"Free shipping over $75" is the most common promotion in e-commerce because it raises average order value without a discount code. Shopify can do the basic version natively. The details, hiding the paid rate once free kicks in, limiting the offer to a country or a customer group, and telling the shopper how far they are from the threshold, take a little more. This guide covers all of it.
Option A: a conditional free rate (native)
- 1Open Settings → Shipping and delivery, pick the profile and the zone.
- 2Add rate → Set up your own rates, name it "Free shipping", price 0.
- 3Click Add conditions → Based on order price, minimum 75, no maximum.
- 4Save. Carts over $75 now see a Free shipping option.
Two things to know. First, Shopify compares the threshold against the order subtotal after discounts, so a $80 cart with a 10% code becomes $72 and loses free shipping. Second, the paid rates stay visible. A customer over $75 sees "Free shipping $0" next to "Standard $5.90". Most choose free, but some stores want a cleaner checkout, and some carriers' rates must be hidden because the courier differs.
Option B: a shipping discount (native, Advanced and Plus friendly)
Discounts → Create discount → Free shipping lets you set a minimum purchase amount and restrict the discount to countries. It applies as a discount line rather than a separate rate, so the Standard rate shows with a strike-through price. It can be automatic (no code) and combined with product discounts. It cannot look at products, tags or customers beyond the segment options, and it cannot hide any rates.
Option C: one rule that does the whole job
In Shipzo a free shipping promotion is one rule with two actions:
- Reduce price → Free on the method Standard when cart subtotal is at least 75. The reduction appears as a labelled shipping discount in checkout on every Shopify plan.
- Hide the method Express in the same rule, if you only want to offer the free option once the threshold is met. Or keep Express visible as a paid upgrade.
Because every condition is available, you can scope the promotion exactly: only for United States and Canada, only for customers tagged VIP, not when the cart contains a product in collection "Clearance", only from 20 November to 2 December. Schedules run in your store's timezone, so a Black Friday rule starts at midnight where you are, not in UTC.
Setting it up
- 1Install Shipzo on the Growth or Unlimited plan (the Reduce price action is included there).
- 2Pick the template Free shipping over a total on the home page.
- 3Change the amount to 75 and confirm the method is Standard. Tick Hide → Express if you want only one option shown.
- 4Add a destination condition if the offer is not worldwide.
- 5Save and activate. The plain-words banner reads: Make Standard free and hide Express when cart subtotal is at least 75.
Showing shoppers how far they are from free shipping
A threshold only raises order value when the customer knows about it. On the storefront, most themes have a free-shipping bar section for the cart drawer. At checkout, Shopify Plus stores can place Shipzo's checkout block, a progress bar that reads "Add $12 more for free shipping" in the shipping step and updates as the cart changes. On other plans the storefront bar does the job.
