Ultimate Guides On How To Set Up Shopify Automatic Discounts

Key Takeaways

• Automatic discounts save merchants significant time by eliminating the need to manually create and apply promotional codes.
• There are flexible options for setting up automatic discounts natively within Shopify, through scripts on Shopify Plus plans, or via powerful third-party apps.

Types of automatic discounts

Bundle discounts

Offering bundle discounts can be an effective strategy to incentivize customers to purchase multiple products from the store. For instance, providing a 10% discount on orders that contain two or more items would encourage buyers to add more to their cart.

Volume discounts

Implementing volume discounts can be an intelligent approach for stores that deal in bulk sales of products. For businesses where some customers purchase in large volumes, providing percentage discounts based on order total size encourages more lavish spending. A model offering a 5% discount on orders of $500 or more caters well to buyers seeking quantity deals.

Wholesale discounts

Providing wholesale discounts can be a beneficial strategy for attracting business customers who purchase goods in bulk quantities. Extending discounted pricing to resellers and retailers helps draw commercial clientele. For example, offering a 10% discount on orders containing 10 or more items caters well to wholesale buyers.

Free Gift

Implementing gift discounts can be an excellent strategy for showing appreciation to customers. Offering a complimentary gift on orders surpassing a set threshold shows gratitude while incentivizing higher spending. For instance, including a freebie item with purchases over $100 rewards customers for their patronage in a tangible way.

BOGO

Implementing BOGO (buy one, get one) deals is a well-liked promotional tactic that can drive sales. With this structure, such as offering 50% off the lower-priced item when a customer purchases two or more products, shoppers see the added value added to their cart. 

It frames Multi-item orders as getting more for less Versus individual items. Buyers are attracted to the perception of scoring an extra item at a cut price by taking advantage of the terms of the BOGO offer.

Percentage discounts

Implementing percentage discounts provides a straightforward means of offering cost savings to customers. Employing a pricing model that applies a set proportion reduction to order totals exceeding a predefined threshold presents an easily understood promotional structure.

Upsell Pop-Ups

Upsell Pop-Ups are notifications when a consumer clicks on a product listing, goes to the checkout page or looks through the collections in your Shopify shop. These notifications can be used to offer discounts to your consumers.

Stacking Discount

Allowing discount codes to be combined, or “stacked,” opens up possibilities to offer layered promotions that provide outsized savings for customers. Rather than limiting discounts to a single promotional code or automatic reduction, stacking enables free shipping, percentage discounts, buy-one-get-one offers, and other promotions to be applied simultaneously.

Cart Conditional Discounts

Cart conditional discounts are a type of promotion where the discount amount or percentage is tied to a minimum spend threshold. This format, known as tiered discounts, employs condition-based triggers to unlock saving incentives. Customers are motivated to spend above the threshold to qualify for the discount.

Steps-by-step on setting up Shopify automatic discounts

Step 1: Log in to your Shopify store’s admin area

• Navigate to the “Discount” tab on the left side of your screen.
• This section contains all the discount tools for your store.
• To create auto-promotions, select the Discounts tab, leading you to the discount setup page.
• Here, define rules for automatically applied coupons during checkout.
• To utilize Shopify’s auto-discount feature, simply log in and access discounts via the admin sidebar.

Step 2: Click Create Discount to see the automatic discount options available in Shopify

Step 3: Click on Automatic Discounts to configure self-applying promo codes

Step 4: Create an appropriate Title for your discount offer

Within the Types section, choose the discount calculation method between Percentage, Fixed Amount, or Buy X Get Y discounts.

Step 5: Select “Percentage” as the discount type

Select “Percentage” as the discount type from the options in the Types section. Then, specify the percentage amount to be deducted by entering a numeric value such as 10 or 25 in the Value section. Alternatively, choose “Fixed Amount” to set a fixed dollar amount or currency value to remove each eligible order.

Step 6: Choose the eligible products or collections for the percentage discount based on your promotional criteria

Step 7: Configure the remaining discount settings

Under the Minimum Requirements section, select either the Minimum Purchase Amount or Minimum Quantity of Items criteria that orders must meet to qualify for the automatic percentage or fixed amount discount. Choose the eligibility condition that best fits your promotional needs.

Step 8: Finally, set up your automatic discount time

Advantages of applying automatic discounts

Time Savings

Automatically generate and apply discount codes during checkout based on predefined qualifications, eliminating the manual work of producing and distributing individual promotional codes. Merchants save considerable time by allowing the system to handle Discount code logistics.

Easy Tracking

Automatically track which customers receive discounts, how much they save with each code, and other vital metrics. Merchants gain valuable insights into promotional performance and ROI without manual tracking and reporting efforts. Data-driven analysis helps optimize future campaign strategies.

Raise Customer Satisfaction

Allow discounts to be seamlessly applied at checkout, providing customers with effortless savings. The convenience boosts satisfaction by delivering a simplistic way for shoppers to benefit from promotional pricing offers.

