Every reward tier in Oxify needs a trigger — the condition a customer's cart needs to meet before the reward unlocks. Oxify supports two trigger types: Cart Total and Item Count.
You pick which one to use under General Settings → Reward Basis in the Rewards tab.
Cart Total
The reward unlocks when the customer's cart subtotal hits the threshold you set.
Example: "Spend $50 to unlock free shipping." A customer with $48 in their cart sees a progress bar that's almost full. Adding a $5 product crosses the threshold and unlocks the reward.
When to use Cart Total:
Most stores. This is the default for a reason — it's the AOV-driving trigger.
Stores where customers buy mixed baskets at varying price points.
When you want a clear dollar threshold customers can aim for ("$10 more for free shipping").
How to set the threshold: aim for roughly 20–30% above your current AOV. Higher and most customers won't bother; lower and you'll give the reward away to customers who would have crossed that threshold anyway.
Item Count
The reward unlocks when the customer has a certain number of items in their cart, regardless of price.
Example: "Add 3 items to get a free tote." A customer with 2 items sees a progress bar at 67%. Adding any third item unlocks the reward.
When to use Item Count:
Stores selling lower-priced items where dollar thresholds feel forced — "spend $50" doesn't motivate when your products are $8 each, but "buy 5 items" does.
Apparel stores (multiple sizes / colors per order).
Categories where customers naturally buy multiples — supplements, candles, socks, accessories.
"Buy more, get a gift" framing. Item-count rewards feel more like volume incentives.
Picking the right one
Most stores should start with Cart Total — it's the strongest AOV lever for stores with mixed product pricing.
Switch to Item Count only if your AOV is heavily concentrated in low-price products where a dollar threshold would feel disconnected from how customers actually shop.
If you're unsure, start with Cart Total, watch your reward unlock rate for a couple of weeks, and switch to Item Count only if the dollar threshold isn't motivating customers.
Changing the trigger type
You can switch between Cart Total and Item Count at any time. The change applies to all reward tiers in your store.
Open Cart Editor → Rewards.
Under General Settings, click Cart Total or Item Count in the Reward Basis selector.
Update each reward tier's threshold to match the new basis (a $50 threshold doesn't mean anything in Item Count mode — change it to "5 items" or whatever makes sense).
Save.
Tip
Whichever trigger type you choose, set the threshold slightly above what your average customer naturally hits. The whole point of a reward is to motivate one extra add-to-cart — if your threshold is set so low that everyone clears it without trying, you're giving away margin without driving any AOV lift.