Shopify Plugin

Military Connect Cart Configuration

Verify military status, tag approved customers, and configure the discount that applies automatically at checkout. Logged-in customer discounts work on all Shopify plans. Guest discounts require Shopify Plus.

Manual activation

If automatic activation did not complete, activate Military Connect for this store manually.

How Military Connect works

The plugin handles both logged-in and guest customers with different but complementary approaches — each designed to be secure, automatic, and compatible with your existing discount platform.

1

Customer verifies military status

The customer uses the Military Verification block on your cart page or another location you choose. Logged-in customers are prompted to sign in first. Guests can verify without an account.

2

Verification is confirmed server-side

Military Connect validates the customer's status via its OAuth API. Only customers with confirmed military affiliation pass this check — your server never trusts the browser alone.

3

Discount is applied automatically

Logged-in customers receive the mc_verified tag on their Shopify account. Your automatic discount rules handle the rest — this works on all Shopify plans. Guest customers on Shopify Plus stores receive a percentage discount applied automatically at checkout by the Military Connect Shopify Function. Guest discounts require Shopify Plus.

4

Logged-in customers stay verified permanently

Once tagged as mc_verified, logged-in customers do not need to verify again. The discount applies on every future qualifying order automatically.

Security model

  • Logged-in customers are tagged server-side after MC OAuth validation — the tag cannot be self-applied by the customer.
  • Guest verifications use a time-limited token written to the cart via the Shopify Storefront API. Customers cannot write cart attributes directly — only your server can, using the stored access token.
  • The token includes an expiry timestamp and the cart ID so it cannot be reused after it expires or on a different cart.
  • No discount code is ever visible to the customer or in the browser. The percentage discount is applied directly by the Shopify Function at checkout.

Required setup: logged-in customer discounts

Military Connect tags verified logged-in customers with mc_verified in Shopify. Your discount platform uses this tag to apply the discount automatically. No code is involved in the logged-in flow.

Important

This app does not create discount rules or set pricing for logged-in customers. You must configure those rules in your discount platform separately, targeting the mc_verified tag.

General setup steps

  1. Create an automatic discount in your discount platform.
  2. Set the discount value and any conditions you want (collections, spend minimums, etc.).
  3. Target customers who have the mc_verified customer tag.
  4. Activate the discount — verified customers receive it on every qualifying order.

Step 1 — Activate the Military Connect Embed (all themes)

The Military Connect Embed automatically injects the verification button into your cart drawer or cart page without requiring manual placement. It works with all themes including those that use JavaScript-rendered cart drawers.

Required activation

The embed is installed but inactive by default — Shopify requires merchants to activate app embeds manually. Open the theme editor, click App embeds in the left sidebar, find Military Connect Embed, and toggle it on. Save.

Using “Hide verification UI on cart”? The MilitaryConnect Verify app is required

The Military Connect Embed has an optional Hide verification UI on cart setting (in the theme editor, under the embed's settings). When you enable it, the verification button and messages no longer appear on the cart, but discounts keep working in the background.

If you hide the cart UI, you must install the separate MilitaryConnect Verify app and place its verification button somewhere on your store (for example a home page, landing page, or account page). That button becomes the only way shoppers can verify. Without it, guests have no way to verify their military status and will not receive the discount at checkout. Leave the setting unchecked to keep the verification UI on the cart.

Using a third-party cart drawer (UpCart, Slide Cart, Rebuy, etc.)?

Some cart-drawer apps render their drawer and checkout button inside a shadow DOM — an isolated part of the page the embed's in-cart button cannot enter. UpCart is the most common example. On these stores the visible “Verify Military Status” button cannot appear inside the cart, whether or not Hide verification UI on cart is checked.

Discounts still work. The embed automatically detects this and falls back to a background-only mode that writes the discount token when a shopper verifies. You just need to give shoppers a visible way to verify — so, exactly as above, install the separate MilitaryConnect Verify app and place its button where shoppers can see it (a cart-page section, home page, or landing page). On these stores we recommend simply enabling Hide verification UI on cart so there is no empty slot in the cart drawer.

Activate app embed

Step 2 — Add the app block (optional, for cart page themes)

If your theme has a dedicated cart page (accessible at /cart) rather than a cart drawer, you can also place the Military Verification app block directly on that page for more precise positioning. This is optional — the embed from Step 1 handles cart drawers and pages automatically.

