Shopify Discount Code Guide & Usage Techniques


You may have already noticed the sheer number of online offers that eStores offer, almost every day now. Facebook banners, Google ads and other advertisements are constantly displaying superb offers to visitors. It has become a very common query amongst store owners, so we will answer the call. Shopify offers a dedicated discount editor in all its packages allowing you to quickly create discounts and free shipping. In today’s tutorial we will look at how to create Shopify discount codes and set up free shipping offers. We also take a brief look at the 5 best Shopify discount code apps.

So, without further ado let’s teach you how to create enticing Shopify discount codes for your buyers. You can also create multiple Shopify discount codes with the discounts editor for different events, or, create them for specific audiences.

How to Create Shopify Discount Codes

Creating discount codes has been made pretty simple in the Shopify Dashboard since their last few updates. Follow my step by step tutorial below and create multiple Shopify discount codes for your audiences.

How to Offer Shopify Fixed Cash Discount Codes

  1. Log in to your Shopify dashboard, then click Discounts in the left hand panelHow to Create Shopify Discount Codes
  2. The Discount Wizard will now be open, click Create Discountclick to Create shopify Discount code
  3. You will now be in the Discounts editorshopify Discounts editor
  4.  Here are all important Discount fields you will need to fill out as follows
    a. Discount Code
    This will be the discount code your buyers will use at checkout. Keep it simple without complex words, alphanumeric characters and numbers.b. Options
    You can choose between Percentage Discount, Fixed Amount, and Free Shipping. The discount value box will be used to enter a percentage, or a fixed amount. For those creating Shopify discount codes should only choose the first two options.c. Applies to
    This section allows you to choose where the order applies. You can either select Entire Orders, Specific Collections, or Specific Products.d. Customer Eligibility
    This section lets you decide if all your customers are eligible for the discount or if a specific group of buyers will get the discount.e. Usage Limits
    The number of times your discount codes can be used can also be controlled. You can choose between the number of times a code can be used or the number of times one person can use it.f. Active Dates
    The final section is where you will choose if your discount will run for a fixed time period or for a longer time. You can begin the discount code offer on a specific date and time, and specify when to finish the discount offer.
  5. Once you have setup the Discount Code, click Dave Discount on the bottom right of the page
  6. You have successfully setup your very first Shopify discount code, it’s now time to test the code in real time
  7. As you can see the Shopify discount code fully functionalShopify discount code fully functional

What are Shopify Percentage Discount Codes

Like the fixed cash discount code, we can create a Shopify percentage discount code but changing one simple setting in the Discount editor. Following the tutorial above, when you get to step 4 you will notice the options box. Simply select “Percentage Discount” and in the “Discount Value” box enter the percentage you wish to offer.Shopify Percentage Discount Codes

The great thing is you can also add a minimum purchase amount to be eligible to use the discount code. This is a great technique which allows your customer to complete a certain goal amount and receive a larger discount, a win-win for both parties. Notice in the image below, the 20% discount code is fully working at checkout for the same items as in the example above.items as in the example

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Setup Free Shipping Discount Codes on Shopify

Setting up free shipping discount codes are just as easy as percentage or fixed price discounts. If we go back to step 4 of the tutorial above, all you have to do is make a simple tweak. Using the same Discount editor we simply choose the Free Shipping selection in the Options section, when setting up the discount. Here is an illustrated example:

When I check out through the store without the free shipping discount code applied, it shows me a massive delivery cost as shown below.Free Shipping Discount Codes on Shopify

So all I have to do is to go to the Shopify Discount code editor and choose discount type as “Free Shipping”. You can also indicate if the free shipping discount code can be utilized irrespective of order amount or a minimum purchase price. You can also set up free shipping discounts on Shopify for specific buyers and for specific countries.specific buyers and for specific countries

Once you have setup and saved the free shipping discount code on Shopify discount editor, its time to test it in real time. Observe that as soon as I choose shipping method the free delivery offer is applied to the purchase automatically:shipping discount code on Shopify discount editor

5 Best Shopify Discount Code Apps for Beginners

It’s generally pretty easy to create Shopify discount codes using the built in Discounts editor. However, for those of us who wish to assign the entire process to an automated app, there is a huge selection of cutting edge Shopify discount code apps to do the job for your eCommerce store.

I took to the apps section and identified the following as the five best Shopify discount code creation apps:

  1. Bulk Discounts

Bulk Discounts is a simple discounts app for all your discount code needs. It lets you create up to 250,000 discount codes at one time and allows you to export your codes to a CSV file.

You can now create discount codes to run any social campaigns in your store. If you offer a loyalty program, then Bulk Discounts lets you easily create discount codes for your loyalty members.

Bulk Discounts lets you try it out for FREE. The first set of discount codes is free. Afterward, pay only a one-time price per Discount code set as following:

1 set of up to 10,000 codes – $1.00

1 set of 10,000 to 100,000 codes – $3.00

1 set of 100,000 to 250,000 codes – $5.00

  1. Automatic Discount

Automatic discounts is a simple and intuitive app that provides quick discount links and codes to your customers.

Automatic discounts available via LINKS, so the customers don’t need to enter coupon codes anymore.

Automatic discounts available via RULES, so the customers get a quick discount according to the products in their cart. Here’s Automatic Discounts pricing plan.

