# How to base a progress bar on cart amount, weight, quantity or order history

> A bar sets what its tiers measure (cart amount, weight, number of items, or a customer’s lifetime spend or order count) and which products count towards it.

Updated 2026-09-25 · https://www.yaco.studio/docs/bars

## What a bar is

A bar is one measure, on a set of products, with its tiers. A new store starts with a single bar on cart amount, the classic free shipping bar. You can add others, for example a quantity bar next to a spend bar.

Tiers on the same bar share it: changing its scope applies to all of them. When a tier needs its own scope, **Duplicate for this goal** gives it a copy of the bar. How several bars look on the storefront is set in [design](https://www.yaco.studio/docs/design).

## Add a bar

There are two ways to add a bar:

- **From a tier**: click the measure in the tier sentence, then **Create a bar**, or pick an existing one under **Shop bars**. The bar is only created when you confirm.
- **From the Bars tab**: open **Goals & Discounts**, tab **Bars**, then **Add a bar**.

Then click **Save**. **Bar name** is only visible in the app.

## Choose the measure

**Measure** sets what the tier thresholds are expressed in.

| Measure | What the bar counts |
|---|---|
| **Cart amount** | The cart amount, for spend thresholds. |
| **Weight** | The cart weight. |
| **Quantity** | The number of items. |
| **Customer purchase history** | Everything the customer has spent since their first order, plus the current cart. |
| **Customer's past orders** | The number of orders the customer has already placed. The current cart doesn’t count. |

## Choose what is counted

The **What is counted** card sets which cart items move the bar forward:

- **Purchase type**: one-time purchase, subscription, or both.
- **Exclude gift cards**.
- **Cart item filtering**: **Include only items from** or **Exclude any item from** chosen products or collections. A list holds one type of resource.
- **Count items inside bundles** (quantity bars): a native Shopify bundle of 6 counts as 6; turned off, it counts as 1.

Two limits apply to bundles. Bundles from apps that don’t use native Shopify bundles always count as 1. And for a percentage or amount-off tier on a quantity bar, the checkout discount counts a bundle as 1 item (a Shopify limitation): only the bar and the gifts count its components.

## Quantity labels

On a quantity bar, the **Quantity labels** card (**Order count labels** on a past orders bar) sets how the bar writes numbers. `{quantity}` is replaced by the number.

- **One item (singular)** and **Several items (plural)**: the values shown on the bar, such as “3 items”.
- **Remaining quantity (singular)** and **Remaining quantity (plural)**: the text in the progress message, such as “2 more items”.
- **Show only the number on the bar**: “3” instead of “3 items”.

The fields come prefilled in your store’s main language. Each one is translated from the translation icon at the end of the field.

## Customer history bars: the common trap

A bar measured on customer history doesn’t measure the cart. Choosing it by mistake gives two typical symptoms:

- **The bar disappears in a private window.** These bars are hidden from logged-out visitors.
- **The tier is reached as soon as the cart opens** for a customer who has already ordered. The discount or free shipping is granted without adding anything.

Product and collection filtering doesn’t apply to these bars. To measure the cart, switch the bar’s measure back to **Cart amount**.

Bar total looks wrong? See [wrong amount](https://www.yaco.studio/docs/wrong-amount).