If you’ve created a Gift With Purchase (GWP) promotion and noticed that some eligible orders did not include the free item, this is usually related to how the customer reached checkout.
Why This Happens
In most cases, ADU was not able to apply the gift because the customer reached checkout before ADU had time to run on the cart.
You’ll usually notice this because:
The affected orders do not have the ADU tag
Other similar orders do include the gift and the ADU tag
Common Scenarios That Can Cause This
1️⃣ Customer clicked Checkout before the page fully loaded
If a customer clicks the Checkout button immediately - before the cart page finishes loading - ADU may not have enough time to apply the gift.
This results in:
No free gift added
No ADU tag on the order
2️⃣ Express/accelerated checkout buttons
If customers use options like:
Buy with Shop
More payment options
Express checkout buttons (Apple Pay, Google Pay, etc.)
ADU may not run because the customer is sent directly to checkout, bypassing the cart logic where the gift is applied.
3️⃣ Quick View or modal product views
Some themes use Quick View or modal product displays on collection pages.
From these views, customers can:
Click Buy with Shop
Click More payment options
This sends them straight to checkout, which again means ADU doesn’t have a chance to apply the gift.
What This Is Not Related To
❌ Payment method (e.g. Klarna, credit card, etc.)
❌ ADU rule configuration (if other orders worked correctly)
❌ Shopify order processing errors
If other orders successfully received the gift, the promotion itself is working as expected.
How to Reduce This Going Forward
While this behavior can’t be completely prevented due to Shopify limitations, you can reduce how often it happens by:
Encouraging customers to add items to cart first
Avoiding or limiting express checkout buttons for GWP campaigns
Reviewing Quick View settings in your theme
Testing the flow from:
Product page → cart → checkout
Collection page Quick View → checkout
If you’re unsure whether this applies to a specific order, feel free to reach out and we can help review it with you.