Preventing Reward exploits and Automatically Open Upcart On Shopify Cart Page

This article shows how to stop customers from getting unlimited free products on your store.

Overview

Upcart rewards allow you to offer free gifts or bonus items based on customer behaviour. However, without proper controls, customers may be able to access these reward products without actually qualifying for them.

This guide outlines two recommended methods for securing your rewards. You can implement one or both depending on your level of control and theme flexibility.

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Method 1: Remove Manual Add-to-Cart and Quantity Controls in Shopify

Some customers may try to:

• Add reward products from their product pages using the regular “Add to Cart” button
• Visit Shopify’s /cart page and manually increase the quantity of reward items

These actions occur outside of the Upcart experience and are not automatically restricted. This method helps prevent those behaviours entirely.

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Method 2: Automatically Open Upcart on the Theme Cart Page

If you prefer a lighter approach, you can redirect customers into the Upcart experience anytime they attempt to access the Shopify cart page.

Overview

• Automatically opens the Upcart drawer when visiting /cart
• Can be combined with hiding cart content and showing a message

Setup Instructions

1. Go to Upcart > Settings > HTML > Scripts (Before Load)
2. Paste the following script:

<script>  
  var cartWasOpened = false;  
  upcartOnCartLoaded = (cart) => {  
    if (document.location.pathname == "/cart") {  
      upcartOpenCart();  
      cartWasOpened = true;  
    }  
  }  
</script>

3. Optionally, edit the Shopify cart page to:

• Hide the Items section
• Add a Rich Text block such as:
  “To view your cart, please use the drawer in the top-right corner.”

This does not block editing but encourages customers to interact with Upcart instead.

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Watch the Video Walkthrough

For a full demonstration, watch the step-by-step video guide.

It covers hiding Add to Cart buttons, removing quantity selectors, and preventing unauthorized cart edits:

Step-by-Step Instructions from the Video

Step 1: Create a Custom Product Template

1. Navigate to Online Store > Themes > Customise
2. Select Products > Create Template
3. Enter a name (e.g., free-products) and click Create Template

Step 2: Remove Purchase Elements

1. In the new template editor, remove:

   • The variant picker
   • The quantity selector
   • The Add to Cart / Buy buttons

2. Click Save

Step 3: Assign the Template to Your Reward Product

1. In the Shopify admin, search for your free gift product
2. Scroll to the Theme Template section
3. Select your new free-products template instead of the default one

This removes the ability for customers to manually add the product to their cart via its product page.

Step 4: Disable Cart Quantity Controls

1. Go to Online Store > Themes > Edit Code

2. Open the file responsible for rendering the cart page (commonly main-cart-items.liquid)

3. Search for quantity, then:

   • Comment out the quantity heading
   • Comment out the entire quantity selector block (<td> through </td>)
   • Optionally comment out the remove button (trash icon), if applicable

Use Control + / or wrap code blocks with {% comment %} and {% endcomment %} to safely disable them.

This ensures customers cannot edit reward quantities or manipulate their cart through Shopify’s native cart page.

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Choosing the Right Approach

Objective	Recommended Method
Fully block unauthorized reward use	Method 1
Nudge customers into Upcart	Method 2
Maximise protection	Use both methods together

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Need Assistance?

If you’re unsure which files to edit or prefer help setting this up, please contact our support team. We’re happy to guide you through the process.