The Problem
The free samples block previously lived inside the cart drawer and took up a lot of space. It competed with the main cart content and promotions, made the cart drawer feel busy, and surfaced samples too early in the journey. There were also no strong safeguards against "samples-only" orders or samples being attached to very low-value baskets, both of which hurt margins and made order data harder to interpret.
The Solution
We moved the free sample selection out of the cart drawer and into the checkout as a dedicated block. Customers now see available samples and can choose one if their order meets clearly defined eligibility rules: minimum spend, excluding gift cards, and a limit of one sample. An additional guard layer prevents "samples-only" orders and automatically re-prices samples if there are no qualifying products in the cart.
Why It Mattered
Customers now have a clear, well-timed way to get samples with qualifying orders, while the cart drawer is decluttered and the business is protected from free or low-value sample-only orders. Sampling stays attractive for shoppers but becomes more sustainable and controlled for the business.
Technical Details
Built as a Shopify Checkout UI Extension rendering a sample block at checkout. Eligibility is calculated based on cart value and product types. The extension manages adding and removing sample line items and applies guard logic, blocking or re-pricing using configuration stored in metafields and the checkout extensions API.