  1. Open the theme editor and navigate to the Cart page template.
  2. Click Add block in the sidebar.
  3. Find Military Connect Verification and add it.
  4. Position it near the checkout button and save.
Open theme editor

Discount platform setup guide

Military Connect works with Shopify native discounts, Discount Ninja, Bold Discounts, and any other platform that supports customer tag targeting. Select your platform below for specific setup instructions and notes on how the guest discount interacts with its features.

Two separate flows to configure

  • Logged-in customers — configure an automatic discount in your platform targeting the mc_verified customer tag. Military Connect tags the customer; your platform applies the discount.
  • Guest customers (Shopify Plus only) — set the discount percentage above. Military Connect applies the percentage automatically at checkout via the Shopify Function. No setup needed in your discount platform for guests. This flow requires Shopify Plus.
Open customer segmentsOpen discounts

Customer experience

Logged-in customer (first time)

  1. Adds items to cart.
  2. Sees the Verify Military Status block.
  3. Logs in if not already signed in.
  4. Verifies with Military Connect.
  5. Receives the mc_verified tag on their Shopify account.
  6. Checks out — the automatic discount applies.

Logged-in customer (returning)

  1. Logs in to the store.
  2. Adds items to cart.
  3. Proceeds to checkout.
  4. Automatic discount applies — no re-verification needed.

One-time verification

Once tagged, logged-in customers never need to verify again. The discount applies automatically on every qualifying order.

Guest customer (Shopify Plus only)

  1. Adds items to cart.
  2. Sees the Verify Military Status block.
  3. Clicks verify and completes Military Connect OAuth.
  4. Returns to cart with a verified status confirmation.
  5. Proceeds to checkout.
  6. The Military Connect Shopify Function detects the verification token on the cart and applies the configured percentage discount automatically. (Requires Shopify Plus.)
  7. Completes purchase with military discount — nothing to type or copy.

Completely invisible to the customer (Shopify Plus only)

The verification token is written to the cart server-side and read by the Shopify Function at checkout. The percentage discount is applied directly — there is nothing to copy, paste, or remember. The order shows Military Discount - Military Connect Guest as the discount source. This automatic checkout discount requires Shopify Plus.

Troubleshooting

Discount not applying at checkout

  • For logged-in customers: confirm the automatic discount is active and targets the mc_verified customer tag.
  • For logged-in customers: make sure the customer is signed in during checkout.
  • For logged-in customers: verify the customer record contains the mc_verified tag in Shopify Admin → Customers.
  • For guest customers (Shopify Plus only): confirm a discount percentage is set in the Guest Discount Percentage field below.
  • For guest customers: the guest must verify on the cart page and proceed to checkout within the same session — the verification token expires after a short window.
  • For guest customers: check the Shopify Function logs in Partners Dashboard → Apps → your app → Extensions → Military Connect Guest Discount.
  • Check whether any active discounts have expired or reached usage limits.

Verification button not showing

  • Activate the plugin if it is not active yet.
  • Activate the Military Connect Embed in the theme editor under App embeds — it is inactive by default after install.
  • For themes with a cart page: add the Military Verification app block to the cart page template in the theme editor.
  • Check the browser console for client-side errors while testing the flow.
  • Enable debug mode below for additional browser-side logging.

Enable debug mode above to see detailed browser logs while testing.

Guest discount not combining with Discount Ninja or Bold

The Military Connect guest discount is an order-level percentage applied by the Shopify Function. If it is not combining with active Discount Ninja or Bold promotions as expected, check the stacking configuration on those promotions. See the Discount Ninja section in the platform guide above for detailed stacking guidance.

The most common fix is to ensure your Discount Ninja product-level promotions have Combine with order discounts enabled in their stacking settings.

How to confirm a logged-in customer is verified

  1. Open Shopify Admin and go to Customers.
  2. Open the customer profile.
  3. Confirm the record contains the mc_verified tag.

How to confirm the guest discount is working

  1. Complete a guest verification on the cart page.
  2. Proceed to checkout.
  3. Confirm Military Discount - Military Connect Guest appears in the order summary with the correct discount amount.
  4. After the order completes, check Shopify Admin → Orders and open the order to confirm the discount is recorded.
  5. If the discount is not applying, check the Shopify Function logs in Partners Dashboard → Apps → your app → Extensions → Military Connect Guest Discount.