How to Create a Free Gift Coupon in WooCommerce (Easy Way)

Everyone loves getting something for free – it’s human nature.

When customers see they can get a bonus gift with their purchase, it often tips the scales from “maybe later” to “I’ll take it now.”

Creating gift coupons in WooCommerce is one of those marketing strategies that looks complicated but is actually quite simple to add.

We’ve observed many store owners use this process and have consistently seen how free gifts help increase sales, clear inventory, and create happy customers who return again and again.

In this tutorial, we will show you the easiest way to create free gift coupons in WooCommerce. By the end, you’ll have a powerful new tool to grow your business and boost conversions.

What Makes an Effective WooCommerce Free Product Offer?

Free gifts can significantly boost your WooCommerce store‘s sales and average order value, but choosing the right gift is crucial. While free gifts don’t need to be expensive, they must provide real value to your customers.

Here are proven free gift strategies we’ve seen work well:

• Branded Merchandise: Items like T-shirts or tote bags not only delight customers but also increase brand awareness when used in public.
• Complementary Products: Sample-sized versions of your premium products (great for skincare or cosmetics stores).
• Digital Downloads: Exclusive eBooks, guides, or video content that adds value without shipping costs.

You can trigger these free gifts in several ways:

• When customers reach a minimum order value (encourages larger purchases)
• As newsletter subscription incentives
• Through special occasion automated emails (birthdays, anniversaries)
• Via interactive elements like spin to win wheels for added engagement

Through our testing, we’ve found that the most successful free gift campaigns combine the right product with strategic timing. For example, offering sample-sized products when customers reach a certain cart value often leads to full-size purchases later.

That said, let’s see how you can create a free gift coupon for a WooCommerce store. Here are the topics we’ll cover:

• How to Create a Free Gift Coupon in WooCommerce
• How to Offer Free Gifts With Minimum Spend Amount
• How to Schedule WooCommerce Free Gift Coupon
• How to Promote Your WooCommerce Free Gift Coupon and Boost Sales
• Frequently Answered Questions: Free Gift Coupons

Ready? Let’s get started.

How to Create a Free Gift Coupon in WooCommerce

The easiest way to create free gift coupons is by using Advanced Coupons.

It is the best WordPress coupon code plugin on the market and allows you to create all kinds of deals, discounts, loyalty programs, and free gift WooCommerce coupons.

We have thoroughly tested the tool in our demo environment and have found it to be super beginner-friendly and easy to navigate.

If you are interested in learning more about our experience, then check out our Advanced Coupons review.

First, you’ll need to install and activate both the free Advanced Coupons plugin and the premium Advanced Coupons addon.

For more information, please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, head over to Coupons » License.

You can then enter the key into the ‘License Key’ field.

To find this information, log into your account on the Advanced Coupons website. You’ll also need to enter your ‘Activation Email’, which is the email address you used when you purchased Advanced Coupons.

Once you’ve done that, click on ‘Activate Key.’

To create a free gift coupon, go to the Marketing » Coupons page.

Here, simply click on the ‘Add coupon’ button.

On the next screen, you need to type in a title for your gift coupon for WooCommerce.

This will also become the actual coupon that customers will use to claim their free gift, so it’s a good idea to use something that’s easy for shoppers to remember and type.

If you don’t want to create your own code, then you can click on the ‘Generate coupon code’ button. This will create a code using a random string of letters and numbers.

Pro Tip: Another option is creating a URL that applies the coupon automatically. For step-by-step instructions, please see our guide on how to auto-apply coupons with coupon URLs.

After that, scroll to the ‘Coupon Data’ section and click on the ‘Add Products’ tab.

You can now click on the ‘+ Add Product’ button.

In the ‘Type to search’ field, start typing the name of the product that you want to offer as a free gift. When the right product appears, click on it.

Next, open the dropdown below the ‘Price/Discount’ heading.

You can then select ‘$: Override price.’

With that done, click on the ‘Add’ button to save this product.

Want to give away more than one free gift? Then simply repeat the process described above.

When you are happy with how the coupon is set up, click on the ‘Publish’ button. Now, the customer simply needs to enter the coupon code, and the product will be added to their cart for free.

