How to Set Up a Free Gift for New Subscriptions

Rewarding new subscribers with a free gift is a great way to increase subscription conversion and make customers feel valued from the start. Use Offer Personalizations to automatically apply the gift and create a compelling moment that sets the tone for the subscriber relationship.

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At a Glance

Goal	Increase new subscription conversion
Who	Shoppers who haven't subscribed yet
What	A free gift added automatically on subscription sign-up
When	Always-on, or tied to a campaign window
Offer Type	Free gift

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Why It Works

A free gift removes hesitation at the subscription decision point. It's tangible, immediate, and feels more premium than a percentage discount — which can train customers to expect price cuts rather than value.

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How to Set Up This Offer in Intelligems

1. Go to Personalizations > Offers

2. Select Free Gift

3. Define the discount name — this will be shown to customers in cart and at checkout

4. Choose minimum purchase requirements if applicable

   • Subtotal minimum — e.g. require $X in cart before the gift applies

   • No minimum — gift applies as soon as targeting conditions are met

5. Select which products this offer is scoped to (optional)

   • Useful if you only want the gift to trigger on specific products

6. Choose whether to combine with other discounts

7. Choose the purchase type — for this offer, you'll want to select "Subscription purchases only" to limit the free gift to orders where a subscription item is being purchased

8. Search for and select the free gift you want to add to the cart

   • This should be a real product or variant in your Shopify catalog — the status can be Active or Unlisted, and should either have inventory in stock or be set to continue selling when out of stock

   • Choose something with a perceived value that complements the subscription item

9. Add components like an Offer message or Progress Bar to surface the gift offer to shoppers

   • Make sure components are installed in your theme via the Global Styles tab first

10. Click Complete offer setup

11. Add any modifications

    1. Tip: Pair this offer with a banner or callout on your PDPs & in your announcement banner so shoppers know the gift is coming before they even add to cart. This can be done using the Intelligems visual builder.

12. Save your Offer

13. Preview on desktop and mobile

14. Schedule or Activate — set a start and optional stop time if this is campaign-based