One-Time Codes
Thousands of Single-Use Codes for One Offer
A code posted once can travel to every coupon site in a day. One-time codes give every person their own code that works for one order, so an offer reaches exactly who you meant it for.
- In every plan
- Free for 14 days
Kosha is a demo store on Mercayo. Its products, orders and customers are sample data.
In short
What It Does
One-time codes belong to a discount code. The discount holds the offer and all its rules (value, minimum, dates, who can use it, how it combines); the one-time codes are extra codes for it, each good for one order.
- Up to 10,000 codes for one discount, made in a few seconds.
- Your prefix, our randomness. Codes start with up to 16 characters of your choice (like ASHA-) followed by 6 to 16 random ones, from letters and digits that are hard to misread: no 0, O, 1, I or L. The card shows an example before you make them.
- Unique in your store. A one-time code never clashes with another discount's code or another one-time code.
- Used once. A code is used while an order holds it. If two shoppers try the same code at the same moment, only one order gets it. A cancelled order gives its code back.
- Revoke one code, or every unused code at once; used codes stay with their orders.
- Only these codes. Switch off Its own code works too in the Method card, and only the one-time codes work, each once.
- Export CSV gives every code with its status, the order that used it and when (India time), ready for a spreadsheet or a mail merge.
The list on the card shows counts (Unused, Used, Revoked), a filter and a search, and for a used code its order number.
Codes and Moving Offers
When you export your offers to move them or keep a copy, one-time codes are never included (nor use counts or phone lists), so a copy can never be used to spend codes twice. Make fresh codes for the copied offer instead.
For your store
Why It Matters
Influencer marketing is a big part of how Indian brands find shoppers, and one shared code makes it hard to know who brought what. Give each creator a block of codes with their own prefix and you can count their orders in the export.
One-time codes also protect an offer you cannot afford to have shared: a ₹500 welcome gift for a press list, a thank-you card in the parcel, a code for a college fest stall. Each code works once, so a screenshot in a group chat costs you one order, not a thousand.
And because the codes belong to a normal discount, you keep every rule you already know: a minimum order, an end date, first orders only, and a report of what the offer brought in.
Step by step
How It Works
Save the Discount Code First
Create a discount with Method: Discount code, set its value and rules, and SAVE. The One-Time Codes card appears on a saved code discount (not on a gift offer).
Make the Codes
Under Make Codes, type How Many (up to 10,000 for one discount in all), an optional Starts With prefix such as ASHA-, and the number of Random Characters (6 to 16). Check the example ("Codes will look like ASHA-7KX9QP") and press GENERATE CODES.
Decide Whether the Main Code Still Works
In the Method card, Its own code works too is on: the discount's own code keeps working beside the one-time codes. Switch it off so only the one-time codes work, each once.
Export and Share Them
Press EXPORT CSV for a file with each code, its status, its order and its dates in India time. Cells are written so a spreadsheet never runs one as a formula. Send the codes by email, print them on cards, or hand a block to a creator.
Follow and Revoke
The card counts unused, used and revoked codes. Search for a code to see its order. REVOKE ends one code; REVOKE ALL UNUSED ends every unused one at once (used codes stay with their orders). This cannot be undone.
Your shoppers
What Your Shoppers See
A shopper types a one-time code in the bag like any other code and sees the saving at once. A code already used reads "has been fully used", and a revoked one "has ended". Nothing on the page tells shoppers that a code is one of many.
Settings
Settings You Control
Each one is in your admin. A new store starts with the value shown.
Mercayo
Mercayo's Controls
Mercayo sets how many one-time codes one discount may have (10,000 to start with) and can switch one-time codes off or lock them for a store, with a reason your admin shows beside the setting and a record in Mercayo's audit log. Each store's codes are kept apart by the database itself: another store's code reads as unknown, and another store's staff can neither read nor revoke yours.
Limits today
Good to Know Before You Start
- One-time codes are made by Mercayo; importing a list of codes you made elsewhere is not built.
- They are for discount codes only, not for gift offers or automatic offers.
- One discount holds at most 10,000 one-time codes; Mercayo can set a lower limit for a store.
- A revoke cannot be undone; make new codes instead.
Questions
About One-Time Codes
Are one-time codes included when I export my offers?
No. Exports carry every editor field of an offer but never its one-time codes, use counts or phone lists, so codes can never be duplicated.
How do I give each influencer their own codes?
Make the codes in blocks with a prefix per creator (ASHA-, RAVI-), or give each creator their own discount if they need different terms. The export lists every code with the order that used it, so you can count each creator's orders.
What happens if an order with a one-time code is cancelled?
The code is given back and can be used again, as a use of any discount is given back when its order is cancelled.
Can two shoppers use the same code at once?
No. Checkouts racing for one code wait for each other, and a second use is refused by the database itself, so exactly one order gets it.
Do one-time codes follow the discount's rules?
Yes. They carry the discount's value, minimum, dates, conditions, combinations and limits. Uses per customer still apply, so one shopper cannot use ten different codes if you allow one use each.
Can I copy a discount with its codes?
DUPLICATE copies the offer and its rules as a draft, never its uses or one-time codes; make new codes for the copy.
Which characters are used?
Letters and digits that are hard to misread: there is no 0, O, 1, I or L, so a code read aloud on a call or typed from a printed card goes in right the first time.
Do one-time codes combine with other offers?
They follow the discount's own Combinations ticks, like its main code. On Kosha, a demo store on Mercayo, a sample offer has 500 one-time codes that combine with its case bundle.
Related
Related Features
- Discount CodesMake codes for a percentage or an amount off, free delivery and more, with minimums, dates, limits and rules for who may use them.
- Offer ReportsA report for each offer from confirmed orders: orders, sales, what it gave, average order with and without it, who used it and its top products.
- Combining OffersChoose for each offer what it combines with, which offers apply alone, and whether the shopper gets the biggest saving or your own order of offers.
- Refer and EarnShoppers share their own code; when a friend's first order is delivered, both get store credit, with an optional first-order discount for the friend.
- Store IsolationEvery store's orders, shoppers and products are walled off by the database itself, and tests prove one store can never reach another's.
More in Discounts and Offers: Discount Codes · Automatic Offers · Buy X Get Y · Quantity Prices · Bundles and Add-Ons · Free Gifts · Combining Offers · Offer Labels and Sale Page · Offer Reports · Gift Cards · Store Credit · Rewards Tiers · Refer and Earn · Affiliates
Try It on Your Own Store
Every feature is in every plan, free for 14 days.
