Full FAQ
The in-app help drawer (admin → "?" icon) has 22 frequently-asked questions covering setup, gift mechanics, customer behavior, checkout edge cases, Shopify Plus features, Flow integration, analytics, translations, and cancellation. They're mirrored here verbatim so you can search them outside the admin and link teammates to specific answers.
This page mirrors the Help screen inside the Valotrix Cart Rewards admin (the "?" icon, top-right). When the in-app FAQ updates, this page updates with it - the in-app version is canonical.
Setup & onboarding
How do I make the gift free?
The recommended way is the Automatic discount delivery method in the rule's Delivery tab. It applies 100% off by default (a true free gift), and you can lower the percentage - say 50% - and pair it with the gift-choice popup to run it as an upsell instead (e.g. "Buy a watch, pick a leather strap at 50% off, popup-only"). Discounts apply automatically at checkout, no codes for the customer to type.
As an alternative, you can set the gift variant's price to $0 in Shopify itself, but that means duplicating products and complicates inventory - we don't recommend it for most stores.
Does it work with my theme?
Yes - every Online Store theme is supported, including Dawn, Horizon, and custom themes. No theme code changes needed; you just need to enable the Valotrix Cart Rewards theme app embed in your theme editor (the setup wizard does this for you, but it's worth checking under Online Store → Themes → Customize → App embeds if widgets aren't appearing).
What theme app blocks does the app provide?
Seven placeable blocks: Threshold Bar (progress strip), PDP Gift Preview (per-product gift card), PDP Buy-Get Pairing (Buy-X-receive-Y card on the PDP), Urgency Banner (honest server-anchored countdown / inventory), Inline Tier Stack (multi-tier campaign visualizer for tiered promotions), Collection Eligibility Overlay (stamps "Free gift" badges on collection-grid cards whose product matches an active campaign), and Gift Unlock Celebration (animated toast that fires when the cart crosses a threshold).
Add them in the theme editor under Apps. Each block stays hidden until a matching campaign is live for the visitor's context - no flicker, no reserved layout space.
For gift-line presentation in the cart (the "Free" label and quantity-lock that used to be a Cart Line Badge block) see Settings → Gift line display in the admin. That setting applies globally to every cart with a gift line, including third-party cart drawers.
Gift mechanics
Can a customer apply a discount code on top of a free gift?
Yes - customer-entered discount codes (percentage off, fixed-amount off, free shipping) apply to the rest of the cart as usual. The discount Valotrix Cart Rewards puts on the gift line is applied by a separate Shopify discount that only targets the gift line itself, so the customer's code isn't combined with it and the gift isn't double-discounted.
Can customers remove the gift?
By default, yes - and the engine re-adds it on the next cart change if the customer still qualifies. This is the Auto-remove gift option under the rule's Trigger tab → "If the customer no longer qualifies" step, and it's on by default. Switch it to Keep the gift if you want earned gifts to stay even when conditions change (good for one-time loyalty rewards). If you'd rather hide the cart's remove button entirely for gift items, that's a small theme tweak - chat with us and we'll point you at the right snippet.
What happens to gifts at checkout?
Once a gift line reaches checkout, the customer can't modify it - that's standard Shopify behavior for cart-attached items. The gift keeps its discount, ships with the rest of the order, and appears on the order confirmation. On Shopify Plus stores you also get a gift confirmation banner at the delivery-address, shipping-option, and payment-method steps as an extra reassurance touch.
What if the gift product is out of stock?
Enable OOS fallback in the rule's Rewards tab - the engine skips unavailable variants and uses the next gift in the list. If no variant in the list is available, the rule simply doesn't fire (the customer never sees a "gift unavailable" message).
How does the app identify gift items in the cart?
Gift items get hidden tags on the cart line - campaign and rule identifiers Valotrix Cart Rewards attaches automatically. You don't have to configure anything; the tags are invisible to customers at checkout and on invoices, and they're what lets Valotrix Cart Rewards recognize "this is one of my gifts" later (for analytics, removal logic, applying the discount only to gift lines, etc.).
Customer targeting & multi-campaign
Can I show different gifts to different customers?
Yes. Use the Targeting tab to filter by audience (logged-in vs. guests), country, or customer tags like vip or wholesale.
Can I run multiple campaigns at once?
Yes. All active campaigns run at the same time. If a cart qualifies for gifts from several campaigns, the customer gets all of them.
Express checkout edge cases
Why aren't gifts added when customers use Buy Now or Shop Pay?
