Best WooCommerce Coupons Plugin & Use-Cases

A cakewalk solution that entices both new and returning customers on your store – coupons. This article will make you well-versed with the use of WooCommerce coupons, how to use it better using a plugin and some top applications of using coupons to grow sales. The best part, no technical knowledge is required.

Are you satisfied with the default WooCommerce coupons?

Isn’t it a cloud nine moment whenever someone gives us a gift or a good discount? That’s the magic of coupons.

WooCommerce coupons, like traditional coupons, are vouchers or discount codes that you distribute with your consumers — in the cart or checkout page, via emails, newsletters, social media, and so on. A simple approach for encouraging people to make a purchase.

And when it comes to creating coupons with some basic restrictions, WooCommerce does a good job.

Yet, even your competitors give discounts through coupons. How will you attract users to your store and convert them?

First lets see how to set up coupons and then we’ll see how to set up gift cards, advanced restrictions and other coupon functionalities.

Steps to create a WooCommerce coupon

Step 1 – Adding a coupon

Go to your WordPress Admin panel. Click on Marketing > Coupons > Add Coupon.

Step 2 – Enter coupon data and discount

Enter coupon code – Using the WooCommerce coupon code generator, enter a unique code or set your own coupon code.

Coupon description – Write coupon description for your reference.

Select discount type – This method involves selecting what type of discount you need to give for a particular coupon along with the coupon amount.

There are three ways you can set WooCommerce discount types:

• Percentage discount – percentage discount offered on the cart
• Fixed cart discount – flat amount discount on the cart
• Fixed product discount – flat amount discount on a specific product

For example, when using coupons for a cart consisting of three pairs of shoes selling at $50 each, it sums up to $150 in total. So, a fixed cart discount of $20 gives the user a $20 discount on the overall price or cart total.

On the other hand, a fixed product discount would translate to a total discount of $60 for the three pairs ($20 for each).

As for the percentage discount, the price, in this case, would be $45 for each pair, when the coupon discount percentage is 10%.

Coupon amount – Enter the discount or fixed price value.

Allow free shipping – Tick the checkbox if your product qualifies for free shipping.

Coupon expiry date – Set an expiry date for your coupon.

Step 3 – Set usage restrictions

WooCommerce coupons have restrictions that govern their utilization, to avoid the likelihood of misuse by customers.

You can set a maximum of nine restrictions for a particular coupon. The following lists them all and it’s your choice which one you want to set for your coupon.

Minimum spend – Customers’ cart or order total should be at least this much amount for the coupon to get applied.

Maximum spend – Coupons should not get applied beyond this amount. In other words, set the best range of amount limits between which coupons can be applied.

Individual use only – Tick this if you don’t want any other coupon to get applied. Best to control over-use of coupons and discounts.

Exclude sale items – Select this option if you don’t want to add a coupon to products on sale.

Products – This will allow adding coupon only on specific products.

Exclude products – Set this option if you don’t want to give a discount on some products. Say your best-sellers.

Product categories – This will allow adding a coupon only on specific product categories.

Exclude categories – Set this option if you don’t want to give a discount on some products categories.

Email restrictions – Enter a list of emails to be checked against the customer’s billing email for coupon to get applied.

Step 4 – Set usage limits

Usage limit per coupon – Define the number of times this coupon can be used before it is void.

Limit usage to X items – Set a limit to the number of items you want the coupon to be valid. If not selected, it will apply to all items in the cart.

Usage limit per user – Define the number of times an individual can use the coupon before it becomes invalid.

Step 5 – Publish & verify

Publish – Cross-check again if everything you want is in place. If yes, click on Publish.

Test – Go to your store, add products to the cart, apply coupon code and check if the discount is applied to the cart.

Congratulations! You have now successfully learned how to create a WooCommerce coupon.

But simple discounts won’t boost your sales or build customer loyalty

As I have stated, basic discounts will not always work. People will simply wait to buy when you run discounts in the long run. Throughout the year, you will experience a sales drought.

With increasing competition, store owners must be clever enough to offer alluring offers that draw customers in and ignite their interest in purchasing.

So what’s the solution?

Smart Coupons – A powerful extension built on top of WooCommerce coupons

Developed by StoreApps, WooCommerce Smart Coupons provides the most advanced coupon solution for WooCommerce. You can purchase it from WooCommerce.com.

