What is a coupon code?

The seller creates the code in their shop or payment tool and decides the rules. The buyer types it into a box on the checkout page, the tool checks it is valid, and the total drops before payment. If the code is wrong, expired or already used up, the buyer sees an error and the price stays the same.

Which settings you get depends on the tool, so treat the table as a checklist of what to look for, not a promise that every platform offers all five.

On recurring products a discount can run for a set time. Stripe’s documentation gives the example of a 50% off coupon with a duration of four months on a subscription, and notes that if the buyer upgrades to a yearly plan at checkout, the coupon also applies to that upsell price. The lesson is to read exactly how long a discount lasts and what it covers before you promote it.

Stripe also lists coupons and discounts among promotional emails, and says customers must agree to receive promotional emails before you contact them. A code in a follow-up email to someone who never opted in is a problem, not a sales tactic.

A code is just text, so it travels well in a message. A common set-up on Instagram is a post that says “comment SAVE to get a code”, followed by a direct message with the code and a link to the shop. Remember that the first automated message to a commenter has to be plain text with no link, so the link follows once they reply.

• Give each campaign its own code, so you can tell which one brought the sales.
• Set an expiry and a usage limit. A code that never ends becomes the new price.
• Avoid codes that look like the product name, because people guess them.
• Do not stack two discounts unless you have worked out the final price.