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Understanding Coupon Behaviors & Settings

Abdul Sameer

In This Article

Free Shipping Coupons

Expected Behavior

  • Applies as a general discount to the whole order.
  • If an item or collection is excluded from a free shipping coupon, and the customer has other items in their cart that are not excluded, the coupon will still work.
  • If an item or collection is excluded from the coupon, and that excluded item is the ONLY thing in the customer’s cart, the coupon will not work.

Percentage Off, Flat Amount Off

Expected Behavior

  • Discounts all applicable items in an order.
  • Can be set to apply to a whole order, to specific collections, or to Product Selections.
  • Only applies to items in the cart that meet any set requirements.
  • Does not send automatically to customers. Shops need to advertise the code.

BOGO

Expected Behavior

  • Discounts the cheapest items applicable.
    • For example, If a customer purchases 2 items meeting the BOGO requirements and the prices are $15 and $10, the customer would have the discount applied to the $10 item.
  • Only applies to items in the cart that meet the requirements.
  • Customers can have other items in their cart that do not apply without affecting the discount.
  • Applies to like items (same product or same collection).
  • Can be set to Buy X Get 1
    • For example, buy 4 get 1 free or buy 2 get 1.
  • Does not apply to Gift Cards.
  • Does not send automatically to customers. Shops need to advertise the code.

Customer Specific Coupons

Expected Behavior

  • Only applies to customers chosen at the time the coupon was created.
  • Will show the base code and details in the Coupons tab.
  • Will show a download icon on the right of the coupon in the Coupons tab to download a list of applicable customers.
  • The “Notify Customers by Email” checkbox is unchecked by default.
  • Customers cannot be added after the coupon is created.

Troubleshooting Errors

Expand this section to know about the common errors and how to troubleshoot them.

Here are some common errors and their resolutions:

Coupon code isn’t working or customer is getting an error message when trying to apply it.
  • Is the code the customer is using a Marketing Automation coupon?
    • If so, first check that the code is still active (see how these coupons get deactivated here {link to previous article})
    • Next, ensure the email the customer is using to login to their account is the same email where they received the code.
  • Is the coupon still active?
    • Go to the Coupons tab and check the “Active” column on the right of the coupon code.
  • Are the items in the order in the collection/parameters of the coupon?
    • The coupon may be set to only include specific items or collections or to exclude them. Check the items in the order to ensure they meet the criteria of the coupon. Since products can be in multiple collections, an item may be in an applicable collection AND in an excluded collection. If so, the coupon will not apply.
  • Was the item carted from the channel the coupon was created for?
    • The coupon may be set to only apply to a specific sales channel. This setting means that items have to be carted by the customer from that channel for the coupon to apply. 
    • Go to the Coupons tab and check the Type/Amount column for any channel restrictions.
    • In the order details or in the customer account, check the Source column to ensure the item was carted from the correct channel.
  • Was this code previously used for another coupon?
    • Deleting or re-activating old coupons and then re-using the same code can prevent customers that used the old code from using the new one. 
How do I know if this coupon code was previously deleted or used by the customer?
  • Go to the Coupons tab and click the dots on the right. Select Associated Orders. You can compare the # of orders there to the # listed in the Coupons tab. You can also check the order dates & details to confirm that the coupon code was previously used.
  • Is the coupon working for other customers?
    • If some customers are able to apply the coupon but it will not apply for a specific customer and all other restrictions above have been checked, then the customer having trouble is likely stuck in a guest checkout mode.
    • You can reset their password using the orange Set Password button in their account. This will refresh their connection and allow the coupon to be applied.
  • Are you able to cart those items and apply the coupon manually via Admin?
    • If the coupon has no channel restrictions, you may be able to manually apply the coupon for the customer from their customer account in the Customers tab. 
Customer is not able to apply coupon with guest checkout.

The coupon is likely set to "Coupon for new users only". If so, this will prevent customers from using a code during guest checkout. Why? This setting requires an account to be created and limits the coupon to a short window after registration.

If the coupon is set to "Only used once per customer", the customer may have already used this coupon for an order. You can check the Orders tab to see if there is an order with the email address the customer is trying to use.

Coupon behavior with Shopify created customers.

If an email address exists for a customer in CommentSold and the same email address is used to checkout in Shopify, we create a new integration customer. These can be identified by the small gear icon. 

 

These accounts created via the MSM integration won't receive marketing automation emails but they can use a coupon code a second time if these 2 accounts haven't been combined.
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