Tiered Discount

1. Purpose

Tiered discounts let you reward customers with progressively better product discounts as they buy more. You define a set of tiers (quantity bands or spend bands) and assign a discount to each one. As a customer's cart moves from one band into the next, the discount automatically upgrades — encouraging shoppers to add "just one more" to unlock a bigger saving.

Eligibility rules (which products, collections, or customers qualify) are shared across every tier, so you configure who qualifies once and then define the reward ladder on top.

2. Discount Value Options

Each tier can reward the customer in one of three ways:

Percentage — a percentage off the qualifying items (0–100%). Example: 20% off.
Amount off — a fixed monetary discount. Example: $15 off. You can choose whether the amount applies to each item or once to the tier.
New price — set an exact per-item price. Example: every eligible item becomes $9.99.

Different tiers can use different discount types, but most stores keep the type consistent and simply increase the value as tiers climb.

3. Tier Basis: Quantity vs. Purchase Amount

Every tiered discount is evaluated on one of two bases:

Based on quantity — tiers are matched against the number of eligible items in the cart. Best for "buy more units, save more" offers.
Based on purchase amount — tiers are matched against the eligible subtotal (in your store currency). Best for "spend more, save more" offers.

You choose the basis once per discount; all tiers within that discount use the same basis.

4. How Tiers Work

You can define 1 to 5 tiers. Each tier has:

A From value (the lower bound of the band)
A To value (the upper bound — leave the last tier's "To" empty for "no upper limit")
A discount value (percentage, amount off, or new price)

The system finds the single tier whose band the cart falls into and applies that tier's discount. Bands must be continuous and non-overlapping — each tier picks up where the previous one ended.

Tier	From	To	Discount
Tier 1	2	4	10% off
Tier 2	5	9	15% off
Tier 3	10	∞	25% off

A cart with 6 eligible items lands in Tier 2 and receives 15% off.

5. Tier Matching Logic

Only one tier applies at a time — the tier whose band contains the current cart quantity or amount.
As the cart grows and crosses into the next band, the discount automatically upgrades to the higher tier.
The last tier can be left open-ended (empty "To") so any quantity/amount at or above its "From" value qualifies.
If the cart falls below the first tier's "From" value, no tiered discount is applied.

6. Price Mode: Price vs. Compare-at Price

For Percentage and Amount off tiers, you can choose what the discount is calculated from:

Price (default) — the discount is taken off the current selling price.
Compare-at price — the discount is calculated from the product's compare-at (strikethrough) price.

Use *Compare-at price* when you want the tiered saving to reference the original list price rather than an already-reduced price.

7. Applies to Each Item

For Amount off tiers, an "Applies to each item" option controls how the fixed amount is distributed:

Checked — the amount is discounted from every qualifying item (e.g. $5 off each unit).
Unchecked — the amount is applied once for the matched tier.

8. Shared Eligibility (Select Products)

The Select products card defines which items qualify for the tiered discount. These rules are shared by all tiers:

Products / Variants — target specific products or individual variants.
Collections — target every item within one or more collections.

Only items matching these rules count toward the tier bands and receive the discount.

9. Advanced Conditions (Optional)

Enable Add advanced conditions to layer extra requirements on top of product eligibility. These apply to the whole discount (shared across tiers) and can check:

Cart — e.g. cart subtotal is greater than or equal to a value.
Customer — tags, total amount spent, number of orders.
Product properties — tags, type, vendor.

10. Discount Calculation

The function reads the cart and your tiered configuration.
It filters the cart to items matching your shared eligibility and any advanced conditions.
It totals the eligible quantity or amount.
It finds the matching tier band.
It applies the discount value honoring price mode and settings

11. Best Practices

Keep the reward ladder intuitive — increase the discount as tiers climb.
Use quantity basis for unit-driven products and amount basis for mixed carts.
Leave the last tier open-ended so biggest buyers always qualify.
Keep bands continuous — no gaps between tiers.

