Tiered Discounts let you reward subscribers with automatic percent-off discounts when they reach quantity thresholds across a defined set of products or variants. The more they add, the more they save, and Stay re-evaluates the discount in real time any time a subscription line changes. Follow the steps below to get started.
Tiered Discounts is currently in Beta. Contact your Stay AI CSM to confirm access is enabled for your store.
đ Note: If you are not using Shopify Plus, a custom function will be required to add checkout tiered discounts. The cart extension cannot be used unless you are on a Shopify Plus plan.
1. Select Your Products & Variants
The first step is defining which products and variants are eligible to count toward the tier threshold.
To select products and variants:
Navigate to Subscription Setup > Tiered Discounts in the merchant portal.
In the Products & Variants section, search for and select the products or variants you want to include.
How selection works:
Select individual variants: each variant displays separately in the tier configuration.
Select a full product (not individual variants): the product displays as a single entry.
Select all variants of a product: Stay automatically collapses the selection and shows it as the product. Any new variants you add to that product in Shopify will be automatically included in the tier going forward.
đ Note: Only products and variants included in your selection count toward the quantity threshold. If a subscriber has items that are not in the configuration, those items do not count.
2. Configure Your Tiers
Set the quantity thresholds and corresponding discount values for each tier. You can add as many tiers as your promotion requires.
To configure tiers:
Under Tiers, click Add Tier.
Enter a line item quantity threshold (e.g., 3 items), the minimum number of qualifying line items needed to unlock this tier.
Enter a percent-off discount value (e.g., 10%) to apply when the threshold is met.
Repeat for each additional tier.
â Best Practice: Create at least two tiers to give subscribers a visible incentive to add more! For example, 3 items for 10% off and 6 items for 20% off. This encourages higher order values and stronger retention.
3. Set Where the Discount Applies
Choose whether the tiered discount should apply at checkout, on recurring orders, or both.
To set the application target:
Under Where do you want the discount applied?, select one of the following options:
Checkout: the discount applies at the initial Shopify checkout. It does not carry over to future recurring orders.
Recurring: the discount applies to recurring subscription orders only. It does not apply at checkout.
Both: the discount applies at checkout and persists to all subsequent recurring orders.
đ Note: When Checkout or Both is selected, Stay automatically deploys a checkout extension to your Shopify storefront. If you are not using Shopify Plus, a custom function will be required to add checkout tiered discounts. When Recurring only is selected, no checkout extension is deployed, and can be used by all Shopify plan levels.
â Best Practice: If you select Checkout only, the tier discount will be visible at checkout but will not appear on any recurring orders. Subscribers will see full prices on future charges. Make sure your Customer Portal copy sets accurate expectations.
4. Set Which Subscription Types Are Eligible
Choose whether the discount applies to recurring subscriptions, one-time subscriptions, or both.
To configure subscription type eligibility:
Under What products are eligible for this discount?, select one of the following:
One-time: the discount applies to one-time products only.
Subscription: the discount applies to subscription products only.
Both: the discount applies to both one-time and recurring products.
5. Save Your Tiered Discount
Once your products, tiers, and application settings are configured:
Review all settings.
Click Save.
A confirmation will appear and your tiered discount will go live. If you selected Checkout or Both, the checkout extension is deployed automatically at this point.
6. Customize the Discount Label (Optional)
By default, the tier discount displays in the Customer Portal as: "Volume discount [quantity] items for X% off"
To update this label:
Navigate to Customer Portal > Design > Multi-language.
Click on your Default language file
Navigate to the "Combine Subscriptions" tab
Ctrl+F "Volume" and scroll to find the the Tiered Discount Label field.
Enter your custom label text.
Click Save.
Setting Up the Checkout Extension
If you have configured your tiered discount to apply at checkout, the function to calculate those discounts is automatically deployed. However, you will need to enable the Checkout block on the Checkout Extensions page in order to ensure the discounts are visible to the customer.
To do so:
Navigate to Settings --> Checkout Extensions in Shopify
Select Stay AI Tiered Discounts from the Stay AI Extensions list
Add the extension to the Checkout configuration
Toggle "Include block in Shop Pay" to ON to ensure the function triggers for all payment flows
đ Note: If you are not using Shopify Plus, a custom function will be required to add checkout tiered discounts. The cart extension cannot be used unless you are on a Shopify Plus plan.
How the Discount Works in the Customer Portal
Stay evaluates the tier discount in real time whenever a subscriber makes a change to their subscription. Here's what subscribers experience:
Adding a line item
When a subscriber adds a product or variant that is in your tier configuration, Stay immediately re-evaluates the threshold. If the addition moves them into a new tier, the updated discount is reflected in the discount field automatically.
Removing a line item
If removing a product would drop the subscription below the current tier threshold, the subscriber sees an alert before the removal is confirmed. They can confirm the removal â reducing or removing the discount â or cancel to keep the item and preserve their current discount.
Swapping a line item
Swapping from a product in the tier configuration to one that is not may trigger the tier alert if it drops them below the threshold. Swapping into a product that is in the configuration will update the discount if it moves them into a new tier.
Changing quantity
Increasing or decreasing the quantity on a line item in the tier configuration updates the tier evaluation in real time. Dropping below a threshold triggers the same alert as a removal.
Skipping a line item
If skipping a line item drops the subscription below a tier threshold, the discount is updated to reflect the new tier. Once the skipped line is re-added, the tier is re-evaluated and the discount restores if the threshold is met.
