• Online Stores · OpenCart

Free delivery over a set order value: a rule the store should calculate, not the buyer

A free-delivery threshold works when the buyer sees it not in small print in the terms but right in the cart: “Add X more for free delivery.” The difficulty is not the rule itself but its edges: how it behaves with a discount, with heavy goods, with pickup, and what happens if part of the order is returned. We make sure the store does the calculating, not the buyer, and that the condition doesn't turn against you on heavy shipments.

See how it works
Price
after a free audit
Guarantee
30 days after project sign-off
Focus
online stores, mostly OpenCart
Price
after a free audit
Guarantee
30
days after project sign-off
Focus
online stores, mostly OpenCart
Timeline
6
to 16 working days
Start
free checkout review
Warranty
30
days from the date the acceptance act is signed
Reply
within 2 hours
Terms
under a written contract
What's included

Complete list of work and what you get as a result

  • a threshold rule with a clearly defined base: before or after the discount
  • a hint in the cart and on the product card: how much more to add for free delivery
  • exceptions by delivery method: the rule should not apply where you can't honor it
  • exceptions by category, weight or size for heavy goods
  • correct behavior when the order contents change: remove an item and the condition is recalculated
  • clear wording of the condition on the delivery page, with no small print
  • a check of every “delivery method × order value” pair
  • analytics events to see how many orders cross the threshold
  • short instructions on changing the threshold yourself
When this service isn't right

What's not included — so there are no surprises at delivery

  • setting the threshold itself: that is the owner's decision and depends on your margin
  • negotiating rates with the carrier
  • promises of a higher average order value
  • covering losses if the threshold turns out to be poorly chosen
  • changing product prices to fit the threshold
Who it's for

Situations where this service delivers results

Scenario 1 of 4

A store with a small average order

When the buyer takes one or two items, a threshold is the most direct way to suggest a third. But only if it is visible in the cart rather than hidden in the delivery terms.

We'll review your situation in a free audit
Free review of your checkout

We check whether the rule suits you at all and which exceptions you will need so it doesn't work against you.

What we measure

  1. What your average order is now and what it consists ofThe threshold should be slightly above a typical order. If it is out of reach, buyers ignore it; if it is too low, you are simply giving delivery away.
  2. What delivery of your typical orders costsWithout this figure the threshold is chosen blindly. We don't name it for you, but we show how to calculate it from your data.
  3. Whether there are heavy or bulky goodsThese are what make the rule loss-making unless there are exceptions by weight or category.
  4. How discounts and promo codes workThreshold before or after the discount is a question to decide deliberately, otherwise the module's behavior will decide it for you.
  5. Whether the condition is visible in the cartA rule the buyer learns about only from the delivery page has almost no effect on their decision.
  6. What happens on a partial returnThe order crossed the threshold, then part of it was returned: the condition has to be recalculated, and this should be thought through in advance.

What you get

  • an answer on whether a threshold rule suits you
  • a list of the exceptions you in particular will need
  • a way to calculate the threshold from your data
  • an estimate of the scope of work

Timeline: 1–3 working days

Why is it free

The rule is simple, but it is easy to make it loss-making. The review is needed so that exceptions are planned before implementation, not after the first heavy parcel.

What's next

You get the list and an estimate. What to do next is your decision, and the recommendation stays with you.

Short form: your contact and site URL
Contract and paperwork

We work officially

Contract, act and invoice — for every project, not just large ones.

Trusted by6 brands

Trusted by: Kvant Energy, GYPSUN, Naturel Cosmetics, Pancer Protection, LUGI, BeeTech

Terms fixed in writing8 points

  • Contract, act and 30-day warranty

    Every project gets a written contract: scope, deadlines, amount, acceptance procedure. After delivery — act and invoice, then 30 calendar days of warranty.

  • Sole proprietor & bank transfer

    The contractor is a registered sole proprietor. Payment by invoice with closing documents.

  • Rights & access — yours

    Code, design and materials transfer to you after full payment. Domain, hosting, repository and analytics are registered to you.

  • Client portal instead of email chains

    During the project you get access to a portal: contracts, invoices, acts and project status in one place.

  • Sites in nine countries

    Our sites run in nine countries: besides Ukraine — Poland, Germany, Austria, England, Norway, Bulgaria, Moldova and Spain.

  • Verifiable numbers

    Every case in the portfolio comes with a link to a live site and a technical measurement.

  • Audit first, then pricing

    There is no price list on the site intentionally: the scope of the same work differs multiples between clients.

