Coupon codes can be a very significant marketing tool, so it's important to understand what is and isn't possible with FoxyCart's coupon and quantity discounting functionality. While coupon codes and quantity discounts may not seem inherently related, FoxyCart uses almost the same logic and syntax for both, so we'll discuss them together.

We've found that stores with coupon codes tend to generate 60% more revenue and 83% more transactions than stores not utilizing coupon codes, and those numbers increase (significantly) as the number of coupon codes increases. (Stores with 10 or more coupon codes do 3.8x the revenue and 3x the transactions. According to our data, at least. No joke.) It's not a magic bullet, but simply having coupon codes available can motivate an otherwise “too busy” merchant or marketer to do some email marketing or advertisements promoting the coupon codes. Try it! According to our system-wide data, you won't regret it.

It's important to understand that both coupon codes and discounts can apply a value or percentage based discount, based on the value or quantity “tier” of the cart (or of specific categories, or specific products, depending). This is a critical piece to understand, because in FoxyCart you cannot simply apply a “$5 discount” without a tier, even if that tier is simply “minimum quantity of 1 product”.

That might sound confusing, but once you understand the logic and syntax you'll see how it's possible to create very advanced discount structures without much trouble at all.

In order to make sure we're on the same page, let's review the terms we'll be using.

Discount Name

The text displayed to the customer where a discount is applied. For example, “Spring Cleaning Special” or “Wholesale Quantity Discount”.

Discount Method

The type of discounting method being applied, such as “discount by the price based on the quantity” or “discount by a percentage based on the cart subtotal”. Details.

Discount Type

The specific type of discount, such as an “all units quantity discount”, a “one off” discount, a “Buy One, Get One”, or etc. Details.

Discount Amount

The amount of the discount, either applied as a set dollar (or other currency) amount or as a percentage of the product price. Details.

Discount Tier

The threshold (either a currency value or a product quantity value) that must be reached in order for a the corresponding discount amount to be applied. Details.