Black Friday and Cyber Monday… these sales events rake in huge sales for Shopify store owners. If you’re curious about creating a discount code on Shopify, you’ve come to the right place!
Creating discount codes is a proven way to boost sales for your online store. However, it’s not guaranteed that offering discounts will boost sales; there is a proper way to do this to maximize coupon codes and discount offers to hit your sales target.
I’ve tried many of the strategies in the book to boost my online store sales, and not all of them worked. However, I’ve proven that using a coupon code is one of the best ways to move specific products from my online store.
I will show you how to create a discount code on Shopify, the best tips to maximize your promotion using coupon codes, and how to offer value to your customers.
Want to know the secret to setting up discount codes that will boost your sales? Keep reading to find out!
Key Takeaways
- Discount codes enable store owners to hit sales targets, attract new customers, and retain existing customers.
- Align your discount offerings to your brand’s marketing strategy to maximize the results from discount codes.
- Follow the detailed guide on creating a discount code or setting up an automatic discount for specific products.
- Discover the different types of discount offers that you can provide to encourage customers to buy.
Benefits of Offering a Discount Code in Your Shopify Store
When running an ecommerce store, owners aspire to maximize their profit margin. They do this by finding reliable suppliers that offer affordable products to maximize their profitability.
So, when does it make sense to create discounts for your online store?
And how will it benefit your store?
Let’s examine the benefits of offering discounts and coupon codes in your store.
New to Selling on Shopify? This guide will walk you through how to get started, step by step
1. Attract New and Existing Customers
Buyers are savvy and always looking for deals that offer great value. Therefore, offering discount codes is the best way to attract your customers’ attention and keep them engaged with your store.
Building awareness of your products is the first step toward customer acquisition. There is no better way to attract your customers’ attention than by promising a good value with a discount code.
This is especially beneficial when customers are already thinking of buying your product. Offering a discount code is the surest way to nudge them toward purchasing.
2. Drive Website Traffic
Promotions and coupon codes are marketing tactics store owners employ to drive traffic to their online store. Therefore, sharing your promotion on social media and other sales channels is vital.
This will inform new and existing customers about discounts and promotions on your store, bringing more traffic to your Shopify store.
3. Hit Sales Targets
Creating discount codes is a great way to build a sense of urgency among your customers, especially if your promotion is available for a limited time only or coupon codes have expiration dates.
It incentivizes your customers to buy while the coupon code is still active.
Offering discount items in your store helps to improve sales across the board, allowing you to meet your sales targets for a particular month or year. The best part is that some customers will be enticed to purchase other items on your website, even ones not on the discount items list.
4. Improve Brand Reputation
Strategic promotion offers the benefits of direct sales volume gain and boosts your brand’s reputation. The best way to do this is to offer discounts in your online store tied to a cause in your community or a specific holiday.
For example, you can create Mother’s Day discounts if your store sells products for women and mothers. Align the message on your discounts page to appeal to your buyers’ emotions and make them feel good about their buying decisions.
5. Foster Customer Loyalty
When you create codes for your customers, utilize this as an opportunity to build customer loyalty. For example, you can offer discount codes when your customers sign up for your newsletter.
It helps you to build your email list and create a sense of community among your loyal customers. Offering them a unique coupon code gives them a sense of exclusivity and makes them feel like they are being rewarded for their support of your store.
How to Create a Discount Code on Shopify
Now that you understand the advantages you creating coupon codes and special promotions for your customers, it’s time to learn how to set up a coupon code on your website.
You have two options when setting up discount codes on your Shopify store:
- Discount code
- Automatic discount
Discount Code
Creating a discount code is creating codes you can share with your subscribers via the email newsletter or social media. This coupon code is also visible in your Shopify store or through a dedicated discounts page.
Offering the discount code to your customers gives them a sense of control. They can use the code in however they want as long as it is within the validity period of the code.
Specific customers can decide when to purchase, especially if they want to group their purchases to maximize the savings for an entire order.
It is an excellent strategy for your customers to feel they are getting more value for their purchase. It also benefits your store because you can create a sense of urgency that influences your customers’ buying decisions.
Automatic Discount
An automatic discount is another type of promotion you can implement on your Shopify store. The discount codes will automatically apply to the discounted items upon checkout.
Like discount codes, you can advertise this promotion on your social media or Shopify email marketing campaigns.
Automatic discounts allow customers to shop through your website and save money. They no longer have to remember discount codes upon checkout, as the discount is automatically applied.
However, there is a downside to using automatic discounts. They do not create the same sense of urgency as discount codes do.
Plus, some customers might not even know such a deal exists, causing them to miss out on it.
On the other hand, automatic discounts offer an advantage. The surprise discount will entice customers to check out your items, and they can get discounts.
Download this eBook to jump start your dream Shopify business today!Guide to Creating Discount Codes
Whether you create discount codes or automatic discounts, this guide will show you how to create the code for your customers.
