Discounts and coupons

Discounts take money off an order: either a code a shopper types at checkout, or an automatic promotion that applies to every cart that qualifies, with nothing to type. You set them up on your site's Products page, in its Promotions section.

Anyone who can edit the site can add, change and delete discounts. Shoppers pay through your own Stripe account, so connect Stripe before you promote a sale.

The Promotions section holds two cards for money off:

Card	What it makes
Discounts	Codes and automatic promotions: percent off, a fixed amount off, or free shipping, with a minimum subtotal, a use limit and dates. Use this one for anything new.
Coupons	Simple percent-off codes with a use limit and an expiry date. Codes you made here before Discounts existed keep working.

Gift cards and store credit sit in the same section; see Gift cards & store credit.

Add a discount

The Discounts card takes money off with a code or automatically: select Add discount, choose a percent off, an amount off or free shipping, and select Save.

1. Open your site's Products page and choose Promotions.
2. On the Discounts card, select Add discount.
3. Fill in the New discount dialog:
   • Code (blank = automatic): the code shoppers type, such as SAVE10. It is saved in capital letters, and anything other than letters, numbers, - and _ is dropped. Leave it empty to make an automatic promotion, and give it a Promotion name instead, such as "Summer sale".
   • Type: Percent off, Fixed amount off or Free shipping. A percent or fixed discount asks for its amount in the % or $ off field next to it.
   • Min subtotal ($): optional. The cart's items must add up to at least this much.
   • Max uses: optional. Leave it empty for no limit. See Use limits.
   • Starts and Ends: optional dates. A discount works from the start of its Starts day to the end of its Ends day.
4. Select Save. Save stays unavailable until a percent or fixed discount has an amount above zero.

Each discount on the card reads as one line: its code or name, what it takes off, whether it is store-wide or limited to some products, any minimum, and how many times it has been used. A switched-off discount ends in · disabled. Disable stops a discount without deleting it, and Enable switches it back on. Edit opens the same dialog and Delete removes the discount straight away.

Discount types

• Percent off takes that share off the items in the cart.
• Fixed amount off takes that amount off the items, never more than they cost.
• Free shipping charges the shopper no shipping, whichever rate they pick.

Discounts come off the items before tax, so tax is worked out on the discounted price. They never come off shipping, except a free shipping discount.

Discounts for some products only

A discount can cover only certain products. Its line on the card then says, for example, 2 products only, and a percent or fixed discount is worked out on those products' share of the cart, not the whole cart. A code for products the shopper doesn't have in their cart is refused with This discount does not apply to your items.

The dialog doesn't choose products. To limit a discount to some products, export your discounts, fill in the Product IDs column and import the file again. See Import and export store data.

Automatic promotions

A discount with no code is an automatic promotion. It shows on the card as a chip with its Promotion name, or Automatic when it has none.

Every cart that meets an automatic promotion's minimum and dates gets it, without the shopper doing anything. When several could apply, the cart gets the one that takes the most off. Discounts never stack: when a shopper enters a valid code, the code applies instead of any automatic promotion.

Discount codes

A shopper types a code into the code field on your cart or product page. If the code can't be used, checkout stops and tells them why, rather than charging the full price. See What shoppers see.

Codes are matched without regard to capital letters, so save10 works for SAVE10. A code that isn't one of your discounts is checked against your Coupons next.

Use limits

Max uses counts orders, not items: one order uses a discount once, however many items it covers.

While a shopper is on the payment page, their use is held for them, so a limited discount can't be handed out more times than its limit allows. The card shows held uses separately, for example 97/100 used · 3 held in checkout. A held use is given back when that checkout expires or is abandoned, and counted when it's paid.

When every use is taken or held, the next shopper is told This discount has been fully redeemed. If someone else's checkout lets go of a held use, the code works again.

Where discounts apply

Where	Codes	Automatic promotions
Cart checkout	Yes	Yes
A product's Buy button	Yes	Yes
A draft order's payment link	No	Yes
The register and the self-service kiosk	No	Yes, except free shipping

At the register, an automatic promotion is added to the cashier's own Discount %. The cashier's percentage is limited by the store's Maximum register discount (%) setting; your promotions are not. See POS & reservations.

Coupons

The Coupons card makes simple percent-off codes for online checkout: select Add coupon, enter the code and the percent off, and select Create. For anything more, use a discount.

1. On the Coupons card, select Add coupon.
2. Enter the Code (letters and numbers; it is saved in capital letters), the Percent off, and optionally Max redemptions and an Expires date. The code works through the end of the day it expires.
3. Select Create.

Each coupon's line shows its code, how much it takes off, how many times it has been used, and its expiry, or expired once that day has passed. Use Disable to stop a coupon working and Enable to turn it back on.

When a code matches both a discount and a coupon, the discount wins.

Import and export

The Discounts and Coupons cards each have Import and Export in their header. A discount or coupon you import starts switched off, unless the file has an Active column that says otherwise. Switch it on with Enable on its row. How many times one has been used is exported but never imported. See Import and export store data.

Aglyn AI can also propose discounts for your store. They are created switched off, so nothing changes at checkout until you select Enable. See Products with AI.

Show the code field to shoppers

Shoppers can only enter a code where your site shows a code field. In Besigner, select the element and turn on its setting:

• Cart and Cart page: Show coupon and gift card fields. This one setting shows both the Coupon code field and the Gift card field.
• Product detail and Product page: Show discount code field. This shows a Discount code field above the Buy button.

Automatic promotions need no field: they apply on their own.

What shoppers see

A shopper whose code works pays the discounted price. When a code can't be used, checkout stops before payment and the shopper sees one of these messages:

Message	Why
This discount has not started yet	Today is before its Starts date.
This discount has expired	Its Ends date has passed.
This discount is disabled	The discount is switched off.
Spend $… to use this	The cart's items add up to less than Min subtotal.
This discount does not apply to your items	The discount covers only some products, and none of them are in the cart.
This discount has been fully redeemed	Every use is taken or held in someone else's checkout.
Invalid or expired coupon	The code is neither a discount nor a coupon, or the coupon is switched off or past its expiry.
A promotion on your cart has just been fully redeemed. Refresh your cart to see the current price.	An automatic promotion ran out while the shopper was checking out. Refreshing prices the cart without it.

Troubleshooting

What happens	What to do
A shopper can't find where to type the code	Turn on the code field on your cart or product page. See Show the code field to shoppers.
A discount ends in · disabled	It was imported or proposed by Aglyn AI, which start switched off, or someone selected Disable. Select Enable on its row.
A capped discount says it is used up but you have fewer orders	Some uses are held by shoppers on the payment page. They come back when those checkouts expire.
A code works online but not at the register	Codes aren't entered at the register. Make it an automatic promotion, or use the cashier's Discount %.
A free shipping promotion didn't apply at the register	Register sales don't ship, so free shipping has nothing to take off there.

Related

• Commerce
• Gift cards & store credit
• Rewards, referrals and store credit
• Import and export store data