How to Create a WooCommerce Buy One Get One (BOGO) offer?

Discover how ‘Buy One Get One’ (BOGO) deals can convert 66% of window shoppers into actual customers on your online store.

This strategy is a favorite among online businesses for promoting new products, attracting buyers, encouraging first-time product trials, and boosting sales.

What’s more, a BOGO offer doesn’t always mean you have to give a product away for free. You can creatively craft deals like “Buy One Get One 50% Off” to still lure in customers without sacrificing your profit margins.

By integrating BOGO deals into your WooCommerce store, you’re set to see a significant uptick in both your customer base and your sales figures.

Though WooCommerce doesn’t come with built-in BOGO functionalities, you can easily set up various BOGO promotions using a plugin like “Discount Rules Pro.”

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the easy steps to set up your own BOGO deals in WooCommerce and share some successful BOGO campaign examples to inspire your strategy.”

Why Use WooCommerce Buy One Get One?

Using the Buy One Get One in WooCommerce helps you in many ways:

• Increase Sales Volume: BOGO deals are a powerful sales strategy that encourages customers to purchase more items to take advantage of the offer. This not only increases your sales volume but also helps move inventory faster, making it ideal for clearing out seasonal stock or promoting new products.
• Enhance Customer Loyalty: Customers are more likely to return to a store that offers valuable deals. By providing BOGO offers, you create a perception of value and care, which enhances customer loyalty and encourages repeat business.
• Optimize Average Order Value (AOV): WooCommerce BOGO deals incentivize customers to spend more to qualify for the offer. This strategy effectively increases your store’s average order value, boosting overall revenue without incurring additional customer acquisition costs.
• Launching New Products: Using BOGO promotions to launch new products can be an exciting way to introduce them to your customers, encourage them to try them, and increase sales.
• Reducing Cart Abandonment Rate: The “Buy One Get One” offer allows customers to add their favorite products to their carts and complete purchases, reducing cart abandonment rates.
• Clearing Slow-Selling Products: Applying BOGO promotions on slow-selling products can be effective in clearing all the old stocks.
• Versatile Promotion Strategies: WooCommerce allows for flexibility in your BOGO promotions. You can customize deals to suit different products, categories, or customer segments, making your offers more relevant and appealing to your target audience.
• Boost Brand Awareness: Attractive deals, like BOGO offers, are often shared among friends and on social media, increasing your store’s visibility and attracting new customers. This word-of-mouth marketing can significantly enhance your brand’s reach and reputation.

When to Offer WooCommerce Buy One Get One Deals?

Offering Buy One Get One in WooCommerce is a strategic way to get sales. However, it is essential to offer them at the right moment to increase their effectiveness and overall sales volume.

Here is when you can utilize this tactic:

• New Product Launch: As mentioned, BOGOs can be offered during new product launches to increase awareness and sales.
• Limited Product Stock: Use Buy One Get One deals to alert your customers about the limited product stocks. It creates a sense of urgency to buy products before they run out.
• Marketing Campaigns: If you are planning to run a marketing campaign to increase sales, BOGO is a better and cost-effective strategy compared to online ads like Google ads, social media ads, and PPC.
• Low Sales on Midweeks: Introducing limited-time BOGO deals during slow-selling midweeks can pique customers’ interest and motivate them to complete a sale.
• Reward Specific Customers: Offer a Buy One Get One deal for specific and loyal customers who have reached specific milestones in their orders. This leads to a long-term customer relationship.
• Encourage New Customers: When a new customer visits the store, surprise them with Buy One Get One deals and motivate them to become repeat customers for your brand.
• Seasonal Promotions: Make the most of your sales during the End-of-Sale period or holiday seasons with the attractive Buy One Get One deals. It creates a memorable shopping experience for customers and enhances customer loyalty.

Two Main Variations of BOGO

The “Buy One Get One” strategy encourages customers to buy one product and get the second product for free or at discounted prices. 

This BOGO promotion can be offered mainly in two variations:

Buy X Get X

In the “Buy X Get X” promotions, the same product is offered for free or at a discount. For instance, customers can buy a “T-shirt” and get the same one for free.

Buy X Get Y

In the “Buy X, Get Y” promotion, a different product is offered for free or at a discount. The other products may be in the same or a different category. For instance, customers can buy a “T-shirt” and get a cap or belt for free.