WooCommerce Smart Coupons has everything you need to increase sales and retain customers using discounts, coupons, credits, vouchers, product giveaways, offers and promotions. It’s the original, best-selling and most complete WooCommerce coupons plugin.

If I wrote about every feature of Smart Coupons here in detail, the blog would turn into a solid coupon book. You can refer this dedicated Smart Coupons documentation.

Difference between standard WooCommerce coupons and Smart Coupons

The same configuration screen. But all things in GREEN background are provided by Smart Coupons.

You’ll also find more options of Smart Coupons in GREEN background under Usage restrictions and Actions tabs respectively.

Top WooCommerce Smart Coupons features that make it a crowd-favorite

Smart Coupons is loaded with proven methods to run discounts and promotions automatically. When you use it wisely, you’ll see higher sales, repeat customers and better customer loyalty.

WooCommerce gift cards / store credit

Essentially, they are the same. But how to use them is what you need to do to boost sales. (We have covered it below in the applications)

One of the most popular reasons why people buy Smart Coupons. You assign a monetary value credit to customers. They make purchases until the credit is exhausted or the validity expires. Instead of charging a credit card or PayPal, credits are used.

Here’s how you can create a gift card/store credit

BTW…you can offer a credit for a refund. A great way to retain customers. You can create and assign store credit or a gift certificate of any value.

Another good thing is that people can purchase credits and gift them to others. Like on birthdays or Christmas. Smart Coupons also allows adding a custom message and schedule delivery of the gift voucher in the future.

Here’s how to send gift cards to others

Coupon code generator – Bulk generate coupons

Another outstanding Smart Coupons feature. Easily generate hundreds of thousands of coupons and upload them to your store /export them as a CSV / email them to all recipients. Refer these steps to bulk generate coupons

Customizable Smart Coupons styles

Coupon designs that are both attractive and effective. Color schemes are pre-defined, but you can change them to match your company’s colors. There is no need to code. Learn more

WooCommerce URL Coupons

Quickly generate links you can embed in emails or social media posts (or anywhere else) – with one or more coupons. You can also apply multiple coupon codes via single URL.

Provide free product with purchase

Automatically add products to the cart when a coupon is applied. The product can be added as a free gift or offered at a discount. Here’s how to gift a product using a coupon

Issue coupon with product purchase

Automatically generate and issue coupons / store credits / vouchers for future purchases when someone buys a product. This means, when customes buy any product, they will receive the coupon in their account, ready to be applied on their next order. Here’s how

Advanced coupon restrictions

You only want a coupon to apply if payment is made via Stripe. OR Don’t apply the coupon only if it qualifies for Free Shipping…and many other restrictions. You can restrict coupon usage by user role, emails, payment methods, shipping methods, attributes, product taxonomy and product quantity.

Learn more on WooCommerce advanced coupon restrictions

Subscription / Recurring Coupons

Smart Coupons is compatible with WooCommerce Subscriptions. Give a recurring flat or percentage discount with subscriptions or use store credits towards renewal payments.

Bulk manage WooCommerce coupons

Smart Coupons is also compatible with Smart Manager plugin. You can extend store credit limit or validity for all coupons, delete all coupons in bulk and a lot more, all from a single place. View more bulk managing coupons use cases.

Run time sensitive discounts

Set coupons to expire at a specific time like 11:59 AM (WooCommerce provided only date, Smart Coupons gives you the provision to set time), limit maximum discount amount for percentage discounts and run automatic seasonal promotions.

Get Smart Coupons plugin

Top thirteen applications of Smart Coupons

You just read some cool Smart Coupons plugin features. Let’s see how these features help you grow sales.

Offer a WooCommerce store credit for refund

Assume Chris is unhappy with his purchase and requests a refund. You can issue him a store credit instead of a refund. This is an effective strategy for encouraging him to make another purchase and compensating for a previous bad experience.

Or consider Megan who purchases a $150 store credit from your store. So, the next time she purchases a product priced at $200 or greater, she can redeem that $150 store credit.

Recommended read – Nine best WooCommerce store credit use cases to boost sales

Send gift cards / gift certificates

This is similar to purchasing gift cards on Amazon and sending it to others.

