The perfect time to dive into the world of creating discount codes in Shopify is now. Why, you ask? Well, because a whopping 41% of online shoppers make the decision to buy based on coupons and discounts. Nailing your sales and discount strategy can work wonders for boosting your sales. And guess what? It’s a breeze to get this right! There are just a few things you need to keep on your radar:
1. Creating discount codes for your Shopify store.
2. Understanding the right strategies for using these codes.
3. Knowing some tips and tricks that will maximize their impact.
And that’s precisely what this step-by-step guide is here for. We’re going to guide you through the whole process. So, let’s get started.
How to Create a Discount Code
Crafting a discount or a coupon code on Shopify is as easy as pie. But first, let’s get acquainted with the types of discount codes at your disposal:
1. Percentage discount: Snip a percentage off the price of individual products or the entire order.
2. Fixed amount discount: Shave a fixed dollar amount off the price of individual products or the entire order.
3. Free Shipping: Bestow shoppers with the gift of free shipping on their purchases.
4. Buy one, Get one free: When customers buy one item, they receive additional items either for free or at a discounted price.
Now, we’ll guide you through creating these discount codes and choosing the right one for your store. But first, a quick glance at some basics for adding discount codes and strategies for sharing them. These points apply to all the discount code types we’ve just mentioned.
Where to Craft Shopify Discount Codes?
Easy peasy! Head over to the “Discounts” section in your Shopify admin for your store, and you can start creating discount codes from there. We’ll go through the steps in detail later.
What to Name Your Discount Codes?
You have the power to either create a name for your discount or let Shopify generate a code for you. Getting creative with your discount code names is a neat way to build your brand. If you’ve got catchy hashtags or slogans for ads you’re using in a sale, give those a whirl as your discount code too.
But keep in mind, you can’t use special characters in your discount code. While you can include spaces, it’s not recommended, as discount codes with spaces can be a tad trickier to enter at checkout.
How Many Discount Codes Can I Create?
Your Shopify store has a grand total of 20 million unique codes you can play with. You can set limits on how many times a specific discount can be used (we’ll cover this in detail in a bit). This can be a savvy move if you’re offering VIP discounts or want to create a sense of urgency around your sale.
How Many Times Can a Customer Use a Discount Code?
This one’s up to you. You can choose to let a single customer use a discount code just once or you can be generous and let them use it an unlimited number of times. You can also limit the number of times they can apply a discount per order, and we’ll get into the nitty-gritty details of how to set these limits in a moment.
How Do I Check How Well My Discount Is Performing?
In the “Analytics” and “Reports” section of your Shopify admin, you can whip up a sales report categorized by discounts. This will show you how often each of your discount codes has been used and how much moolah each code has raked in. But remember, it might take a little time for the data to appear in these reports.
Can Discounts Be Applied Before Checkout?
Absolutely! You can create a different type of discount called an “Automatic discount,” and it’s applied automatically at checkout. With this nifty type of discount, shoppers don’t need to mess around with entering a code.
Now, you’re all set with the basics of discount codes on Shopify. Ready for the fun part? Let’s explore some smart strategies for sharing your discount codes!
Supercharge Your Discount Code Strategy
Now, creating discounts is just the first step. You’ve got to get the word out about those fantastic discount codes. So, let’s chat about three strategies to spread the news about your awesome codes.
Strategy 1: Add a Discount Timer
Discount codes work best when they come with a sense of urgency. When shoppers feel like it’s now or never, they’re more likely to hit that “Buy” button. One way to stoke the sales flames, especially for products like print-on-demand items, is by slapping on a discount timer. Here’s the cool part- When you use a countdown timer it pops up not just in the messages your customers receive but also on your Shopify store’s pages. That’s some serious shopping motivation right there.
Strategy 2: Send Discount Codes via Push Notifications
If you want to reach a bunch of customers quickly and you’re all about mobile-friendly and highly visible channels, push notifications are the way to go. They’re cost-effective, more in-your-face than email and perfect for flash sales or those short-term Black Friday blowouts.
Strategy 3: Share Discount Codes via SMS
Now, here’s where speed takes the spotlight. Customers react to SMS messages faster than any other channel, and that’s what makes it a killer choice, especially during hot sales. When your sale is sizzling, SMS with discount codes can whisk your customers straight to the checkout.
Pro tip: Tailor the content of your message to match the type of deal you’re offering. If it’s for loyal customers, focus on rewards and gratitude. If it’s for those who abandoned a cart, play up that fear of missing out.
How to Create a Percentage or Dollar Off Discount Code
Alright, let’s dive into the juicy details of crafting your discount code. We’ll kick things off with percentage or dollar-off discounts, and many of the steps we’re about to go through will apply to other types of discount codes too.
