaching the threshold.
- Unlock messages: Offers a sense of accomplishment for reaching the threshold and makes the customers excited for the gift. This can smooth the rest of the process ( cart to checkout) to reduce checkout abandons.
None of these will make or break your sale. But depending on your software, they’re fairly easy things to add (and later disable) that could lift sales.
You can also try a tiered GWP promo. For example:
- Spend $100 = Get Gift A
- Spend $150 = Get Gift A + Gift B
Helps boost sales more by giving an additional gift and making it feel like a higher-level “objective.”
5. Craft a Great Email Campaign
The previous 4 tips were all “prep” tips. It’s everything you can do to get ready for maximum AOV when the promo goes live.
Your email efforts are where the rubber meets the road. Your job is not just to sell your products, but the gift as well.
Here is how:
- Treat it like a mini product launch: Introduce what the gift is, who it helps, and why it matters. Make it feel exciting and exclusive.
- Connect the gift to customer goals: Instead of just saying “Get Gift X,” show how it helps with different things. Dimensionalize those benefits!
- Recommend product combos to reach the threshold: Curate bundles or recommend pairings in emails that make sense together… and ideally work well with the gift. Make sure they hit (and, if you can, exceed) the threshold.
- Announce the promo + gift
- Show product combos to help them qualify
- Reframe the value + create urgency
- Final call — last chance to claim
Then you fill in the gaps with emails that:
- Address problems/pain points
- Educate the customer
- Highlight product use cases
- Demonstrate social proof
And so on… just like you would with regular emails.
Only difference is they should focus on the promo’s specifics (theme, the gift, product pairings, etc.).
Customers generally don’t mind a higher volume of emails if there’s a free gift for a limited time on the line.
I’d mail every day if possible, with 2 announcement emails and 2-3 last call emails (the last day is where a LOT of money is made). Work in some SMS messages, too.
Get this part right and you’ll clean up when all is said and done.
Run a Killer Gift With Purchase Campaign
GWP promos are one of the smartest ways to boost AOV without training your list to expect discounts.
When done right, they feel exciting, generous, and genuinely helpful to the customer…
All while protecting your margins.
Just remember:
The gift must feel worthwhile, the threshold must be strategic, and your marketing must guide the customer toward taking action.
Do it well, and the GWP promo becomes quite the tool in your marketing and sales arsenal.
What To Do Next
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