Coupons are used to give various discounts. You can alter almost every way that the coupon works. This guide will walk you through the coupon creation process and every option available to you.
You can access the coupons by going to the "eCommerce" section and clicking on "Coupons".
Click "Manage" to add or edit coupons.
In this view, on the left side you will see a list of all your current coupons. Clicking the "View/Edit" button will bring up the editor on the right. The three buttons on the bottom right give you the ability to delete or save the coupon you are currently viewing, or to create a new coupon.
Clicking on "New Coupon" will bring up the coupon editor for a new coupon. The fields in this picture below have been filled in with explanations of what each field does. Keep reading for more detailed explanations and some examples.
Here are the details of the editor form, going field by field:
The first step is to give your coupon a name. Customers will see the name when it is applied.
The default setting for Active is "Yes". If you set it to "No" then the coupon will be inactive and will not work.
Want only customers who know and enter the redemption code to get this coupon? If so, set Auto Apply to "No".
If it is set to "Yes" then the coupon will automatically be applied to every purchase that meets the criteria for the coupon. If you are using a redemption code with Auto Apply set to "Yes" the code will be entered automatically.
In Description you can enter whatever text helps you remember what this coupon is, how it applies, the discount, etc.
This is the code that customers will have to enter to apply the coupon if Auto Apply is set to "No".
The "Applies To" field allows you to restrict the coupon to users within a Group on VSM (selectable from a drop-down menu). By default it is set to "All Customers" so that every website visitor can use the coupon.
These fields let you restrict the coupon's availability to a certain time frame. For example, a 4th of July sale starting at midnight would have "Begins" set to 07/04/2022 12:00 AM. To have it end before the 5th, set the "Expires" field to 07/05/2022 12:00 AM.
Use these fields to set what conditions must be met to apply the coupon. Set the "Apply When" field first.
Select "Amount is reached" to apply the coupon when the order price reaches a certain monetary value.
Select "Number of Products is reached" to apply the coupon when the order has at least some number of items in the cart.
Now set the "Available At" field to the numerical value required by the "Apply When" field. There are some examples further in this guide to help clarify this point.
Checking this box allows the coupon to be applied multiple times per purchase. For example, if a customer gets $10 off for every $100 they spend. This could be done by setting "Available At" to 100, "Apply When" to Amount is reached and checking "Apply incrementally". So if a customer spent $300, they would receive the $10 discount for each $100 they spend, resulting in a $30 discount.
This field can be used to limit the amount of times this coupon can be used site wide. When left blank there is no limit. Setting it to 50 would allow the coupon to be redeemed by 50 customers, after that it would become inactive.
Redemption Level is used to determine if the coupon is applied to the entire order, a single product, or only a specific category of products.
Use Discount Type to determine the kind of discount the coupon will give.
Discount Amount is the value referenced by Discount Type.
Setting Discount Type to "Dollar Amount" and Discount Amount to 20 would deduct $20.
Setting Discount Type to "Percentage" and Discount Amount to 15 would reduce the price by 15%.
Check this box if you don't want the coupon to be used on items that are on sale. By default it is unchecked.
Examples
In this example, the coupon gives a 10% discount for any order over $100.
Here are the details:
- Is Active
- Will apply automatically (no need to enter a redemption code)
- Has no Redemption Code because it is not needed when Auto Apply is set to "Yes"
- Will apply to all customers
- Has no start or end time, so it will be active forever (or until you change or delete it)
- Is applied once (because Increment is unchecked) when the price of the order reaches $100
- Has unlimited redemptions (because Coupons Available is left blank)
- Applies to the entire order
- Gives a 10% discount.
- Does not apply to sale items (because Exclude Sale Items is checked)
This coupon will give customers $5 off for every $50 they spend on Labor Day.
Here are the details:
- Is Active
- Will apply automatically(no need to enter a redemption code)
- Has no Redemption Code because it is not needed when Auto Apply is set to "Yes"
- Will apply to all customers
- Begins at midnight on the friday of Labor Day weekend and expires after midnight on monday.
- Applies on every $50 spent (because Increment is checked). So a $200 order would apply the coupon 4 times.
- Has unlimited redemptions (because Coupons Available is left blank)
- Applies to the entire order
- Gives a $5 discount each time it is applied. So a $200 order would have the coupon applied 4 times, giving a total discount of $20.
- Applies to all items, including sale items (because Exclude Sale Items is unchecked)
This coupon gives customers free shipping by entering a redemption code around Christmas time.
Here are the details:
- Is Active
- Will only apply if customers enter the Redemption Code
- Requires user to enter the code "Christmas2022"
- Will apply to all customers who enter the code
- Begins the day after Thanksgiving and expires after New Years
- Applies on every order
- Has unlimited redemptions (because Coupons Available is left blank)
- Applies to the entire order
- Gives free shipping
- Applies to all items, including sale items (because Exclude Sale Items is unchecked)
This coupon will give a $100 discount on orders over $300 for the first 100 customers who are logged in and are members in the "Military Veterans" group.
Here are the details:
- Is Active
- Will automatically apply to qualifying orders
- Requires no redemption code
- Will apply only to customers who are logged in and are members of the group "Military Veterans" (this is done through the VSM Groups management)
- Has no start or end date. This coupon will be available until it has been redeemed 100 times.
- Applies only on orders over $300
- Can only be redeemed 100 times. After the 100th redemption it will become inactive.
- Applies to the entire order
- Gives a $100 discount.
- Applies to all items, including sale items (because Exclude Sale Items is unchecked)