HOW DO I CREATE A COUPON CODE?

This article will explain the needed to create coupons and the different options that are available for you to create and promote.

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Overview
Steps
Form Fields Defined
Saving
Summary

Overview

Coupons are used to give customers discounts on products or shipping. Using coupons helps you increase sales during a specific time period or move inventory for a specific product, brand, or grouping of products. You can use coupon codes in email marketing, on site banners/slides or even on your order email confirmation for discounts on their next order.

Steps

Log into the Admin side of your website (www.yourdomain.com/admin)
Hover over Catalog
Click Promotions
Click Add Promotion
Enter all the values for the fields in the Information section according to the table below - This section is mandatory for all Promotions
Select the Promotion Type to Coupon
Complete the remaining fields in the Discount, Apply To, and Requirements fields as explained below
The last section is your coupon Restrictions (all restrictions are optional; if you do not wish to set restrictions, skip to final step)
Click Save Changes and start promoting!

Form Fields Defined

Information
Name*	Name of Promotion to display when added to customer's cart.
Description*	The Description of the promotion to display when added to the customer's cart.
Extended Description	The Extended Description of the promotion to display when added to the customer's cart.
Meta Title	This is the page title for the product which will be displayed in the browser window title bar. If unset, the page title will default to the product name. Limit to 60 characters or 9 words. Less is more and it is not wise to repeat any word more than twice.
Meta Keywords	The meta keywords, listed in order of importance, separated by commas. Limit: 1000 characters, or 45 words. Do not repeat any word more than 7 times.
Meta Description	The meta description; what is often seen in search results on Google. Limit: 200 characters, or 2 sentences. Do not repeat any word more than 4 times.
Starts*	The date the promotion starts. The promotion will not be used prior to this date.
Expires*	The date the promotion ends. The promotion will not be usable on and after this date. For example, if the promotion ends today, set the Expiration date as tomorrow's date.
Active*	The promotion cannot be used unless this field is set to Active. To allow the use of this promotion, select "Yes" in the drop-down.
Private*	Private promotions will never be displayed to a customer.
Priority*	Higher items are sorted first.
Admin Notes	This field is for internal notes, and will not be seen by the customer.
Promotion Type	Select the type of promotion you wish to create.

An asterisk * identifies a required field.

Discount Type:
Calculated Percent	To give a percentage discount off of your customer's subtotal** or shipping total.
Fixed Amount	To give a set discount amount off of your customer's subtotal** or shipping total.
Use Group Price	To give a discount amount off of a specific product(s) using the Tiered Pricing & Customer Group features.

Discount:	Calculated Percent	Fixed Amount	Group
Discount From	Three options: Subtotal: When selected, the discount will be applied to the subtotal on the cart and checkout screen. Shipping: When selected, the discount will be applied to the shipping ONLY on the checkout screen. This selection will apply your discount to ALL shipping methods (both expedited & ground). Ground Shipping:** When selected, the discount will be applied to the shipping ONLY on the checkout screen. This selection will apply your discount to ground shipping methods only. Expedited methods (ie 1-Day & 2-Day Air) will not be eligible for the discount.	Three Options: Subtotal: When selected the discount will be applied to the subtotal on the cart and checkout screen. Shipping: When selected the discount will be applied to the shipping ONLY on the checkout screen. This selection will apply your discount to ALL shipping methods (both expedited & ground). Ground Shipping:** When selected, the discount will be applied to the shipping ONLY on the checkout screen. This selection will apply your discount to ground shipping methods only. Expedited methods (ie 1-Day & 2-Day Air) will not be eligible for the discount.	N/A
Discount Percent	Enter the percentage that you would like to be applied to your Discount From. Please enter this as a decimal. For example, if you would like to give 5% please enter .05	N/A	N/A
Discount Amount	N/A	Enter the amount that you would like to be applied to your Discount From. Please enter this amount in a complete currency format. For example, if you would like to give a ten dollar discount; please enter 10.00	N/A
Discount Group	N/A	N/A	Select the Group from the Drop Down List associated with the Tiered Pricing you setup on your products. See below for more details about using Coupons with Customer Groups.
Calculate Tax before Promotion	Three Options: System Configuration: Sales Tax will be calculated based on your setting in the System > Configuration > Checkout menu Enable: Sales Tax will be calculated on the total of the transaction before the discount is applied Disable: Sales Tax will be calculated on the total of the transaction minus the applied discount	Three Options: System Configuration: Sales Tax will be calculated based on your setting in the System > Configuration > Checkout menu Enable: Sales Tax will be calculated on the total of the transaction before the discount is applied Disable: Sales Tax will be calculated on the total of the transaction minus the applied discount	Three Options: System Configuration: Sales Tax will be calculated based on your setting in the System > Configuration > Checkout menu Enable: Sales Tax will be calculated on the total of the transaction before the discount is applied Disable: Sales Tax will be calculated on the total of the transaction minus the applied discount

