Free Shipping Bars: How to Set the Threshold

Set your free shipping threshold a little above your typical order, at a level most shoppers can reach with one more item they would actually want. Then check that the extra profit pays for the shipping you stop charging. Only after that should you put the threshold in a bar at the top of your store.

This guide walks through picking the number, checking the math, turning it on in Shopify and writing the bar. A free shipping bar is not social proof by itself, but it sits in the same spot as your other trust signals. For how they fit together, see our social proof guide for Shopify.

What is a free shipping bar on Shopify?

A free shipping bar is a thin strip at the top or bottom of every page that tells shoppers when shipping is free. For example: “Free US shipping on orders over $60.”

It answers a question shoppers have before they add anything to cart. Shipping cost is a common reason to leave late in the process. In the Baymard Institute’s list of reasons for abandoning checkout, “Extra costs too high (shipping, tax, fees)” is first, at 40% (Baymard Institute, excluding “just browsing” shoppers). Showing the condition up front means fewer surprises at checkout.

There are two kinds of bar:

The static bar is where most stores should start. A progress meter only helps once your threshold is right.

How do you pick a free shipping threshold?

Pick it from your own order data, not from what another store uses. Here is a method you can run in an afternoon.

1. Find your typical order. Take your orders from the last 90 days and divide total product sales by the number of orders. That is your average order value. Also look at the middle order (the median), since a few big orders can pull the average up.
2. List your order totals. Export your orders and sort them by subtotal. Note where most orders cluster.
3. Find your “one more item” price. Look at your best-selling products under the typical order value. A good threshold is one a shopper near the cluster can reach by adding one of them.
4. Set the threshold just above the cluster. If most orders land between $35 and $50, a threshold at or below $35 gives shipping away on orders you would get anyway. A threshold of $90 is too far for most shoppers to bother.
5. Round to a clean number. “$60” reads faster than “$57.50” in a bar.

Check heavy, bulky and international orders separately. A threshold that works for a small domestic parcel can lose money on a heavy box sent abroad. You can limit free shipping by country, as shown below.

How do you check that the threshold pays for itself?

Compare what you give up with what you gain. You give up the shipping fee you used to charge on orders over the line. You gain profit on the extra products shoppers add to get there.

A quick break-even check:

Extra product sales needed per order = shipping fee you stop charging ÷ your gross margin

For example, say you charged $6 for shipping and your gross margin on products is 50%. Each order that crosses the line needs about $12 of extra products to break even ($6 ÷ 0.50).

Then look at the three groups of orders:

The first group is the one stores forget. If many orders already sit above your new threshold, free shipping costs you money on every one of them. That is why a threshold below your typical order rarely pays.

The same per-order math applies to discounts. Our bulk discount margin math post covers how shipping and packing costs change when orders get bigger.

How do you turn on free shipping over a minimum in Shopify?

Shopify gives you two ways. Use one, not both, so the rules don’t overlap.

Option 1: an Order amount shipping rate

According to the Shopify Help Center:

1. Go to Settings > Shipping and delivery and open the shipping profile.
2. In the zone, click Add shipping option and enter a Name customers will see.
3. Set Rate type to Order amount.
4. Add price ranges with a Minimum, Maximum and Price. For the free range, enter 0 and leave Maximum empty.
5. Click Done, then Save.

Shopify warns that an order outside all your ranges gets a shipping error at checkout. Leave Maximum empty on the highest range so large orders are covered.

Option 2: a Free shipping discount

According to the Shopify Help Center, go to Discounts, click Create discount and choose Free shipping. Pick Automatic discount (no code) or Discount code. Then set Countries, the Minimum purchase amount, Combinations and Active dates. You can also tick Exclude shipping rates over a certain amount to keep express rates paid.

Two details from Shopify’s page matter for your bar. The minimum counts product prices only, not taxes or other costs. And products count at their discounted price only when the other discount can combine with free shipping.

Which one should you use?

Whichever you pick, place two test orders: one just under the threshold and one just over. Check the shipping line on both before you write the bar.

What should a free shipping announcement say?

Say the exact condition in one short line: who it is for, the amount and any limits. Shoppers should not have to click to find out if they qualify.

Match the bar to your settings word for word. If the discount counts product prices only, “orders over $60” is clear enough. If it excludes some countries, say “Free US shipping”, not “Free shipping”. More bar wording ideas are in announcement bar ideas for Shopify.

How do you add a free shipping bar with Sam FOMO?

Your theme’s announcement bar can show the text. Sam FOMO, our sales popup and social proof app, adds a Promo Bar with a button, a coupon code and a countdown. It is free to install and rated 4.6★ from 17 reviews on the Shopify App Store (Oct 2026).

1. Install the app and turn on the Sam Boost Sales app embed (install guide).
2. Open Notifications, click Create notification, scroll to Promotions and click Add on Promo Bar.
3. Under Bar, choose Top bar (all pages) or Bottom bar (all pages).
4. Write the Message, for example “Free US shipping on orders over $60”. You can use bold and add a link to your shipping policy.
5. Open Button & coupon to add a button such as “Shop now” with a link to a collection of items that help shoppers reach the threshold. If your free shipping is a discount code, show it here. You can use one of your Shopify discount codes and apply it when shoppers click the button.
6. Under Visibility, choose pages and devices, and exclude products that don’t qualify, such as oversized items.
7. Pick Colors that match your store, check the preview and click Save.

The promo bar guide shows each screen. If you sell in more than one language, fill in the Translations section too.

One limit to know: the Promo Bar shows the same message to every shopper. It does not read the cart, so it cannot say “You’re $12 away.” If you want that, check whether your theme’s cart drawer has a free shipping meter, or use an app built for it.

Should you add a countdown to a free shipping bar?

Only when the offer really ends. A permanent threshold has no deadline, so a timer on it is pressure without a reason.

A countdown fits a dated promotion, such as free shipping for one weekend. Set the end date on the Shopify discount first, then match the timer to it. A timer that restarts for every visitor while the offer never ends is the pattern our false urgency countdown timers post warns against.

What mistakes make free shipping bars backfire?

• A threshold your settings don’t apply. The bar says $60 but checkout charges shipping at $65. Test every change.
• Hidden exclusions. Shoppers who find out at checkout that their country or product doesn’t qualify feel misled. Name the exclusion in the bar or the linked page.
• A threshold below most orders. You give away shipping on orders you would have had anyway.
• An old promotion left up. “Free shipping this weekend” on a Tuesday tells shoppers nobody is watching the store.
• Too many bars. A free shipping bar, a sale bar and a cookie banner can fill half a phone screen. Pick one message per bar.

How do you know if your threshold works?

Judge it by orders, not by clicks on the bar. Compare a few weeks before and after the change, and avoid holiday weeks.

1. Average order value. Did it move toward the threshold?
2. Share of orders over the line. How many orders now qualify, and how many did before?
3. Shipping cost per order. Did the labels you now pay grow faster than your product margin?
4. Bar clicks. In Sam FOMO, Analytics shows impressions, clicks and click-through rate, with Performance by popup type for the Promo Bar (analytics guide).

If many orders bunch up just above the threshold, it is doing its job. If few shoppers ever reach it, lower it or offer a cheaper item that bridges the gap. A bundle priced just over the line can bridge the gap too. See our product bundles guide for how to set one up.