Free:

– Discount links up to 1000 visits total

Pro $9.98/mo (or $89/yr):

– 7-day free trial after you upgrade

– Unlimited discount links

– Discount rules based on what’s in the cart

– Advanced statistics

– Pre-filled checkouts with discount

  1. Discounted Pricing by Booster Apps

This app lets you offer your customers discounts based on the volume. Which actually encourages them to buy more by incentivizing volume-based purchases. For example,

  • Customer buys 3 or more of the same product, they get 5% off.
  • Customer spends more than $100 – they get 10% off.
  • If they buy 4 products or more, they get 10% off.

It’s very easy to setup with just one-click installation available for Shopify stores. You can also use discounted codes along with this app to make things easier for your customers.

The pricing plans are directly based-off your Shopify plan.

  • Trial: Free
  • Basic: $19.99/mo
  • Professional: $29.99/mo
  • Unlimited: $44.99/mo

Plus: $89.99/mo

  1. Bulk Discounts and Sales Scheduler

This app lets you set up discounts for products just in a few clicks with their robust bulk discounts tool.

As the name already suggests, it also enables you to schedule sales for different events in advance like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Thanksgiving, etc. anything you want.

The app also gives you the ability to add unique Sale labels to different products with discounts to make them stand out from the rest.

Bulk Discounts & Sales Scheduler is available for free with a 14-day Trial.

Afterward, you just pay $18.95/month to get the following features:

  • A wide range of discount features.
  • Free “Sale” badge for discounted items.
  • Ability to stop or pause a sale.
  • Full compatibility with all Shopify themes.
  • 24/7 Free support.
  1. Daily Deal – Product Discounts

Daily Deal is a great discount app as it allows you to discount thousands of products at once with just a few clicks. After the promotion ends, all the products revert back to their original prices.

You can set a fixed discount ($5 off) or a percentage based discount (10% off) on as many products and variants as you want.

When your discounts are live, the original prices will show as a comparison. Something like,

Original Price: $24.99

Special Price: $19.99 (You save $5.00)

This makes the discount look more perceivable. You can add a countdown timer for the deals that keeps ticking until the discounts end. The limited time creates a sense of urgency.

You can schedule your countdowns to run anytime in the future and also make them run for only a limited time, just with a few clicks.

Daily Deal offers a free trial of 15 days and it’s also free for Shopify Development stores. Afterward, you just pay $9.95/month to use this exciting app.

Shopify Discount Code before Checkout

A very popular request or complaint is about placing the discount code on the cart page and not checkout. While store owners have threatened to end their business on the issue the platform’s response has been the same:Shopify Discount Code before Checkout

There is although only one way to display the Shopify discount code before checkout, and that too by editing the “checkout.css.liquid” code. The issue was resolved back in 2014 and the complete discussion is available on this Shopify discount code thread. In case you are going to try this trick consider backing up your eStore data.

Shopify automatic discount without code

If you want to give your customers discounts, but don’t want to send them codes then it’s also possible. Codes can be overwhelming and sometimes your customers might not even feel like using them.

You can just send them discounted links where all they have to do is click the link and they will get the discount on your Shopify store.

Automatic Discount app, as mentioned-above, does exactly that. It sends your customers with discount links they can click and enjoy their discounts all over your store.

Shopify discount code API

Shopify lets you use the DiscountCode API to setup discount codes on your store, but that requires you to have some prior technical or programming knowledge.

They also offer free apps to offer discounts to your customers which is a much better and easier way for you to offer discounts without having to get into any technical side of things.

Benefits of Using Discount Codes

There are several massive benefits of using discount codes on your Shopify eStore. These include:

  • Sell Products Fast
  • Sell More Products
  • Increase traffic to your Shopify website
  • Enhance your brand name
  • Create loyal customers, make them brand advocates
  • Save marketing costs
  • Run special holiday/occasion campaigns

See You Again Soon

Hope my guide taught you how to easily setup discount codes in Shopify. I am optimistic you have understood creating Shopify discount codes process, but if you are having problems simply drop a message below.

Do visit us again to read more amazing guides and tutorials in addition to other eCommerce tips, tricks and hacks. Remember to subscribe to out monthly newsletter if you like our publications. For more real time insights and suggestions come be part of our ever growing community of eCommerce enthusiasts & professionals.

 

 

Ameer Rizvi

Ameer Rizvi is a professional blogger and previously worked with lifestyle, information security & entertainment services. Ameer now exercises his digital marketing & authoring skills assisting entrepreneurs and prospect wantrepreneurs reach their million dollar goals. A loyal Liverpool FC fan, EDM fanatic, geo-politics observer, and history geek; Ameer spends hours discovering strategies, hacks and tricks to contribute towards the eCommerce community.

3 Responses to Shopify Discount Code Guide & Usage Techniques

  1. Andrew says:

    Is there a way to encrypt discount codes? Users can go back into orders and see the code and share it. I want to have them type it and have it encrypted. Do you know how?

  2. Nevaeh Gavin says:

    What software do you recommend to create temporary discount codes for Shopify and embed them automatically into Mailchimp emails?

    • martin says:

      You can use Vauchar (vauchar_com), it lets you easily insert discount codes for your Shopify store into your automated emails via MailChimp.

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