Different ways to generate discounts on Shopify

Manual 

• In Shopify admin, merchants can create Discount Code objects through manual code generation.
• To manually generate codes, merchants specify the code, discount type/amount, expiration, and any other relevant conditions.
• This method is ideal for basic discounts, like percentage-off or fixed-amount reductions, without intricate eligibility criteria.
• By manually setting Discount Code attributes, merchants can easily produce codes for simple promotions.
• While this method isn’t as automated as auto-discount codes, it’s perfect for straightforward promotions with clear redemption guidelines.

Shopify Script

An alternative approach to automated codes involves using Shopify scripts. Scripts allow customized code to be added directly into themes for enhanced store functionality. Two specific scripts – Automatic Discounts and Bulk Discounts – facilitate programmatic discount code creation. 

By integrating these scripts, merchants on Shopify Plus plans can leverage scripting capabilities to generate unique codes at scale or in line with sophisticated qualification rules. This introduces more robust discounting potential beyond manual or basic automatic options.

Third-Party Shopify Integration App

A third option involves integrating the Shopify app integrations from third-party developers. These apps autonomously generate discount codes governed by programmed conditions like location, purchase history, or customer traits. Multiple apps exist, providing various discounting functionality. 

We recommend Cirkle Studio’s “All in One Automatic Discount” app, as it facilitates building targeted offers leveraging diverse criteria like cart value, customer tags, or complex bundles/BOGOs. Integrated apps automate code distribution according to sophisticated predefined parameters. 

For merchants managing substantial promotional campaigns, third-party apps streamline administration through a centralized interface configured to address manifold use cases. Their scalable platforms eliminate limitations of manual or basic automatic alternatives.

How to combine or stack multiple discounts on Shopify

Using Percentage Discounts With the Same Code

While using a single discount code across multiple promotional campaigns can help reduce the number of codes needed, it does present some limitations. Specifically, assigning the same percentage discount to all products may not always be ideal if certain items warrant larger or smaller discounts. 

However, even with a single code, merchants can still differentiate discount amounts to an extent. This involves setting minimum purchase criteria or targeting rules so the percentage discount varies depending on the items in the cart. For example, a 10% discount if a particular product is purchased vs. 15% off if another product is added.

Native Shopify Discount Combinations

Shopify has introduced an enhanced discount feature in response to merchant and customer feedback. When creating a new discount code, merchants will now see a “Combinations” section allowing the code to be applied as either an “Other product discounts” or “Shipping discounts” option. 

Checking one or both boxes means the discount can stack with additional offers meeting the combination rules. Existing discounts can also be updated to leverage this stacking ability. A discount code is limited to one product variant per order to avoid over-application. Combining is only possible for discounts explicitly enabled for it as well.

Combine Discount Code With Gift Cards

While the ability to pair discount codes with gift cards opens up new promotional possibilities, there is one limitation to note. Since gift cards hold specific codes unique to each customer, merchants must manually generate individual gift cards to combine them with discounts per order. 

This could prove time-consuming and administratively burdensome if attempting to distribute coupled gift cards and discount code offers to many customers. Merchants would be responsible for producing a unique gift card matching each discount redeemed rather than using a consolidated automatic process.

Custom Checkout Scripts

Checkout scripts are a tool that Shopify Plus merchants can leverage. In essence, they allow merchants to automatically apply promotional discounts at checkout, in addition to or independent of any coupons the customer enters. 

Some typical applications include providing stackable discounts on top of an existing coupon code the customer added or running buy-one-get-one or other promotional offers directly through the checkout process. This feature allows merchants to strategically discount orders at the final stage without further customer input.

Draft Orders

A draft order allows vendors to build or “draft” a customer’s order before finalizing the checkout. Some third-party applications utilize draft order checkouts instead of standard Shopify checkouts, as draft orders provide more flexibility. 

Typically, only one discount code can be applied per order, but draft orders allow stacking multiple discount codes. The process involves redirecting customers to the draft order checkout screen where the stack of discounts has already been applied. 

Customers may or may not notice the change in checkout type, as draft orders need a cart link in navigation compared to regular checkout or a discount code field compared to standard checkout.

Install a third-party app

The best approach in this scenario would be to use a third-party app or integration. There are several advantages to this over the native Shopify discount features. Third-party apps provide more flexibility in configuring various types of promotions, like bundling, buy-one-get-one, gifts, post-purchase discounts, and, most importantly, stacking multiple codes.

The importance of discounts for eCommerce businesses

• Discounts play a key role in Shopify marketing, attracting new customers and retaining loyal ones.
• They’re also useful for clearing stock and showcasing new items.
• When setting up discounts, keep these best practices in mind:

1. Ensure discounts still allow for a healthy profit margin. Too much generosity can harm earnings.

2. Clearly communicate the discount details to customers so they understand and can easily redeem the offer.

3. Use simple and easy-to-find discount codes.

4. Set expiration dates that give customers ample time to benefit.

• Effective discount strategies could be 20% off on orders over $50, $10 off for first-time buyers, or a complimentary gift on orders above $75 to encourage more purchases.

FAQs

Bottom line

Whether using native Shopify discounts, scripts, or third-party apps, there are robust options for setting up sophisticated discounts like tiered offers, BOGOs, or bundles. 

Merchants can target discounts to customers who are most likely to spend more. Clear communication and easy redemption are essential to ensure discounts are helpful promotions, not frustrating obstacles. Tracking usage then allows merchants to