Step 1 – The Name Game
Start by waltzing over to your Shopify admin, click on “Discounts,” then hit “Create discount code” and select “Discount code.” Next up, give your shiny new code a name.
Step 2 – Picking Your Discount Type
Now, you’ve got a choice to make. Will it be a percentage or a fixed amount (for dollar-off discounts)? Just plug in the value your customers will enjoy as a discount where it says “Discount value.”
Step 3 – Where Does Your Discount Apply?
Choose where you want the discount code to work its magic. Is it for the entire order, specific collections or individual products? Once you’ve made your pick, you can decide whether to apply the discount once per order or not. Be mindful, if you skip this part, your discount will be applied to every eligible product in the cart.
Step 4 – Set Your Requirements
Time to decide if there are any requirements for getting the discount. You can go with none, set a minimum purchase amount (shoppers need to spend a specific sum to get the discount), or specify a minimum quantity of items they have to buy.
Step 5 – Who’s Eligible?
Your discount can apply to everyone, specific customer groups or individual customers. The default setting is “Everyone.” If you want to target specific groups of customers, you’ll need to create these groups first. Specific customers can be selected using their email address or phone number.
Step 6 – Limit Those Codes
The default setting is no limits, but you can apply a cap to the total number of discount uses (total codes available, but one customer can use more than one) or limit how many times an individual customer can use the discount.
Step 7 – Timing Is Everything
Use the calendar to set when your discount runs and make sure to set an end date. Otherwise, your discount could hang around forever. Just keep in mind that all times are based on the timezone in your Shopify admin. Click “Save discount” and voila, your new discount code is ready to roll and will appear in the “Discounts” tab in your Shopify admin. Now, go share the love with your customers!
How to Create a Free Shipping Discount Code
Let’s keep the ball rolling and chat about crafting a free shipping discount code.
Steps 1 and 2 – Getting Started
These steps are just like the ones for percentage or dollar-off discounts. Head to your Shopify admin, click “Discounts” then “Create discount code.” This time, though, select “Free Shipping.”
Step 3 – Choosing Your Countries
By default, all countries are selected. But if you want your free shipping offer to be exclusive to specific countries, go ahead and pick the ones you have in mind.
Step 4 – Picking Your Products
If you’d like to exclude free shipping for pricey-to-ship products, you can do that. Set the maximum shipping cost you want to include in your offer. For instance, if you enter $25, any order costing more than $25 to ship won’t qualify for free shipping.
Step 5 – Setting Requirements, Eligibility, and Limits
Follow the same steps you used for percentage or dollar-off discounts to wrap up your free shipping discount code.
How to Create a “Buy One, Get One Free” Discount Code
And now, let’s tackle the “Buy X, Get Y” discount codes. These can be a real crowd-pleaser.
Steps 1 and 2 – Starting Strong
Start just like before by going to your Shopify admin, clicking “Discounts” and creating a new discount code. However, this time, choose “Buy X, Get Y discount.”
Step 3 – Choosing the Products
In the Customer Buys section, specify which items customers need to purchase to snag the deal. If your discount applies to all items in your store, just pop a number in the Quantity box to show how many they need to buy for the offer. If it’s for specific products or collections, select them and state the quantity. Repeat this process in the Customer Gets section. Finally, pick where the second item will be free or offered at a percentage discount.
Step 4 – Limiting Usage
Want to put a cap on how many times a customer can use this deal per order? Just tick the box labelled “Set the maximum number of uses per order” and type in the number of times a customer can use the deal in a single order.
Step 5 – Requirements, Eligibility and Limits
Guess what? It’s more of the same! Follow the steps you used for percentage or dollar-off discounts to put the finishing touches on your “Buy X, Get Y” deal.
How to Choose Shopify Discounts to increase sales
Now that you’ve got these awesome discount codes lined up, it’s time to make the most of them. Here are two savvy ways to maximize their impact :
Test, Analyze and Improve: Don’t forget to analyze the performance of your discount codes using a Sales by discount report. This will help you fine-tune and improve the performance of your deals over time.
Omnichannel Remarketing Tool: Smart omnichannel marketing tools can help you not only share your discount codes effectively but also gain insights into how your discounts are performing. By using three automatically coordinated channels – email, SMS and push notifications – you can reach most customers. Plus, you’ll have the benefit of smart reporting tools and tracking to see which deals capture your customers’ interest.
And there you have it! With your Shopify discount codes in place, you’re all set to boost sales and keep your customers coming back for more. Good luck and happy selling!