  • We say "no" when unsure

    If the task isn't ours or the deadline is unrealistic — we tell you upfront.

  • Contract, act and 30-day warranty

    Every project gets a written contract: scope, deadlines, amount, acceptance procedure. After delivery — act and invoice, then 30 calendar days of warranty.

  • Sole proprietor & bank transfer

    The contractor is a registered sole proprietor. Payment by invoice with closing documents.

  • Rights & access — yours

    Code, design and materials transfer to you after full payment. Domain, hosting, repository and analytics are registered to you.

  • Client portal instead of email chains

    During the project you get access to a portal: contracts, invoices, acts and project status in one place.

  • Sites in nine countries

    Our sites run in nine countries: besides Ukraine — Poland, Germany, Austria, England, Norway, Bulgaria, Moldova and Spain.

  • Verifiable numbers

    Every case in the portfolio comes with a link to a live site and a technical measurement.

  • Audit first, then pricing

    There is no price list on the site intentionally: the scope of the same work differs multiples between clients.

  • We say "no" when unsure

    If the task isn't ours or the deadline is unrealistic — we tell you upfront.

We sign NDAs on request. After completing the work, we delete our access to your services ourselves.

What affects the price

Why two seemingly identical tasks are priced differently

  • Number of exceptionsA single rule for the whole store is quick to build. Exceptions by category, weight and region turn it into a set of conditions, each of which has to be checked.
  • Interaction with discountsA post-discount threshold has to be aligned with every promotion and promo code, otherwise orders appear where the condition was triggered unexpectedly.
  • Number of delivery methodsEach method has its own rate and its own fit for the rule. Every “delivery × order value” pair has to be checked, not just one typical one.
  • Where to show the hintThe cart alone is the basic option. The product card, the category list and the header mean more places, each with its own check.
  • Partial returnsCorrectly recalculating the condition when the order contents change is separate logic, which is most often forgotten until the first disputed case.
  • State of the cart codeIf the cart has already been rewritten on top of the standard one, the existing delivery calculation logic has to be understood first.
Cases

Tasks and results in numbers — all metrics measured by us

a sample of 41 Ukrainian online stores, of which 39 responded and a product page was checked on 30

Task
See how widely stores use ways of shortening the path to an order: one-click purchase, a free-delivery threshold, payment in installments.
Solution
An external measurement of the home page and one product page taken from the sitemap: traces of features in the HTML, plus product, price and attribute markup. It records whether a trace is present, not the quality of the implementation.
Result
Measured on 17 September 2026, 35 stores: one-click purchase is visible on 10 sites out of 25; a free delivery threshold based on order value: 3 sites out of 25; payment in installments: 7 sites out of 25.

an online store delivering sweets, snacks and gift sets

Task
Sell sweets, snacks and gift sets with delivery across Ukraine: a catalog with filters by type and purpose, a cart with delivery options, online payment. A particular focus is the speed of the mobile version, because in this niche most orders are impulse purchases made from a phone.
Solution
A store on OpenCart 3.x (octemplates/OCT theme, HTTP/2). 5 online payment methods are connected — LiqPay, WayForPay, Privat24, Visa, Mastercard — along with 4 delivery methods: Nova Poshta, Ukrposhta, pickup, courier. Free delivery to a Nova Poshta branch on orders from 2,500 UAH is set up (a banner on the home page); contact via Telegram, Viber, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook.
Result
As of 31 July 2026 the store is up (HTTP 200, HTTPS): the server's first response takes 403 ms and the full HTML load 532 ms; LiqPay, WayForPay and Privat24 online payment and Visa/Mastercard cards are connected, along with 4 delivery methods; the home page shows free Nova Poshta delivery on orders from 2,500 UAH.

Did not find your case?

Describe how it works on your side — we will tell you whether “Free delivery over a set order value” fits and what it means in your situation. No brief and no call: one question, one answer.

Process steps

Transparent stages with approval at every step

Total duration:4–15 days

  1. Review and exceptions

    1–3 working days

    We look at the average order value, the delivery cost of typical orders and whether there are heavy goods. We draw up the list of exceptions you in particular need.

  2. Agreeing the rule

    1 working day

    We settle the calculation base (before or after the discount), the delivery methods the rule applies to and the excluded categories. You set the threshold.

  3. Implementation

    2–6 working days

    We build the rule and the hint in the cart: how much more to add. We work in a test environment and don't touch the live store.

