Coupons

Coupons allow merchants to offer discounts on various items or costs related to an order. Once you have created your coupon, merchants can display the coupon code on their web site (usually near the Buy Now button) that invites the customer to enter the code during the purchase process (at checkout). You can also generate Campaigns within UltraCart (covered later) which will generate random coupon codes so they can be used only by a single Email recipient (once).

Navigation

To create your first coupon navigate to:

Creating a Coupon

Now click on the New button as shown below.

This will present you with a list of all the coupon types that UltraCart supports. Select the type of coupon you would like to configure and then click Next as shown below.

A summary of available coupon types appears in the table below:

Next you will need to configure the details of the coupon. The screen shot below shows the minimum fields that you should configure for the coupon.

Coupon Editor Field Descriptions

Below is a description of all the options you can configure for a coupon.

Editing Existing Coupons

To edit an existing coupon, click on the "edit" button to the right of the coupon you want to change. You will be taken to the Coupon editing screen. Any of the coupon fields can be edited. However, if you change the Coupon CODE field, all previously issued coupons under the original coupon code will no longer be valid. Click on the "Save" button after making your changes.

Checkout Settings

This section contains a checkbox configuration field for suppressing the  the coupon entry field, titled "Hide coupon entry during checkout".

Copying Existing Coupons

To duplicate (copy) a coupon, check the box next to the coupon's code and click on the "Copy" button. When the duplicate appears in the list, you can then make changes as desired.

Generate One Time Codes

This feature is ideal for those merchants that want to disseminate coupon codes via their own devices; newsletter, merchandise show, their own email campaign, etc. When utilized, this routine will create a specified number (up to 1000) of unique, one-time usage codes for distribution to customers. Once you click the "one time code(s)" button, an additional Qty field will appear. Enter the number of codes you need and click the "go" button.

Your coupon list will appear on the next screen in a scrollable window. Using your mouse pointer, drag and select (highlight) the list. Then copy and paste the list into a separate document and save. NOTE: You will not be able to access this list from the UC Marketing section later so be sure to save it on your system for later reference.

Upload One Time Codes

There are times were you need to upload one time use codes that have been generated by an external party. This feature is often used by merchants that are doing a Groupon.com offer. To upload one time use codes click the button as shown below.

Paste the codes into the text field as shown below and then click upload.

The system will add the coupons and then display the results at the bottom of the page. If you need to upload more than 1000 coupons click the next button and upload additional batches.

Once you have uploaded all of your coupons click the Return to Coupon List link at the bottom of the page.

Reporting on Usage

This is an excellent way to obtain data about the customer usage of any particular coupon. Click on the "usage report" button to the right of the coupon desired.

The following screen will appear:

For each usage the report will show you the actual code (in case they used a one-time use code), the order ID, the date of the order, and the subtotal of the order.

Deleting Existing Coupons

To delete a coupon, click the red "delete" button to the right of the coupon you want to remove. This action is permanent.

You can also batch delete coupons (including one-time use codes). At the bottom of the coupon list you can enter the coupon codes that you want to delete and then click the delete codes button.

Understanding Coupon Usage in the Checkout

After you have configured your first coupon the default behavior of UltraCart is to display a coupon entry field on the checkout. The screen shot below shows the coupon entry field on the regular checkout.

Some merchants only want to allow coupons to be used when they are part of a buy link that they send out on a marketing email. If you want to suppress the display of the coupon entry field on your checkout you can enable that setting on the coupon list as shown below.

This setting is shown below the list of coupons.

Adding a Coupon Code to a Buy Link

UltraCart makes adding a coupon to a buy link really easy. When you are in the link builder for your item use the Advanced Buy Link screen. Just enter the coupon code into the form and it will display the proper link for you.

To access the Advanced Link Builder go to

Adding a Coupon Code to Buy Form Code

You can insert the coupon field into the "buy form" code as a hidden input field, like this (see line 4). You could also create a visible text input field for passing the coupon over:

<form method="post" action="https://ucsupport.ultracart.com/cgi-bin/UCEditor">
  <input type="hidden" name="merchantId" value="DEMO" />
  <input type="hidden" name="add" value="Bone" />
  <input type="hidden" name="coupon" value="10off" />
  <table class="uc-item-table">
    <tr class="uc-item-qty-row">
      <td class="uc-item-qty-label">Qty</td>
      <td class="uc-item-qty-field">
        <input type="text" name="quantity" value="1" />
      </td>
    </tr>
    <tr class="uc-item-cost-row">
      <td class="uc-item-cost-label">Cost</td>
      <td class="uc-item-cost-value"><script type="text/javascript" src="https://ucsupport.ultracart.com/cgi-bin/UCPrice?MERCHANTID=DEMO&ITEM=BONE&output=Javascript"></script></td>
    </tr>
    <tr class="uc-item-submit-row">
      <td></td>
      <td>
        <input type="submit" name="submit" value="add to cart" />
      </td>
    </tr>
  </table>
</form>

Using Coupon in a storefront checkout

The coupon field will typically appear in the lower right portion of the checkout page:

Using a Coupon in a Marketing Campaign

This topic is covered in more detail in the email marketing section of our documentation, but the example below shows how to use a coupon in a marketing campaign so that each customer receives a unique one time user coupon code.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: We noticed that there is some sort of limit to the number of characters or the number of zip codes or something. long story short, folks are calling in because they're coupons are not working because of the zip code constraint. I noticed that it's cutting off our list at a certain point. so, I'm wondering if that is something easy that can be changed or if we need to create more coupons and break the zip codes out more. 

A: The zip code configuration field is limited to 1000 characters in the database. However, please note you can use ranges to make things more compact:
    You can use a 3 digit prefix (example: 303*), 5 digit prefix (example: 30319*), 3 digit to 3 digit range (example 303*-305*) and then 5 digit to 5 digit ranges (example 30312-30319).