Discounts are a powerful conversion tool to increase customer loyalty. However, if used indiscriminately, they can cause significant damage to your brand and even lead to loss of revenue. Let’s take a look at some of the best discount and coupon code ideas that you can use to increase customer loyalty and conversion rates.

21 Discount Code Ideas for Your Online Store

1. Weekly/Monthly Discounts
2. Pre-launch offer
3. Holiday and seasonal specials
4. Coupon code for customers who abandon their cart
5. Benefits of subscribing to email/newsletter
6. Incentives for likes, follows, and shares on social media
7. Referral Promo Code
8. Benefits for first-time buyers
9. Minimum purchase amount discount
10. Exclusive social benefits
11. Customer Loyalty Benefits
12. Offer for Leaving Customers
13. Retargeting Promotion
14. Influencer suggestions (bloggers, celebrities, etc.)
15. Benefits of purchasing online
16. Coupons provided when purchasing offline
17. Benefits of attending the event
18. Customer Milestone Discounts
19. Flash Sale Discount
20. Eco-friendly discount
21. Military/Student Discount

There are hundreds of ways to use sales, offers, discounts, and special offers to increase customer loyalty and conversion rates. Below, we’ll look at some of the most popular options and examples of each.

1. Weekly/Monthly Discounts

This discount is a traditional sale used to increase conversion rates. It is mainly used at the end of the month or quarter to increase sales and achieve business goals. Weekly or monthly discounts are good to use at the end of the quarter or season when you need to clear out seasonal inventory and make room for new products.

Tips and examples:

• You can use the Stock Countdown Timer app to get notified when your stock is running low.
• Add to your savings with BOGO (buy one get one free) and product bundle offers.
• Emphasize the “last chance” nature of the message to create a sense of urgency.

2. Pre-launch offer

If you are in the pre-launch phase of your business or planning to launch a new product, pre-launch offers can help you drive traffic, generate interest, and convert new customers into loyal customers. Pre-launch offers are very effective for building brand awareness or promoting new products before your store opens.

Tips and examples:

• If you're in the pre-launch phase of your business or planning to launch a new product, pre-launch offers can help you drive traffic, generate interest, and convert new customers into loyal customers.
• Pre-launch offers are very effective for building brand awareness or promoting new products before your store opens.

3. Holiday and seasonal specials

The holiday season, including Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday, is the biggest shopping season of the year. Special holiday season offers are perfect for increasing average shopping cart totals when shoppers are most motivated to buy.

Tips and examples:

• During this time, people tend to shop for others, so even if you sell products for a specific audience (e.g. children's toys), you should market to the people who are making the purchases (e.g. parents).
• Unique and novel products benefit the most from this type of sale, because shoppers want their gifts to be unique.

4. Coupon code for customers who abandon their cart

Since approximately 70% of all customers abandon their shopping carts, abandoned cart email offers can be a powerful strategy to bring them back.

Sending coupon codes to customers who abandon their carts can be a great way to win back sales.

Tips and examples:

• Personalize your cart abandonment emails by including the customer's name and the products they left in their cart.
• Include a call-to-action (CTA) button so customers can easily return to their cart and complete their purchase.

5. Benefits of subscribing to email/newsletter

Building an email list is very important for online sellers. You can increase the likelihood of conversion by offering a benefit in exchange for your visitors’ email address. Also, by getting their emails, you build relationships, strengthen customer loyalty, and have the opportunity to market to them in the future.

Tips and examples:

• Let your customers know what you're offering in your newsletter. For example, you could use phrases like "Get exclusive offers and be the first to hear about new products."
• Include sharing options in your newsletters so recipients can spread the word about your brand and products through social media and email.

6. Incentives for social media likes, follows, and shares

One of the hardest parts of running a new online store is getting the word out. Offering your visitors and customers an incentive to share your store with their social circles can be an effective way to generate low-cost word-of-mouth promotion.

7. Referral Promo Code

People are much more likely to buy if they are recommended by a friend or family member. Take advantage of this by offering a benefit to encourage referrals. You can offer a benefit to the referrer, the referee, or both.

Tips and examples:

• Create a referral marketing program using a referral app like ReferralCandy to encourage buyers to share your products for discounts.

8. Benefits for first-time buyers

Many potential customers may be hesitant to buy if they are less familiar with your brand. Offering a benefit for first-time buyers can be a catalyst to convert first-time visitors into paying customers.

Tips and examples:

• First impressions are very important, so make sure your customer's order is delivered quickly after they complete their purchase. The first experience is important to get the most out of your discount.

9. Minimum purchase amount discount

Offering discounts based on the total value of the shopping cart is an effective upselling and crossselling strategy that encourages customers to spend more. A strategic way to integrate this into your online store is to calculate your average order value over the past few months and then offer a discount or free shipping on all orders that are 10% to 20% above your average order value.