These two variations can be implemented using various offers, such as:

• Buy One, Get One Free
• Buy One, Get One 50% Off
• Buy Two, Get One Free
• Buy One, Get One For Friends, and more, where the Buy and Get products can be the same or different.

How to Create WooCommerce Buy One Get One Offers?

Creating Buy One Get One in WooCommerce requires a plugin like “Discount Rules Pro for WooCommerce.”

“Discount Rules Pro” is one of the best plugins. It has advanced features for creating real-time BOGO campaigns, and its customization features help you customize offers based on your brand.

Before starting the campaign, make sure to install and activate “Discount Rules Pro” on your WordPress dashboard. Check this installation guide for any queries.

Let’s explore six different scenarios that are popular, profitable, and possible with this plugin.

We take an example for this “Buy One Get One” campaign. Imagine that you are selling hot and cold “beverages” in your online store. 

We will create BOGO scenarios for these store products, especially to increase sales for one specific “beverage category,” “Juices.”

Scenario 1: WooCommerce Buy One Get One Free (Same Product)

WooCommerce Buy One Get One Free is the most common scenario that every online store implements to increase sales.

Example: Buy One “Apple Juice” and Get One Free

To create Buy One Get One Free in WooCommerce,

• Open “WordPress Dashboard.” Check whether the “Discount Rules  Pro” is installed and activated.
• Now, go to “WooCommerce” and select “Woo Discount Rules.”
• Click the “Add New Rule” button to add a new discount rule to your online store.
• Enter the name of your campaign.

These above four steps are common for all scenarios. The following steps can be modified for each scenario.

• Now, select “Discount Type” as “Buy X Get X,” as we offer the same product for free.
• In the “Filters” section, filter the specific product, “Apple Juice.”
• In the “Discount” section, set “Minimum and Free Quantities” to “1” and leave the “Maximum Quantity” blank since customers must buy at least one product to receive a free item.
• Then, choose “Discount Type” as “Free.”
• Enable “Recursive” for “Buy 1 Get 1 Free, Buy 2 Get 2 Free.” But since we’re only offering “Buy One Get One” here,  I’ll disable it.
• Finally, save and enable the rule.

Now, when a customer purchases at least one “Apple Juice,” another one is automatically added to their cart.

Scenario 2: WooCommerce Buy One Get One 50% Off (Same Category)

WooCommerce Buy One Get One 50% Off is the next commonly used scenario, where the second item is offered with a 50% discount instead of giving it for free.

Example: Buy One “Apple Juice” and Get 50% Off on “Mango Juice.”

Here, we offer the second product from the same “Juices” category.

To create Buy One Get One 50% Off in WooCommerce,

• Add a new discount rule from “Woo Discount Rules.”
• Choose “Discount Type” as “Buy X Get Y,” as we offer different products for free, even if they are from the same category.
• In the “Filter” section, select “X” as “Apple Juice.”
• In the “Discount” section, 
  • Choose “Y Discount Type” as “Buy X Get Y- Products,” as we are providing discounted products from the same category, specifically a particular “Y” product.
  • Keep “Buy X Count” as “Filters Set Above,” and set the “Minimum, Maximum, and Free” quantities.
  • Choose “Get Quantity” as “Mango Juice” and set “Discount Type & Value” as “Percentage Discount” and “50.”
  • Optionally, select “Recursive” to continue this offer loop.
  • Now, choose “Mode of Apply” as “Cheapest.” It will suggest the discounted “Y” product in the cart; customers can add it to the cart if they want.
  • If you want to automatically add discounted “Y” products to the cart, select “Auto add” instead of “Cheapest.”
• Save the rule.

When a customer adds “Apple Juice” to their cart, they’ll see the discounted offer for “Mango Juice” and can add it to their cart if they choose to.

Scenario 3: Buy Subtotal Worth to Get One Free

WooCommerce Buy One Get One deal can be applied based on customers’ purchase criteria such as total order value, cart item quantity, no.of.purchases made, specific users or user roles, and more. 

It encourages them to meet these conditions to get the BOGO deals.

Example: Buy a Juice for $40 from the “Juices” category And Get A Free Lemon Juice.

To create conditions-based BOGO deals in WooCommerce,

• Choose the “Buy X Get Y” discount type.
• In the “Filters” section, filter the “Juices” category, as the products only from this category should reach subtotal to get a free item.
• In the “Discount Type,” follow the same process as before:
  • Choose “Buy X Get Y – Products” and “Filters Set Above.”
  • Select “Mode of Apply” as “Auto Add” to automatically add the free item once the customer reaches the fixed subtotal.
  • Set “Minimum, Maximum, and Free Quantities.”
  • Set “Get Quantity” as “Lemon Juice” and select “Discount Type” as “Free.”
• In the “Conditions” section, select “Condition Type” as “Subtotal” and set the “Subtotal Amount.” 
• Save the rule.