Dynamic checkout buttons (Buy Now, Shop Pay, Apple Pay) skip the standard cart entirely, where most gift apps lose the chance to add the gift. We built a workaround that intercepts the express-checkout flow and tries to inject the gift before the customer leaves - it's on by default under Settings → Gift Delivery → "Include express checkout". It catches the majority of express orders, but a small share may still slip through depending on how the customer's browser handles the checkout transition. This is a Shopify platform constraint we work around as best we can; the standard Add to Cart → Cart → Checkout flow is unaffected.
A gift isn't being added. How do I fix it?
Walk through these in order - about 90% of cases hit one of the first two:
- Check that the customer actually meets every rule condition by replaying their cart in the Simulator (sidebar → Simulator).
- Confirm the Valotrix Cart Rewards theme app embed is enabled under Online Store → Themes → Customize → App embeds.
- If they used Buy Now or Shop Pay, see the express-checkout FAQ above - a small share can slip through.
- Check whether the gift variant is out of stock and enable OOS fallback in the rule's Rewards tab if so.
If none of those, head to Help → Get support and we'll dig in. The Scale plan unlocks deeper run-log diagnostics.
Performance
Will it slow down my store?
The engine script itself does not slow down your store - it loads asynchronously, activates only when campaigns are running, and the bundle is gzipped under 25 KB (well below Shopify's recommended budget). The one moment a customer might notice anything: when they qualify for a gift, the engine adds the gift product alongside their existing line, so two cart operations happen back-to-back and there's a brief pause (typically under a second) before the cart UI fully refreshes. This is standard Shopify cart behavior - every cart-modifying app sees the same thing - and it only happens at the moment the gift is awarded, not on every page load.
Widgets & customization
How do I customize the toast notification or progress bar?
Go to Widgets in the sidebar, pick the widget you want to customize, and adjust colors, fonts, text, and animations. Changes apply instantly to your storefront.
Can I translate widgets and rules into other languages?
Yes. The widget editor has a per-language translation panel - add a language code (en for English, es for Spanish, fr-CA for Canadian French, etc.), translate any text field, and the storefront automatically picks the right copy based on the customer's active Shopify market language.
Can I use my own HTML/CSS for widgets?
Yes - the Scale plan lets you paste custom HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for any widget. Template variables like {{product_title}} are injected automatically.
Analytics
Where do I see analytics on gifts given?
Sidebar → Analytics. Every plan sees Total Orders, Promotion Orders, Gifts Given, and AOV Lift across your chosen date range. Growth and above adds AOV comparison cards, a daily orders chart, a conversion funnel, and a per-campaign breakdown. Scale adds period comparison (this week vs last week with deltas), CSV export, and a recent-activity feed showing individual gift events in real time.
Shopify Flow integration
How do I connect Valotrix Cart Rewards to Shopify Flow?
Valotrix Cart Rewards works with Shopify Flow automatically - no setup needed. Open Shopify Flow, create a new workflow, and search for "Valotrix Cart Rewards" in the trigger or action picker to see what's available.
What Flow triggers and actions are available?
We currently offer 2 triggers and 2 actions:
- Triggers: Promotion gift added fires when a free gift is added to a cart; Promotion order converted fires when a customer completes a purchase with gift items.
- Actions: Enable promotion campaign and Disable promotion campaign let you turn campaigns on or off from any Flow workflow.
Both triggers include context like campaign name, rule name, variant IDs, and market info so you can build smart conditions.
Can I use Flow to schedule campaigns?
Yes. Create your campaign in Valotrix Cart Rewards with it disabled, then build a Flow workflow with a scheduled trigger that calls Enable promotion campaign at your desired start time and Disable promotion campaign at your end time. This is perfect for flash sales, holiday promotions, and time-limited offers.
Shopify Plus
What do I get on Shopify Plus?
Shopify gates checkout UI extensions for the information, shipping, and payment steps to Plus stores. On Plus you get gift banners inside the checkout at the delivery-address, shipping-option, and payment-method steps, plus accurate gift-line titles via Shopify's Cart Transform.
Non-Plus stores still get the gift confirmation banner and per-line gift recap on the order status (thank-you) page.
Everything is auto-detected from Shopify's API on every request - no upcharge, no setup. You'll see a welcome tile on the dashboard once your Plus status is confirmed. Pricing is identical on every Shopify plan.
Cancellation
How do I cancel my subscription?
Use Shopify's standard cancel flow from the in-app billing page (sidebar → Billing → Cancel). The app stays installed but switches to the Free plan - your campaigns are preserved (any over the Free limit are auto-paused, ready to resume on re-upgrade). To uninstall completely, remove the app from Shopify Admin → Apps; we delete your shop's data within 30 days per GDPR.
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