You can also offer a minimum purchase discount on certain collections and products. If you have a specific collection that you want your customers to focus on, try adding a minimum purchase discount to give your audience an incentive.

Tips and examples:

• Use a 'quantity breaks' app that automatically applies discounts to orders that exceed a certain threshold.
• Products that need to be replenished or refilled will benefit the most from this type of discount. Customers will want to act quickly to get a discount that may not be available later.

10. Social Channel Benefits

Exclusive offers on social networks can be a great way to build customer loyalty with your followers. Additionally, these coupon code ideas will encourage new people to join your social channels, giving you the opportunity to market to them in the future.

Tips and examples:

• Consider expanding the reach of your campaign by amplifying your discount offer with paid social media advertising.

11. Customer Loyalty Benefits

Rewarding customer loyalty can create a stronger bond by offering discounts to customers who are already spending money. Shopify makes it easy to create discount codes that can be used exclusively by specific groups of customers.

Tips and examples:

• You can use an automated email marketing app like Klaviyo to send email offers when a certain number of purchases are made.
• Consider implementing a customer loyalty program using a loyalty app like LoyaltyLion.

12. Offer for Leaving Customers

What you need to convert a visitor into a customer may be a last-minute offer just before they leave your site. An exit offer appears when a visitor is about to leave your site or close the tab, and offers a final purchase offer.

Tips and examples:

• Exit intent offers should convey a simple, powerful message that encourages visitors to complete a purchase before they leave.
• Create exit intent popups on your ecommerce store using an exit intent app like Optimonk.

13. Retargeting Promotion

Retargeting promotions are effective because they are only shown to people who have previously visited your site. This means that they are only shown to people who already know you, so the ads serve as a reminder to come back, and the offers serve as a way to encourage them to make a purchase.

Tips and examples:

• Retargeting discounts are most effective when segmented to fit the customer journey, so try dividing your audience into groups and creating retargeting promotions tailored to those segments.

14. Influencer suggestions

Collaborating with influencers with large audiences is a great way to increase your brand’s exposure. By offering exclusive offers to the influencer’s network, you increase the chances of converting their fans into customers.

Tips and examples:

• Create discount codes that are relevant to the influencer's audience, making it easy for followers to remember and use the discount code.
• It’s important to work with influencers who have a similar audience to your brand’s target audience.

15. Benefits of purchasing online

To drive online sales, consider offering incentives for online purchases. If you want to use your ecommerce site to supplement offline sales or build a customer base outside of Amazon, you can reward them for doing so to drive online conversions.

Tips and examples:

• Consider using a pop-up bar app that offers a discount as soon as your visitors arrive at your site.

16. Coupons provided when purchasing offline

Just as offers can drive online sales, they can also drive offline sales. Offline sales can take place in your offline store if you have one, or at face-to-face events such as festivals, fairs, exhibitions, and trade shows.

Tips and examples:

• Offline experiences are a great way to build brand awareness and loyalty. Customers tend to remember in-person experiences more vividly.
• Consider paid Google or Facebook ads targeting online store visitors who live near your brick-and-mortar stores.

17. Benefits of attending the event

If you are hosting an event online or offline, you can offer discounts or freebies to your attendees. These discounts can be provided during or after the event. This will help you continue to build relationships with your attendees, leading to greater customer loyalty. It will also increase the likelihood that they will attend your next event.

Tips and examples:

• Promote your event through social media and email marketing in the days leading up to the event to keep your audience interested.
• The fear of missing out can be a big factor in keeping visitors from attending your event, so you need to emphasize the exclusivity and timeliness of your offer.

18. Customer Milestone Discounts

If you have a customer loyalty program, customer milestones are especially important. These milestones can be personal events, such as a customer’s birthday or anniversary.

Other milestones may be anniversaries that celebrate your relationship with your customer, such as the anniversary of their first purchase, the date they joined your loyalty program, a certain amount of money spent, a certain number of purchases, or various interactions with your brand.

Tips and examples:

• Express gratitude for your customers’ loyalty in your marketing copy for these types of discounts. Expressing gratitude goes a long way in maintaining brand loyalty.

19. Flash Sale Discount

Flash sales are limited-time promotions that offer a significant discount on a product or service for a short period of time. They are an effective discounting strategy that creates a sense of urgency and triggers customers’ fear of missing out, causing them to make impulse purchases.

Tips and Cases

• Build audience anticipation by marketing your flash sale in advance via email, SMS, and social media.
• The shorter the sale period, the more motivated people are to take action immediately.
• Make sure you have enough inventory and that your website can handle the increased traffic.

20. Eco-friendly discount

Promotions for eco-friendly discounts encourage customers to make purchases. Customers can receive discounts by choosing eco-friendly products, choosing eco-friendly shipping options, or participating in recycling or reusing.