Access to Discount Section
First, log in to your Shopify admin dashboard and go to the Discount section. Click ‘Create Discount’ and choose the discount type. Here, you can select the specific discount code types.
Let’s go over those discount code types and their benefits.
Amount Off Products
Many customers are familiar with this type of discount promotion. It refers to a specific discount on a single item or a particular collection.
This particular discount might have usage limits.
Buy x Get y Discount
It is another example of discounts in retail stores or online. To enjoy the buy x get y discount type, customers must meet a minimum purchase amount or within select discounted items only.
For example, a customer who buys a shirt valued $20, they get another item of the same or lower value.
Amount Off Discounts
This discount applies to the entire order value. For example, you can offer a 10% discount for a minimum purchase of $100.
This encourages customers to add more items to their carts to enjoy the discounts.
Free Shipping Discount
The free shipping discount type is another common example online store owners implement to boost sales. A free shipping discount can be based on a minimum purchase amount, encouraging customers to increase their total order value.
For example, you can offer free shipping to orders over $60. You can set a minimum purchase value that boosts your store’s profitability.
Also, a free shipping discount will only benefit your store if you do not have any existing discounts or free shipping offers.
Configuring Discount Codes
Creating codes and discounts for your store is easy. After following the steps above, you must select one of the discount types mentioned above.
For example, you choose the Amount Off Products under ‘select discount type.’
From here, you have to choose whether you want to offer a discount code or automatic discounts.
If you choose to create a discount code, you can follow these steps.
The first thing you must do when you create codes on Shopify is to name your discount code. You can also generate a random code.
The next step is to specify the discount values and parameters, which can either be a fixed amount ($10 per order, etc.) or a discount (i.e. 10% off).
When setting discount codes, you can see there are options for the following:
- No minimum requirements
- Minimum purchase amount
- Minimum quantity of items
For example, you choose “No minimum requirements” > “All Customers.” Customers can use the coupon code on your Shopify store to enjoy the discount.
However, exploring the different coupon code settings to optimize your sales and offer discounts to fit into your marketing campaigns is crucial. For example, you can create “specific customer segments” to entice new or existing customers to buy from your store.
A good example is offering discounts to new customers or 10% off an entire order for your first order.
These features are created to align with your Shopify store’s marketing strategy, so take advantage of the different discount type offerings to fit your business needs. In addition, you can set usage limits for your discount codes.
It specifies how often a particular customer can use a coupon code. You can choose “Limit to one use per customer” or “Limit the number of times this discount can be used in total.”
Combining Discounts
In Shopify, customers can also combine discounts if there is more than one existing discount available. If you want to allow this in your online store, go to the Combinations section on the dashboard.
You can choose from either of the following:
- Product discounts
- Order discounts
- Shipping discounts
Check the box for which option you prefer when combining discounts in your store.
Finally, set the active dates on your discount codes. This will determine the promotion duration and when customers can use the code to enjoy the discounts.
You can also skip this step if you want to keep the promotion ongoing with no end date.
If you’re happy with the settings, click “Save Discount” to implement the discount settings to your store.
Now, your job is to promote the discounts on your social media accounts and email newsletter. Make sure to keep checking your stats to see how many customers are using your code.
Set Up Automatic Discounts
To create automatic discounts, follow the same steps as above, but choose “Automatic Discounts” when you go to the Create Discount page.
Again, you must name your discount offer or generate a random name.
You can also set discount values and parameters for automatic discount types. For example, you can specify a fixed amount for the discount or set a percentage amount.
For example, you might want to offer a 10% discount on a specific collection in your store. To do this, go to “Specific Collections” or “Specific Products” under purchase type and then choose “One-Time Purchase.”
Under “Availability,” choose “This discount automatically applied to all sales channels.”
The next step is to identify the minimum purchase requirements. For the discount to apply, you must specify a minimum purchase value or quantity of items.
Testing the Code
Always test your discount codes to ensure they work, and your customers won’t have issues using them upon checkout.
You must do this because you do not want to disappoint customers eager to use the code only to find out they’re not getting the discount on their orders when finalizing their purchase.
Also, it is crucial to monitor discount code expiration dates. The last thing you want to do is promote a discount code that has already expired.
Hence, you must be upfront with your customers about when the codes are valid.
Make sure to test it on both discount codes and automatic discounts. If they’re both tested, you’re good to go!
Conclusion
Running discount offers is a tried-and-true method of boosting your store’s sales. Take advantage of discount codes as one of Shopify’s promotional tools to attract more customers and sales.
However, there is a correct strategy for discount codes, so you must understand your customers’ needs and buying behavior. This approach enables you to maximize discounts’ impact on your business strategy!
Build, Promote, and Track Your Shopify Discounts
Creating discount codes is only half the battle; knowing if they actually drive sales is what matters. With Shopify Sales Tracker, you can monitor how each discount performs in real time. From customer usage to overall impact on revenue, this tool ensures your promotions aren’t just running, they’re winning. Use it to measure, optimize, and grow smarter with every campaign.