Kurt & Paul: September Roundup

Discounts are the biggest line item on your P&L that nobody approved. Kurt and Paul answer the questions merchants keep asking, then lay out the Black Friday plan. Part one is a mailbag pulled from r/ecommerce, r/shopify, and the Shopify Community: the Combines With checkbox that wiped the profit on 60 orders before lunch, influencer codes showing up on Honey, welcome codes reused by new Gmail accounts, and the eternal free-shipping-or-20%-off question. Part two is what to fix in September, and what three consecutive Black Fridays of gift-with-purchase data say about thresholds, gift size, and who actually takes the gift. What you'll learn: Why discounts deserve the scrutiny you give ad spend, and why almost nobody gives it How one Combines With checkbox stacked free shipping, 20% off, and a bundle script into zero-profit orders What to do about influencer codes on coupon sites (and why single-use codes don't solve this one) The rule Kurt uses on every code he creates: a 12-month expiry, no exceptions Why you can't stop welcome-code abuse, and the one-line fix from the top Reddit reply Free shipping vs discount codes: if you have to ask, you don't know your contribution margin The September checklist before code freeze: SEO metadata, alt text, accessibility, Core Web Vitals, and a discount audit Three Black Fridays, one $50 gift threshold, and carts that landed at $98, $101, and $111 The surprise in the data: gift-with-purchase skews to returning customers, free shipping to new ones The segmented strategy: free shipping code for first-time buyers, gift for everyone else Threshold math: gift at 2x AOV, free shipping 50% above AOV, gift retail value 10 to 15% of cart Why Shopify's agentic catalog mapping did nothing on two stores for 14 days Hosts: Kurt Elster and Paul Reda, co-owners of Ethercycle, a Shopify-exclusive agency, and makers of Promo Party, a gift-with-purchase app. SPONSORS Swym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more getswym.com/kurt Cleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify cleverific.com Zipify - Build high-converting sales funnels zipify.com/KURT LINKS All three research reports: https://ethercycle.com/report State of Discounts 2026: https://ethercycle.com/pages/state-of-discounts-2026 Q4 gift-with-purchase report: https://promoparty.app/bfcm-gift-with-purchase/ The $2K Combines With thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/ecommerce/comments/1qbvg5k/ Free shipping vs discount codes thread: https://community.shopify.com/t/675799 Welcome code abuse thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/shopify/comments/1u9i640/ Influencer codes on Honey thread: https://community.shopify.com/t/222041 WORK WITH KURT Apply for Shopify Help ethercycle.com/apply See Our Results ethercycle.com/work Free Newsletter kurtelster.com The Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.