Tips and examples:

• Offer incentives, such as big discounts or loyalty points, to customers who choose eco-friendly options.
• Partner with trusted environmental nonprofits to offer discounts tied to donations or purchases.

21. Military/Student Discount

Discounts for active duty military, veterans, and students are designed to honor their service or education. These discounts are usually ongoing benefits with no time limit and require proof of military or student status.

For example, Nike offers a 10% military discount and a 10% student discount on most items. To receive the discount, military personnel must verify their identity through SheerID , and students must verify their identity through UNiDAYS . This allows them to purchase Nike’s popular athletic apparel and shoes at discounted prices both in-store and online.

Tips and examples:

• Use a trusted authentication system like SheerID to ensure only eligible people receive discounts.
• Promote military and student discounts actively on your website and in your stores. Many qualified customers actively seek out these discounts.

A variety of discounts, coupons and offers

There are many different types of discounts and offers available. Let’s take a look at some of the most common ones:

• Percentage based discount
• Amount-based discounts
• Free Shipping
• Free Gift

Each of these discounts can be offered in two different types on Shopify:

• Automatic discount
• Discount Code

Percentage based discounts 📊

Offering a percentage-based discount is one of the most popular discount methods. This can include small incentive percentages like 5% or 10%, larger discounts like 20% and 25% to drive a big sale, or even larger discounts of 50% or more to clear out old inventory or slow-selling items. With Shopify, you can easily apply these discounts across multiple collections, products, and locations, or offer them based on specific purchases. For example, you could offer something like “Buy two pairs of sneakers, get 50% off all sweaters.”

Amount-based discounts 💰

Amount-based discounts can be offered as credits, which makes customers feel like they are wasting money if they don’t use them. You can increase the impact of one of these discounts by combining it with a minimum purchase amount, such as “$20 off when you spend $200 or more.”

An easy trick to remember when deciding between a percentage discount and a flat dollar discount for a particular product is the “Rule of 100.” If the product price is under $100, use a percentage discount; if it is over $100, use a flat dollar discount. This is a psychological trigger that provides the highest perceived value to the customer.

Free Shipping 🚚

Shipping costs are one of the main reasons for shopping cart abandonment. Offering free shipping is a great way to mitigate this and increase conversions.

Use free shipping with a minimum purchase requirement to increase your average order value. You can set this in your shipping settings in Shopify. You can also combine your free shipping offer with other seasonal promotions, such as a 20% off code for your email subscribers, to increase the value of your offer.

Free Gift 🎁

Offering a free gift with a purchase can be a great way to provide extra value to your customers. When used strategically, it can also be used to increase your average order size or to clear out underselling products. With Shopify, you can use the “Buy X, Get Y Free” discount feature to offer a free gift on orders over $200, or set minimum purchase or quantity requirements to offer a free gift after purchasing 5 items.

Automatic discount ✅

Automatic discounts apply to all eligible carts, and customers can see the discount on the cart page before they begin the checkout process. This is a great way to run store-wide promotions for products, categories, or all of your products without requiring customers to enter a discount code.

Additionally, customers don’t have to leave the checkout process to find a discount code when there’s already a discount applied to their cart, and they don’t have to email you to ask if they can’t find the code you sent them. All of this creates a more seamless experience for your customers, and can potentially lead to higher conversion rates.

Discount Code ⌨️

A discount code is a code that a customer enters during the checkout process to take advantage of a specific offer. It is a proven way to offer discounts to everyone on your email list, or to specific segments, such as new subscribers or repeat customers.

Using discount codes can help you track the success of your marketing efforts. If you run multiple campaigns, creating a separate discount code for each campaign makes it easier to see the relative impact on sales.

Do discount and coupon codes help you sell?

Yes, discounts, coupons, and promo codes help increase sales. Lower prices can attract customers who previously would not have considered your product.

Offering discounts to existing customers also increases brand loyalty and repeat purchases. For example, if a customer frequently buys a particular hand sanitizer, offering a coupon code for that hand sanitizer can make the customer feel valued and understood.

These benefits depend on careful planning. Using too many promo codes can ruin your brand reputation. Polysleep, an antibacterial foam mattress brand, used this smartly to great effect one Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday.

In an episode of Shopify Masters, the founder explains that he intentionally leaked a discount code to his email list three days before a big shopping holiday. This had a ripple effect as people shared the email with family and friends. This resulted in a significant increase in sales for the team during Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday.

Make the most of offers, coupons, and discounts

Offers and discounts are not suitable for every online business. If you start with a clear goal, have a solid understanding of your brand, and are willing to experiment, you can use offers most effectively to achieve your goals, build customer loyalty, and increase sales.

Discount Codes and Coupon Ideas FAQ