The Apply To promotion section is used for telling the Promotion Manager which products in the cart should be included in the calculation of your promotion given your promotion requirements. It defaults to "All Products", and therefore if a customer qualifies for a discount by meeting the promotion requirements, all the items in the cart will be used to calculate the total discount. Example:

Apply To+:	WSM ID Field
All Products	Exclude Products - When All Products is selected as your apply type, this field becomes an exclusion field and the Product WSM IDs that are entered are excluded from the promotion.
Products	Include Products - When Products is selected as your apply type, this field becomes an inclusion field and the Product WSM IDs that are entered are included in the promotion.
Product Series	Include Product Series - When Product Series is selected as your apply type, this field becomes an inclusion field and the Product Series WSM IDs that are entered are included in the promotion.
Brand	Include Brands - When Brands is selected as your apply type, this field becomes an inclusion field and the Brand WSM IDs that are entered are included in the promotion.
Category	Include Categories - When Category is selected as your apply type, this field becomes an inclusion field and the Category WSM IDs that are entered are included in the promotion.

+This only applies if you are using Discount - Calculated Percent or Discount - Fixed Amount.

Requirements+:
*Promotion Code	This is the code that you will provide to your customer and what will be entered into the promotion code field on your site's cart page. We recommend when creating promotions to keep your code relatively short and all one word. Promotion codes are not case-sensitive.
Require Subtotal	Enter a subtotal amount that your order needs to reach before the discount can be applied.
Require Products	Enter the Product WSM ID that needs to be added to the cart before the discount can be applied to all items in the cart.* You may add multiple IDs to this field in a comma-separated format (ie 456,123,789). Choose "ALL" if all Product IDs must be present in the cart for the discount to apply. Choose "ANY" if only one of the Product IDs must be present in the cart for the discount to apply.
Require Product Series	Enter the Product Series WSM ID that needs to be added to the cart before the discount can be applied to all items in the cart.* You may add multiple IDs to this field in a comma-separated format (ie 456,123,789). Choose "ALL" if all Product Series IDs must be present in the cart for the discount to apply. Choose "ANY" if only one of the Product Series IDs must be present in the cart for the discount to apply.
Require Categories	Enter a single Category WSM ID or multiple Category WSM IDs. The coupon cannot be used unless one or more of the items in the specified category is added to the cart. The discount will be applied to all items in the cart.* Choose "ALL" if all Category IDs must be present in the cart for the discount to apply. Choose "ANY" if only one of the Category IDs must be present in the cart for the discount to apply.
Require Brands	Enter a single Brand WSM ID or multiple Brand WSM IDs. The coupon cannot be used unless one or more of the items in the specified Brand is added to the cart. The discount will be applied to all items in the cart.* Choose "ALL" if all Brand IDs must be present in the cart for the discount to apply. Choose "ANY" if only one of the Brand IDs must be present in the cart for the discount to apply.

*Unless using Apply to (above) or Use Group Price Discount Type is used, the coupon will be applied to all items in the cart due to the default setting of "Apply To" of "All Products"

Restrictions+:
Uses Per Customer	Enter the number of times each registered customer can use this coupon code. NOTE: Customers will be required to log in to use promotions with this set.
Total Uses	Enter the number of times this coupon can be used on the site. For example if you set this to 1, the promotion can only be used once. After one order has been placed using the promotion code, the promotion will be marked inactive.
Restriction Type	Three Options: No Customer Group Restrictions: All customers will be able to use promotion Allow All Customer Groups Except: Restrict one or more customer groups from using the promotion. When selected, the Apply to IDs field below will change to a field titled Exclude Groups. Selecting this option requires your customers to log into a registered customer account to apply for promotion. Block All Customer Groups Except: Restrict promotion so only the customer groups you select will be able to use the promotion. When selected, the Apply to IDs field below will change to a field titled Include Groups. Selecting this option requires your customers to log into a registered customer account to apply for promotion.
Apply to IDs	Three Options: Apply to IDs: When No Customer Group Restrictions is selected in the above dropdown, this is the default placeholder field displayed. There are no actions for you to take in this field. Exclude Groups: When Allow All Customer Groups Except is selected above, use this field to enter the WSM IDs of the Customer Access Groups you wish to restrict from using the promotion. Include Groups: When Block All Customer Groups Except is selected above, use this field to enter the WSM IDs of the Customer Access Groups you wish to allow use of the promotion.

+Unless using Apply to (below) or Use Group Price Discount Type is used, the coupon will be applied to all items in the cart.

Saving

When finished, click Add Promotion at the bottom of the page.

Summary

Now that you have your coupons created it is time to notify your customers of the great deals you have available. We offer great articles on email marketing, updating banners, and editing your order confirmation messages.