How to Offer Free Gifts With Minimum Spend Amount

You may want to set a minimum amount that shoppers will need to spend to qualify for the free gift coupon. Many popular eCommerce sites use this trick to encourage shoppers to spend more money and increase the average order value.

To do this, create your coupon following the same process described above. However, before publishing the coupon, make sure you click on the ‘Usage restriction’ tab.

In the ‘Minimum spend’ field, type in the amount that shoppers must spend before they can use the free gift coupon.

In the image above, customers can only use the free gift coupon when their shopping cart is worth $20 or more.

If a customer tries to apply the coupon before reaching the minimum spend, then they’ll see an error message.

How to Schedule WooCommerce Free Gift Coupon

You can often increase conversions using FOMO. With that being said, you may want to add a time limit to your free gift coupons, which encourages customers to act now in order to claim their free gift.

You can schedule all your coupons using Advanced Coupons. Simply create the free gift coupon following the same process described above.

Then, click on the ‘Scheduler’ tab and check the ‘Date Range Schedules’ box.

In ‘Coupon start date,’ go ahead and type in the date and time when the coupon will go live.

Then, use the ‘Coupon expiry date’ to specify the date and time when customers will no longer be able to use the free gift coupon.

For more detailed instructions, please see our guide on how to schedule WooCommerce coupons and how to create smart WooCommerce coupons.

How to Promote Your WooCommerce Free Gift Coupon and Boost Sales

Customers love when you offer free products, so it’s a good idea to promote your coupon.

You can use OptinMonster to create floating header bars, exit intent popups, slide-in scroll boxes, or even gamified spin-a-wheel popups. In this way, you can let shoppers know about the coupon and how they can claim their free gift.

For more information, please see our guide on how to build customer loyalty in WordPress with gamification.

You can even use these display rules to personalize each campaign and offer different free gifts based on factors like the shopper’s location.

No matter how you promote your coupon URLs, it’s important to track visitors to your WordPress website and monitor how they’re using those coupons.

This allows you to see what’s working and what isn’t so you can constantly improve your marketing and deals to get more sales. For more information, please see our guide on how to set up WooCommerce conversion tracking.

Frequently Answered Questions: Free Gift Coupons

Here are some questions frequently asked by our readers about creating free gift coupons:

Will a free gift coupon affect my shipping costs?

If your free gift is a physical product, it can affect shipping costs because it adds extra weight or dimensions to the package.

By default, WooCommerce calculates shipping based on the items in the cart, including your free gift.

The good news is that most plugins, including Advanced Coupons, give you an option to allow free shipping when the coupon is applied. You just need to enable this setting in the coupon options and make sure a free shipping method is active in your shipping zones.

This way, customers can enjoy the free gift without being charged extra for shipping, which makes the offer much more appealing.

What happens if the gift product goes out of stock?

If your gift product is out of stock, the coupon won’t be able to add it to the cart.

This can create a frustrating experience for customers if they were expecting a free gift, so it’s important to plan ahead.

To avoid this issue, make sure you keep an eye on stock levels for any products you use as gifts. If you expect high demand, consider enabling backorders in WooCommerce so customers can still claim the gift, even if it ships later.

Another option is to set up a replacement gift as a backup, so your promotion keeps running smoothly without disappointing shoppers.

Can I set an expiration date for my free gift coupon?

Yes, Advanced Coupons makes it super easy to set start and end dates for your coupon.

When you’re creating the coupon, you’ll see an option to add an expiry date. Simply enter the date you want the promotion to end, and the plugin will automatically disable the coupon after that time.

This feature is perfect for limited-time offers, like holiday sales, flash deals, or seasonal promotions.

You can also set a start date if you want the coupon to activate later, which is great for scheduling campaigns ahead of time. This way, you don’t have to manually enable or disable anything during your sale period—it all runs automatically.

We hope this article helped you learn how to offer WooCommerce free gift coupons. You may also want to see our list of the best WooCommerce plugins for your store or check out our guide on how to create a WooCommerce contest to boost loyalty and engagement.

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