Now, when a customer reaches $40 in the “Juices” category, he will receive “Lemon Juice” for free.

Scenario 4: WooCommerce BOGO Coupons Using Different Category

WooCommerce Buy One Get One deals are not necessarily applied directly to the cart. You can also offer a BOGO coupon in WooCommerce.

Customers can enter the coupon code in their cart to get the offer.

Example: Buy A “Milk” and Get A Free “Juice” with code ‘MJFREE’!

Here, we are taking two different categories: “Juices” and “Milk.”

To create a WooCommerce BOGO coupon offer:

• Choose the “Buy X Get Y” discount.
• Filter the “Milk” category.
• Select “Buy X Get Y – Category” and choose the “Juices” category in “Get Quantity.”
• Set “Minimum, maximum, and Free” quantities and “Discount Type” as “Free.”
• Set “Mode of Apply” as “Cheapest” to add the cheapest product for free.
• In “Conditions,” select “Coupons” and create your coupon code. For instance: “MJFREE.”
• Save the rule.

When a customer adds any one product from the “Milk” category and applies a coupon code on the cart page, all prices of the “Juices” category become Zero. 

Customers can add any free “Juice” to their cart. But what if they add more than one?

The “Juice” with the cheapest price can be provided for free while the other one is added with its original price.

Note: Since we set the “Free” product as a “category,” the “Juices” are not shown on cart pages. Customers have to navigate to the “Juice” page to add their free product.

But there is a way to show these “free” product suggestions on cart pages. That’s what we see in the next scenario.

Scenario 5: Choose a free Product From the List

Without automatically adding a specific “Free” product to the cart, you can allow customers to choose their favorite product.

Example: Buy “Strawberry Juice,” Choose “Orange or Lemon Juice” Free!

To create a WooCommerce Buy One Get One Free deal, where the customers can choose the free product:

• Choose the “Buy X Get Y” discount type.
• Filter “Strawberry Juice” in the “Filters” section.
• Select “Lemon and Orange Juices” in Get Quantity and set “Mode of Apply.” Save the rule.

When customers buy a “Strawberry Juice,” the other two free items – “Lemon and Orange Juices” are shown as suggestions on the cart page. They can choose anyone from the list.

If they choose both, the cheapest product can be given for free while the other is provided with the original price.

Scenario 6: WooCommerce Buy Two, Get One At a Fixed Discount

You can encourage customers to buy 2X of a specific product to get the third one at a fixed discounted price.

Example: Buy Two “Orange Juices,” Get $10 Off the Third!

To create a Buy Two Get One WooCommerce offer with a fixed discount:

• Choose the Discount Type “Buy X Get X,” as we offer the same product for free.
• Filter “Orange Juices” in the “Filter” section.
• In the “Discount” section, set the “Minimum Quantity” as “3.” This is because we offer three products, where customers can get the first two at full price and the third one at a discounted price.
• Set “Free Quantity” as “1,” as one product is eligible for a discount from the three products.
• Set “Discount Type” as “Fixed Discount” with Value “10.” Save the rule.

Now, when customers add 3 “Orange Juices” to their cart, a discount will be applied to the third item.

These are all a few common and popular WooCommerce Buy One Get One scenarios that online store owners use to increase their sales. 

There are many more offers you can create, such as:

• Based on first-orders
• Based on the Purchase history
• Offers only for specific users, user roles, shipping locations, or payment methods.

You can create a unique strategy like these to attract more customers with the “Conditions” features in the “Discount Rules Pro” plugin.

How to Promote WooCommerce Buy One Get One Deals?

Promoting the Buy One Get One offer in WooCommerce can help you reach more targeted customers and maximize its effectiveness. 

You can promote BOGO deals in many ways like:

• Email Marketing: Emails are the most effective way to convey your Buy One Get One deals to your customers and make them come back to your store for more sales.
• Social Media: Social Media is the immediate attention-grabbing method to increase the awareness of your BOGO offers.
• In-Store Banners & Popups: You can utilize pop-up offers, and side & top banner space on your website to announce the Buy One Get One exclusive offers.
• Cross-Promotion: Collaborate with niche influencers and affiliate marketers to create content related to your brand and make them promote your Buy One Get One deal to their community.