12. Sample Tiered Deals

Volume apparel discount: Buy 2–4 tees → 10% off; 5–9 → 15% off; 10+ → 25% off.
Spend-more ladder: Spend $50–$99 → 10% off; $100–$199 → 15% off; $200+ → 20% off.
Wholesale-style pricing: 6–11 units → $8 each (new price); 12+ → $6.50 each.
Bulk-per-item saving: Amount off, applies to each item — $3 off each unit from 5 units, $5 off each from 10 units.

13. Common Use Cases

- Spend thresholds — increase savings as cart value climbs.

- Wholesale / bulk pricing — set fixed per-unit prices at higher quantities.

- Inventory clearance — steep top-tier discounts to move slow stock in bulk.

- Loyalty rewards — combine with advanced customer conditions for tiered savings for returning buyers.

14. UI Elements

- Tier basis toggle — Based on quantity / Based on purchase amount.

- Tier cards — each shows its band summary (e.g. 5 → 10, 10 → ∞) and discount; add up to 5, remove down to 1.

- From / To fields — define each band; the last tier's "To" can be left empty.

- Discount value selector — Percentage / Amount off / New price, with a value input.

- Price mode toggle — Price / Compare-at price (percentage and amount off).

- Applies to each item — checkbox for amount-off tiers.

- Select products card — products, variants, and collections that qualify.

- Add advanced conditions — optional cart/customer/product conditions.

15. Condition Examples

- Product: discount applies only to items in the "Summer" collection.

- Variant: discount applies only to a specific size/color variant.

- Cart: only when cart subtotal is greater than or equal to $75.

- Customer: only for customers tagged VIP or with more than 3 previous orders.

16. Advanced Scenarios

- Mixed ladder: early tiers use Percentage, top tier switches to New price for a dramatic bulk deal.

- Compare-at ladder: discounts calculated from compare-at price so savings reference the full list price.

- Gated ladder: advanced customer condition limits the tiered ladder to loyalty-tagged customers only.

- Collection-wide volume deal: tiers apply across an entire collection, so any mix of eligible items counts toward the band.

- Per-item bulk pricing: amount off with applies to each item to mimic true per-unit wholesale pricing.

17. Common Mistakes to Avoid

- ❌ Leaving gaps between bands — a cart that falls in the gap gets no discount.

- ❌ Overlapping bands — ambiguous tiers; keep each tier's "From" above the previous "To."

- ❌ Forgetting to open-end the last tier — large carts stop qualifying above the final "To" value.

- ❌ Mismatched basis — using amount basis for a unit-volume offer (or vice versa).

- ❌ Skipping tests — not verifying the discount at each threshold.

18. Integration with Other Features

Tiered discounts run as a Shopify Function on the cart. Confirm how they interact with other active discounts and your store's discount-combination settings, and test stacked scenarios before launching.

19. Performance Tips

- Keep eligibility rules focused (specific products/collections) so matching is efficient.

- Use the minimum number of tiers needed to express the offer (up to 5).

- Prefer collection targeting over long lists of individual variants where possible.

20. Troubleshooting

Discount not applying: Confirm the cart meets the first tier's "From" value, that eligible products/collections are in the cart, and that any advanced conditions are satisfied. Check the discount is active.

Wrong tier applied: Review your band boundaries for gaps or overlaps and verify the tier basis (quantity vs. amount) matches your intent.

Discount doesn't upgrade: Ensure bands are continuous and the higher tier's "From" value is reachable by the current cart.

Amount off looks too small/large: Check the Applies to each item setting and the Price mode (price vs. compare-at price).

21. Summary

Tiered discounts are a flexible way to drive larger orders by rewarding customers with better savings as they buy more or spend more. Configure the tier basis, define 1–5 continuous, non-overlapping bands, and assign each band a percentage, amount off, or new price reward. Set shared eligibility and optional advanced conditions once, keep the top tier open-ended, communicate the ladder clearly on your storefront, and test each threshold before going live.