Coupons and promotional codes
Create and manage strategic coupons to boost your WooCommerce online store sales.
In this chapter :
Key statistic** - 92% of consumers look for coupons before buying. Offering a coupon increases the conversion rate by 18% on average.
Types of discounts
WooCommerce offers several types of discounts to suit every marketing strategy.
Percentage discount
The most popular and psychologically impactful type. "20% off" is eye-catching and easy to calculate.
When to use it: Use this type for general promotions, seasonal sales and new customer acquisition. This format works particularly well for high average baskets (20% on €500 represents €100 in visible savings).
Caution: On small baskets, the absolute savings seem low. A 20% discount on €15 saves only €3.
Fixed amount discount
A fixed amount in euros deducted from the basket. "-10€ on your order" is clear and direct.
When to use it: Use this format to encourage an increase in the average basket. An offer like "Spend €50, get €10 off" encourages customers to add additional products. For first-time orders, offer "10€ off your first order".
Advantage: This type of discount is more profitable than the percentage discount on large baskets. A fixed discount of €10 costs you exactly €10, whereas a 20% discount on a €100 basket costs you €20, i.e. twice as much.
Free delivery
Free delivery is the most popular type of promotion. 90% of customers consider free delivery to be the #1 incentive to order.
When to use it: Use free delivery to reduce shopping cart abandonment, the primary reason for which is the discovery of unexpected shipping costs. Set a threshold to achieve this benefit: "Free delivery from €50". To build loyalty, offer permanent free delivery to VIP members.
Tip: Incorporate the cost of delivery into your prices, rather than charging for it explicitly. A product priced at €27 with delivery included will be better perceived than one priced at €22 + €5 shipping.
Discount by product
Discount targeting specific products or categories. For example, "-5€ on all T-shirts" or "20% on Shoes".
When to use it: Use this type of coupon to clear stock, promote new products, or create cross-selling by offering a discount on accessories with the purchase of a main product.
Create a WooCommerce coupon 🔺
Coupon creation in WooCommerce is simple, but offers some powerful advanced options.
Basic steps
Go to WooCommerce > Coupons > Add a coupon.
Coupon code: Enter the code to be entered by the customer. Examples: WELCOME10, CHRISTMAS2025, VIP20. Make it memorable and thematic. Avoid complex codes (XJ4K9PMZ) except for one-off or private use.
Type of discount: Choose from the following options: Percentage basket discount, Fixed basket discount, or Fixed product discount.
Coupon amount: Enter the value of the discount. For a percentage, enter 20 (not 0.20). For a fixed amount, enter 10 to obtain a €10 discount.
Description (optional): Add an internal note to remind you of the coupon's purpose, e.g. "Black Friday 2025 email campaign".
Allow free delivery: Check this option to offer free delivery in addition to the discount.
Restriction settings
The "Restriction of use" tab controls who can use the coupon and under what conditions.
Minimum spend: Require a minimum basket to validate the coupon. For example, "Valid from €50". This restriction increases the average basket.
Maximum spend: Limit the maximum basket amount (a rare option, but useful for limiting losses on very large orders).
Individual use only: This option prevents combination with other coupons. It protects your store against excessive discount accumulation.
Exclude promotional items: Activate this option to prevent double discounting (current promotion + coupon).
Products: Limit the coupon to specific products by specifying their IDs. Type the product name and select it from the list.
Exclude products: Exclude certain products from the coupon, especially those with low margins or new products.
Product categories: Limit coupon application to entire product categories.
Exclude categories: Exclude entire categories from the coupon (for example, exclude the sale category).
Allowed emails: Limit coupon use to specific email addresses, such as your VIP customers or a specific email campaign list.
Usage limits
The "Usage limits" tab prevents misuse and controls campaign costs.
Use limit per coupon: Define how many times this code can be used in total. This option is useful for limited offers, such as "Reserved for the first 100 customers".
Use limit per user: Specify how many times the same customer can use the code. Usually set this limit to 1 for consumer promotional codes.
Expiration: Set the date after which the coupon becomes invalid. This creates a sense of urgency, e.g. "Valid until 12/31/2025".
Without an expiry date, customers keep codes indefinitely, reducing your long-term margins.
Conditions and restrictions 🔺
Advanced restrictions allow you to create sophisticated, perfectly targeted campaigns.
Customer targeting
New customers only: Create a coupon like "WELCOME15" that can be used once per email address and is reserved for first-time orders. This feature requires the WooCommerce Smart Coupons extension or custom code.
Loyal customers: Reserve special coupons like VIP20 for customers who have already spent €500 or more in your store. Extensions like Advanced Coupons offer sophisticated rules based on purchase history.
Email list: Create an email campaign with a unique code for each recipient (JEAN2025, MARIE2025). This approach enables precise performance tracking per contact.
Advanced product targeting
Buy X get Y: Propose offers such as "Buy 2 products in category A, get 50% off a product in category B". This creates powerful cross-selling.
Quantity discount: Encourage bulk buying with offers like "Buy 5 or more items, get 20% off".
Specific brands: If you manage several brands in your store, create targeted promotions by brand to maximize impact.
These advanced conditions usually require extensions like Advanced Coupons, YITH WooCommerce Dynamic Pricing, or custom development.
