Omnisend offers various ways to provide discounts to your customers. With the help of Discount Item, you can generate unique discount codes in your Shopify and BigCommerce platforms and share them in your Omnisend emails.
If your store is not on Shopify or BigCommerce, jump to the dedicated article.
If your store is on WooCommerce, navigate to this guide.
Discount Item Setup and Settings
To add a Discount to your email, select Quick Add on the left-hand sidebar → Drag and drop the discount to your email.
Once you add a Discount to the email, you can edit the code settings.
Under the Discount tab, you will find the general settings, where you can change the item's content and the discount conditions.
Reusable Discount Codes
You choose to reuse a single discount code across multiple automation messages (emails and SMS) in your Shopify and BigCommerce stores. There are a few things to keep in mind:
If the Reuse unique discount code in this workflow setting is enabled, the same discount code will be applied across multiple messages within the same automation, keeping your offer consistent.
Important: If you set the coupon expiry date shorter than the delay between messages in the automation workflow, Omnisend will automatically check if the reusable discount code is still valid before sending a new message. If the code has expired, Omnisend will generate a new one, even if the Reuse Discount Code setting is enabled, so your customers don't receive expired discounts.
Discount Type and Value Type
The first option available in the menu allows you to choose the type of discount.
Cart discount: specify the percentage or specific amount off (the amount will be set in your store's currency) and expiry period.
Free shipping: provides free shipping with a specific expiry date.
You can also apply the discount to all products, minimum order price (the amount will be set in your store's currency), and specific collections.
Annotation
Gmail Annotations are a feature specifically designed for promotional emails. They allow you to include additional information about your promotions, which is displayed in the recipient's inbox, making your email more noticeable.
Here's what it looks like in your customers' inboxes.
Expiry Period and Date Format
After selecting the type and value of the discount, you can also provide an expiry period. The expiration period starts when the message with the discount is sent and ends at the end of the day + Expiration period, both in your Omnisend account time zone.
For example, if you send a message with a discount that expires in one day at 3:21 PM EDT, the start time in EDT is set to 8:21 AM (3:21 in EET), and the end time is 4:59 PM (11:59 PM EET) on the next day.
In other words, the discount is valid for one day, plus hours left by the end of the other.
Usage
You can limit the number of times the same customer can use the discount by checking the box Limit discount usage. You can also limit the number of times the same discount code can be used in total (applicable for email campaigns only, where all users get the same discount code).
Button
Button settings allow you to customize the text, link, style, and alignment of the button. Your customers will be directed to the button link after clicking it. By default, it points to your store's homepage, but you can configure it to any URL of your choice.
If your store is on Shopify, you can also enable the 'Apply Shopify discount link' option for your button. When this checkbox is selected, the customer will be redirected to your store's homepage, and the discount code will be automatically when they reach checkout.
Additionally, you can add a new link or edit the link when this option is selected, but keep the following in mind:
By default, the link directs customers to your Shopify store's homepage.
If the Apply Shopify discount link checkbox is selected, the added link must match your Shopify store’s URL.
If the entered link doesn’t match the Shopify store’s URL, the button will still redirect customers to the store’s homepage.
When the checkbox is unselected, you are free to add any URL for the button link without restriction. Discounts are applied automatically only when the 'Apply Shopify discount link' option is enabled.
Colors
As the discount Item is fully customizable, you can select your brand colors to apply to it as well.
To access more color options, click on the + sign. You can type in the hex color code and select any color you like using the color picker.
Layout Settings
The layout tab provides an overview of discount paddings that you can adjust to manage the item's position. You can select the background color here as well.
Once you finalize editing the Discount, it will be auto-saved, so you can proceed with editing your email further 🚀
Discount codes are an excellent approach to attracting new customers while demonstrating gratitude to loyal and long-term customers. Sharing discounts with your customers has never been easier. Simply add a discount Item to your email and make your email marketing relevant!
Auto-generated Discounts in Campaigns
If you add the Discount to your campaign, one unique discount code will be created for that particular campaign, which means that all campaign recipients will receive the same discount code.
During the setup process, a placeholder of XXX-XXX-XXXX will be shown, and the code will be added automatically from your store's admin once you send the campaign.
Important! The test emails will still show the XXXX-XXXX-XXXX placeholder, as the discount code isn't generated when you send the test email.
In Shopify admin, the discount code will be displayed in the following way:
In BigCommerce, the discount code will be generated under the Marketing → Coupon Codes section and will look in the following way:
Here you may see that the discount code can be used many times but only once per customer's email address, as it is set by default.
Auto-generated Discount in Automation Workflows
When adding a Discount to your automation, a unique discount code will be generated for each message sent, meaning each recipient gets a unique code.
The placeholder (XXX-XXX-XXXX) will appear during setup, and the actual discount code will appear when the email is sent.
If you enable the Reuse Coupon setting for your automation, a single discount code can be reused across all messages. However, if the initial code expires before the next message is sent, Omnisend will issue a new code to ensure customers do not receive expired discounts.
In Shopify, these codes will have the following settings:
In BigCommerce, they look as follows:
Important! The automation test emails will still show the XXXX-XXXX-XXXX placeholder, as the discount code isn't generated when you send the test email.
FAQ
Can the format of the auto-generated discount be changed?
The format of the code generated in the Discount cannot be changed. Nevertheless, you can create your own code on your store's admin and then insert it in your email as a Text item that can be customized so that it will look just like the Discount does.
Will I see the discount code in my Shopify/BigCommerce admin?
Yes, the discount code will be created in your Shopify or BigCommerce admin after sending the email.
Can I change the Discount settings after the email is sent?
You may find the discount code in your store admin and change its settings. Omnisend only presents the discount to the customer. However, make sure to keep the discount code itself the same, as it won't be updated in your clients' email inboxes.
Is there any other way to offer unique discount codes to my customers?
You may also upload a list of the Discount codes and assign them as custom properties to your customers' profiles and add them as personalization.
Can I use multiple discount codes in a single email?
Ensure that only one unique discount code is generated per email; placing multiple unique codes will result in all of them using the same code based on the first block configuration.
To use different unique discount codes with different conditions, place them in separate emails, and don't use the reuse discount code setting.
Can I stack or combine discounts?
Yes, but only for Shopify stores. Click here for more information
If you have any other questions, reach out to our Support Team via an in-app chat or at [email protected].