Strategies For Effective Buy One Get One WooCommerce Offers

Implementing targeted BOGO promotions rather than conventional deals can yield sales beyond your expectations. 

Here are some WooCommerce Buy One Get One strategies to boost your sales:

• Classic BOGO: Providing a regular BOGO offer like “Buy One Get One Free” is a kick-start to your sales campaigns, especially if you are running a new online store.
• BOGO Percentage Off: The next move to BOGO free deals is BOGO percentage off, as offering free items is not always possible. Thus, you can try “Buy 1 Get 1 50% Off” or “Buy 2 Get 1 70% Off” deals to add value to customers’ purchases.
• BOGO Coupon: Instead of offering direct Buy One Get One offers, utilize WooCommerce BOGO coupons to make customers enter the coupon code on checkout to receive the free items or discounts. It creates a valued experience for customers to buy items with savings.
• Tiered BOGO: Implementing a tiered BOGO deal can help customers purchase more products with a smaller amount.You can make recursive offers like “Buy 1 Get 1 Free, Buy 2 Get 2 Free, and Buy 3 Get 3 Free” to appreciate bulk purchases from customers.
• Bundle BOGO: Mix and match your products to use for BOGO deals. For example, you can offer girls’ tops and accessories. This bundle product discount allows customers to explore more unknown products in the store.
• Limited-Time BOGO: Provide BOGO deals only for a limited time to trigger customers to make quick purchases before missing the deals.
• BOGO with Minimum Spend: Enable BOGO offer when customers reach a specific amount in the cart. This helps customers to add more to their cart to reach the minimum offer threshold.

Best Practices For Offering Buy One Get One in WooCommerce

Implementing WooCommerce Buy One Get One involves several best practices to ensure they are effective and beneficial for your business:

• Offer Valued Deals: Offer Buy One Get One deals that add value to customers’ purchases by saving their money. Avoid deceptive tactics that could affect your brand reputation.
• Set Terms & Conditions: Set clear terms and conditions to your BOGO offers, including eligibility, restrictions, limitations, duration, and how-to-get-it processes. It creates trust and transparency for customers and ignores confusion.
• Segment Target Customers: Based on your sales goal, segment your customers into groups like Wholesalers, loyal customers, Subscribers, First-Comers, and more. This helps you offer exclusive BOGO discounts to specific customers.
• Calculate Profitability: Before offering BOGO deals, make sure to calculate the product pricing, margin rates, and discount rates. Focus on goods sold, shipping charges, and revenue gain to increase profits from BOGO campaigns.
• Track Campaign Performance: Monitor and analyze the performance of your Buy One Get One campaign, such as sales volume, conversion rate, and ad revenue generated, to evaluate the effectiveness of the offer. This data helps to refine your strategy for future campaigns.

Real-Life Buy One, Get One Examples

Many popular online store brands are still utilizing the Buy One Get One strategy to increase their sales and revenue. Let’s explore a few brands that are offering BOGO deals in their stores:

1. E.L.F. Cosmetics

E.L.F is a popular vegan cosmetics brand that sells its products on its website and on Nykaa.

To increase Lipstick sales, E.L.F offers a “Buy X Get Y” discount with a subtotal condition. Customers can buy Lipstick and get a Free EyeShadow when their total orders reach above INR800.

2. Target

Target is a popular departmental market in the US that offers Buy One Get One deals on some products using the Buy X Get X strategy.

Here, customers can buy any one product and get the same product with a 25% discount. This strategy helps Target to increase sales of particular products.

Conclusion

Increasing your WooCommerce sales and revenue requires a unique offer or strategy that would grab customers’ attention.

Buy One Get One WooCommerce deals are one profitable strategy that can easily influence customers’ buying decisions and make them add more to their cart.

To increase the sales of your specific products or categories, utilize different BOGO strategies, such as Buy One Get One Free, Buy Two Get One 50% Off, Buy X Get Y Free, and more.

Offering personalized BOGO deals is an effective way to boost campaign performance. You can use the “Discount Rules Pro” plugin to create your customized BOGO offers.

Also Read:

1. A detailed blog on “WooCommerce Buy X Get Y” scenarios
2. Different “Buy Two Get One WooCommerce” Scenarios
3. 5 Best Buy One Get One Free plugins for WooCommerce