Abuse prevention
Protect yourself against fraudulent use with these best practices:
Limit per user: Set the limit to 1 to prevent the same customer from abusing the coupon by using it repeatedly.
Restriction by role: Reserve certain coupons for specific roles, such as members or VIP customers. The Conditional Discounts extension makes this configuration easy.
Usage monitoring: Regularly check WooCommerce > Reports > Coupons for suspicious patterns, such as the same IP address using multiple codes.
Complex codes for private use: Generate complex individual gift codes (K4J9PM2X) that are difficult to guess or share.
Email blacklist: Block the email addresses of customers who have abused your coupons in the past.
Coupon strategies 🔺
Use different coupon strategies depending on your business objectives.
New customer acquisition
Welcome offer: Propose "€10 off your first order from €50". This offer converts hesitant visitors into buyers. Display a popup on your site to collect email addresses in exchange for the code.
Refer a friend: Create a program with the offer "Refer a friend, you get €10, he gets €10". This mechanism generates low-cost organic growth.
Cart abandonment : Send an automatic email 24 hours after abandonment with the message "Forgot? Here's 10% to complete your order". This tactic recovers 15-20% of abandoned baskets.
Increase average basket
Progressive discounts: Propose discount levels such as "50€: -5€ | 100€: -15€ | 150€: -30€". Display incentive messages in the shopping cart, such as "Add 12€ to save 15€! This approach is a strong incentive to add more products.
Conditional free delivery: Set a threshold like "Free delivery from €60". If the basket reaches €45, the customer will be tempted to add a €15 product to unlock free delivery. You sell €15 more and the delivery cost is covered.
Bundles: Create complete packs with an attractive discount such as "-20%". Apply these discounts to predefined sets of products.
Retain existing customers
Birthday : Send a personalized "Happy Birthday! -15% off for you today". This attention is personal and much appreciated by customers.
Exclusive VIP: Create codes reserved for your best customers. This feeling of exclusivity significantly strengthens their loyalty to your brand.
Reactivate inactive customers:Recall inactive customers with "We're sorry you're not here! -20% off your return". Specifically target customers who haven't purchased in 6 months or more.
Seasonal sales
Black Friday / Cyber Monday: Propose massive offers like "30% off everything with the code BLACKFRIDAY". This event is eagerly awaited by consumers and generates excellent performance.
Summer/winter sales: Clear your seasonal stock with deep discounts. For example, "-40% on the Winter category" at the end of February to clear unsold stock.
Holidays: Create promotions for Christmas, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. Theme your codes to reinforce their impact: NOEL25, MAMAN20.
Back to school: In September, target relevant products such as school supplies and children's clothing with dedicated codes.
Stock clearance
Clearance: Organize flash sales with massive discounts like "-50% on last chance items". This frees up space in your warehouse and allows you to recover cash quickly.
End of series: When a product is discontinued, sell off the remaining stock at knock-down prices. These deep discounts are acceptable since the product will no longer be restocked.
Analysis and optimization 🔺
Measure the performance of your coupons to continually improve your campaigns.
WooCommerce reports
WooCommerce > Reports > Coupons displays for each code :
- Number of uses
- Total amount of discounts granted
- Related orders
To calculate the ROI of your coupons, let's take a concrete example: if code PROMO20 generated 50 orders for total sales of €5,000, but you granted €1,000 in discounts, your net profit would be €4,000. If you also invested 500€ in advertising to acquire these customers, your real profit would be 3500€. Systematically calculate this ROI for each campaign to identify the most profitable codes.
Key metrics
Usage rate: Compare the number of codes distributed with the number of codes actually used. For example, 1000 emails sent with 80 codes used gives a rate of 8%. Optimize your strategy if this rate is below 5%.
Average basket with coupon vs. without coupon: Analyze whether coupons actually increase the average basket. If the average basket with coupon is lower than without coupon, your codes are cannibalizing your full-price sales without creating additional value.
Conversion rate: Check whether visitors with a coupon convert more. Perform an A/B test comparing a group with a coupon code and a group without.
Cost per acquisition: Calculate the cost of coupon distribution divided by the number of new customers acquired. This strategy is only profitable if this cost remains below the customer lifetime value (CLV).
Tests a/b
Test different variants to optimize your performance:
Discount amount: Compare 10% vs. 15% vs. 20%. Which rate best optimizes your conversion without sacrificing too much margin?
Type of discount: Test percentage vs fixed amount. Which formulation works better: "20%" or "10€ off"?
Email wording: Compare different taglines such as "Exclusive discount" vs. "Take advantage of -20%" vs. "Gift for you" to identify which generates the most clicks.
Validity time: Test 48 hours vs. 7 days. Does short urgency create more conversions than a longer period of reflection?
A conversion rate improvement of just 2% via these tests can add up to thousands of euros a year.
In a nutshell
Coupons are the most powerful promotional tool in e-commerce for acquiring customers, building loyalty and increasing the average basket. Choose the type best suited to your objective: percentage for acquisition (10-20%), fixed amount to increase the basket (5-10€), and free delivery to convert the undecided. Define precise conditions (minimum basket, specific products, deadlines) to protect your margins. Limit usage (1 per customer) to prevent abuse, and create unique codes for tracked campaigns. Analyze the profitability of each campaign by calculating ROI (sales generated - promotional costs - lost margin) to optimize your future actions.
Next steps 🔺
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