  4. Edges and exceptions

    1–4 working days

    We add behavior for changes to the order contents and partial returns, weight and category exceptions, and clear wording of the condition on the delivery page.

  5. Checking combinations

    1–3 working days

    We go through every “delivery method × order value” pair on desktop and mobile, including cases just below and just above the threshold.

  6. Analytics and handover

    1–2 working days

    We set up events that show the share of orders crossing the threshold and show you how to change it yourself. Then the 30-day warranty from the date the acceptance act is signed applies.

Technologies & integrations

What we build on and what it connects to

Stack

  • OpenCart
  • WooCommerce
  • PHP
  • JavaScript
  • TypeScript
  • MySQL
  • MariaDB
  • Next.js
  • Git

Integrations

  • Nova Poshta
  • Ukrposhta
  • Meest Express
  • Google Analytics 4
  • Google Tag Manager
A rule with exceptions or free delivery for everyone

How this option differs from the alternative

Unconditional free deliveryOur approach
Effect on small orderssmall orders are shipped at your expensethe buyer has a reason to add one more item
Heavy goodsthe margin is eaten on every bulky parcelthe exception kicks in automatically
Clarity for the buyersimple and clear, that is its strong pointvisible in the cart with a hint
Store costsconstant and hard to predictcontrolled by the threshold and exceptions
Complexityminimalhigher: exceptions and combination checks are needed
What we need from you

We can't start without this — best to prepare in advance

  1. what threshold you want and which order total it should be based on
  2. whether the rule applies to all delivery methods
  3. which categories, products or weight ranges are excluded from it
  4. how the threshold should behave with discounts and promo codes
  5. what to do when part of an order is returned
  6. who on your side accepts the work
If something is missing — let us know, we'll help you gather it or do it as a separate task.
FAQ

Most frequently asked questions — with concrete answers

Which threshold should we choose?

That is your decision, and it depends on your margin and delivery costs, which we don't know better than you do. A general guideline is slightly above your typical order, so that reaching it is realistic. In the review we show how to calculate this figure from your data, but we don't name it for you: a mistake here costs money every day.

Should the threshold be counted before or after the discount?

Both options work; what matters is choosing deliberately. Counting before the discount is more generous to the buyer and more expensive for you. Counting after it is more cautious, but a promotional order may unexpectedly fall short of the threshold, and that should be shown in the cart rather than left as a surprise at the last step.

What about heavy products?

Exclude them from the rule by category or weight. A single bulky parcel can cost more than the entire margin on the order, so the exception here is not a whim but the condition for the rule not working against you. The buyer should see this on the product card, not find out in the cart.

Do you guarantee a higher average order value?

No. The rule gives people who are already buying a reason to add one more item, but it doesn't create demand or make a product more needed. We set up analytics events so you can see the share of orders that crossed the threshold and judge for yourself whether it justifies the delivery costs.

What happens if the buyer returns part of the order?

The condition has to be recalculated, and this should be decided in advance: either you charge the delivery cost retroactively or you leave things as they are. We implement whichever decision you make, but we raise the question before implementation, because this is exactly where the most unpleasant disputes with buyers arise.

How long does it take?

6 to 16 working days. The rule itself is quick to build; the time goes into the exceptions and into checking combinations of order values and delivery methods, including values just below and just above the threshold.

Will we be able to change the threshold ourselves?

Yes, and that is part of the work: the value goes into the settings rather than being hard-coded. At handover we show where to change it and what to watch for when you do.

Can the threshold differ by region?

Technically yes, and for stores with expensive delivery to remote regions it can be justified. But every extra tier makes the condition harder for the buyer to follow, so we usually advise starting with one threshold and weight-based exceptions.

Demo

Your catalogue on a phone screen

This is how your store can look on a phone: a collection banner, popular products and a cart one tap away. Tap “Add to cart” and the counter in the header updates, just like in a real store.

  • Collection bannerThe first screen shows what is new, not a logo.
  • Product cardsPhoto, price and a button — no extra page to open.
  • One-tap cartThe counter in the header updates instantly, like in a real store.
Stores in the portfolio
This is a demo interface, not a client's store. Live projects are in the portfolio.
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Let's check that the rule won't work against you

The review is free: we show which exceptions your store in particular will need. We reply within 2 hours.

View cases
  • Reply within 2 hours
  • No commitment
  • We work under a contract

There is no price list on the site on purpose: the same work differs several times over between two clients, and a “from” figure explains nothing in that case. First a free audit — we count your pages, duplicates and speed — then we name the sum and the deadline and fix both in the contract.