Your customers can buy a gift card and then issue it as a gift to others. They can also schedule it for later.

This is the best application for Christmas. Many users purchase store credit or gift cards at a discount during Black Friday sales and schedule them for their loved ones for Christmas.

This is also beneficial to store owners. On their birthdays or as a bonus during the holiday season, you can design and send gift cards or shop credits to your customers.

Here’s how to create and sell gift cards on your WooCommerce store

Schedule coupons to expire at a precise time

Create a coupon that is only valid till a particular time, say 11:59PM. There’s no need to wait for the clock to tick 11:59 PM and shut the coupon.

During the Black Friday period, promote the coupon well in advance. Show the remaining time left to claim the discount coupon to create scarcity among your audiences, prompting them to buy at the earliest.

Bulk generate WooCommerce coupons for deal sites

With Smart Coupons, you can generate a bunch of coupons and export them to a CSV file. When you share this CSV file with the “deals” site, they can issue one coupon to each purchaser.

Also, you can give a direct link to the product on offer with the generated coupon in the URL.

Issue a product using a coupon

Best for stock clearance, new product launch, giveaways.

Instead of a discount, a product can be redeemed for the coupon code.
Hence, when a coupon is applied successfully, the product or gift is automatically added to the cart and the customer may continue shopping or checkout normally.

Offer a higher value coupon at a lower price

Consider a case where you offer a $550 credit coupon at $500. Here, you are giving an additional $50 store credit to your customers. So, you have already pocketed a $500 customer if they buy it.

Hence, the next time if a customer purchases any other product, he already has the $50 credit to redeem.

The point to be noted here is…acquiring a $500 customer is more profitable at the expense of $50 credit. Adds high-end and loyal customers to your customer base.

Do a BOGO (Buy One Get One) for limited quantities

For example, if a person has selected a T-shirt, you can send another T-shirt as a free gift.

Note – Here the free T-shirt will be fixed which will go as a discount. If you have other products and want to set them on the BOGO offer, you can create an individual coupon for each.

Offer discount based on product quantity

If you want to offer a bulk discount or discount based on product quantity in the cart, this feature is quite useful. For example, apply a coupon when cart contains any product but the minimum and maximum quantity should be two and three respectively.

Set maximum discount limit – Get 70% Off upto $50

A smart way to nudge customers to make a purchase is by showing a big discount offer. Another smart way to not overspend by restricting the amount to be redeemed. Most widely used by grocery stores, food delivery apps…works for all industries.

Restrict WooCommerce coupons by location

It will check all location parameters customer’s values for a match. If any of the locations you’ve entered in the coupon setup match the customer’s billing country, city or state, then only the coupon will be applied.

For example, on July 4th, only offer an “Independence Day” coupon to clients from the United States.

Show a personalised coupon message

This feature makes it simple for you to say something or offer something to a consumer who uses a specific coupon.

Show coupon details, terms of use, additional offers or anything else that will help customers and increase conversions.

You can show anything in the message and even embed WordPress shortcodes. You can send this message in the order confirmation email. Here’s how.

Sell high end product using a lower-end product

Whenever a customer buys a lower-end product, issue a coupon with it that can be redeemed only with the high-end product. This way, you are prompting customers to buy your higher-end product and pocketing more sales.

Same as at McDonald’s…if you get a small fries pack, they will inform you that a larger pack is available at a reduced price? Will you buy the large pack? Yes, most likely.

Issue multiple coupons to one or more products

Customers always like a steal. So offering multiple discounts sometimes is not a vague idea. On the contrary, it drives more and more new customers as well as keeps existing customers delighted.

For example:

• Issue a coupon of 10% discount on product A and another discount of 15% on product B.
• If customers doesn’t get convinced with a coupon of say 10% discount, attract them with another coupon, say a 15% discount on the same product.
• Set multiple coupons for the customer to redeem for the same product at one go as shown in the image above.

Start getting loyal customers today

Coupons are a solid conversion bait for encouraging more and more customers to make a purchase. And Smart Coupons seems to be the most attractive WooCommerce coupons plugin out there…for all your needs related to coupons.

If you are already using Smart Coupons, let us know in the comments section what you like the most about it.

If you are not using Smart Coupons, purchase it now to get more sales and repeat customers, forever.