Discount Codes

A discount code is a word shoppers type to get an offer: WELCOME10 for a newsletter, DIWALI500 for a festival, ASHA-7KQP2M for one influencer's followers. In Mercayo a code is a discount whose Method is Discount code; it can give anything a discount can (a percentage, an amount, free delivery, a bundle price, a free gift, buy X get Y), with every condition and limit of the Discount Editor. This article covers what is special about codes: the code itself, one-time codes, links that apply a code, codes on product pages, and how uses are counted.

Making and changing codes needs the right to edit discounts (the owner, admins and the Marketer role).

How to Make a Code

1. Go to Marketing › Discounts and press CREATE DISCOUNT.
2. Keep Discount code under Method (it is the default).
3. Type the code in Code, or press GENERATE for a random 8-character code.
4. Type a Title shoppers will read in the bag, such as "₹200 off orders over ₹1,499".
5. Fill in the Value and any minimum, limits, conditions and dates.
6. Press SAVE.

The Rules for a Code

• Letters, digits, - and _, no spaces, up to 40 characters.
• Shoppers can type it in any case: it is stored in capital letters, so welcome10 works for WELCOME10.
• Each code is unique in your store, across every discount and every one-time code. Saving a code that is taken says "That code is taken. Choose another, or press GENERATE."
• A Draft code reads to shoppers as unknown; an Archived one as ended.

Where Shoppers Type a Code

• In the bag drawer, behind the DISCOUNT CODE button. Once a code is on the bag the button shows it (CODE WELCOME10).
• On the bag page and at checkout.

The code box answers at once in plain words: "Applied.", "WELCOME10 has ended.", "WELCOME10 has been fully used.", "Add ₹250 more to use WELCOME10.", "Sign in to use FIRST15.", "FIRST15 is for a first order only.", "PREPAID50 is for orders paid online." Each code on the bag has a REMOVE button.

A shopper's code is looked up only in your store; a code from another Mercayo store reads as unknown. To stop people guessing codes, the code box takes a limited number of tries from one address in a short time.

More Than One Code on an Order

Codes per Bag in Discount Settings sets how many codes a shopper may use on one order, from 1 (the default) to 3.

• With 1, a new code replaces the one on the bag.
• With 2 or 3, the code box lists each code with its saving and offers ADD ANOTHER CODE. Each code must combine with the others (see Combining Discounts), or the bag explains why one is not used: "WELCOME10 cannot be used with the offer already on your bag, which saves you more." A full bag says "Only 2 codes can be used on an order, so FESTIVE150 is not used."
• Two codes of the same discount never apply together: "ASHA-7KQP2M is the same offer as another code on your bag."

One-Time Codes

One-time codes are many single-use codes for one discount: "Single-use codes for this discount, for influencers or campaigns. Each works for one order; a cancelled order gives its code back." Give each influencer, each printed insert in a parcel or each customer in a campaign their own code, and see exactly which ones were used.

The One-Time Codes card appears in the editor of a saved code discount (not a free gift). Make the discount first, save it, then make its codes.

How to Make One-Time Codes

1. Open the saved code discount.
2. In One-Time Codes, under Make Codes, fill in:

1. Check the example under the fields: "Codes will look like ASHA-…". The random part uses "Letters and digits that are hard to misread (no 0, O, 1, I or L)."
2. Press GENERATE CODES. "100 codes made."

To let only the one-time codes work, untick Its own code works too in the Method card: "Off: only the one-time codes work, each once."

The List of Codes

Above the list, counts show Unused, Used and Revoked. Show All, Unused, Used or Revoked, or Search codes. Each code shows its status pill, Order #1042 for a used code or Made 18 Oct for one not used yet, a COPY button and, for an unused code, REVOKE. The list shows 25 codes a page, with Previous and Next.

• REVOKE ends one code at once.
• REVOKE ALL UNUSED ends every unused code: "100 unused codes stop working at once. Used codes stay with their orders. This cannot be undone." Confirm with REVOKE CODES.
• EXPORT CSV downloads every code with the columns Code, Status, Order, Made (India time) and Used (India time), ready to send to an influencer agency or a printer.

A role that can see discounts but not edit them sees the list and can export it, but "Your role can see these codes but not make or revoke them."

How One-Time Codes Are Counted

• A one-time code is used once it is on an order. Two shoppers racing for the same code at the same moment cannot both get it: the second is refused.
• A cancelled order gives its code back, so it can be used again.
• The discount's own Total Uses and Uses per Customer still apply on top.
• If One-time Codes is switched off in Discount Settings: "One-time codes are switched off for this store. The codes below stay saved but do not work."

Links That Apply a Code

Add ?code= and the code to any address of your store, and the link puts the code on the shopper's bag:

https://yourstore.com/?code=WELCOME10 https://yourstore.com/products/silk-saree?code=DIWALI500

Use them in emails, WhatsApp messages, Instagram bios and ads. When the shopper opens the link, the code is checked first, then a message says how it went: "WELCOME10 applied. You save ₹150.", or "WELCOME10 is on your bag. It applies once you add items." when the bag is empty. A code that does not work is taken off with the reason. The code is removed from the address bar afterwards, so a refresh or a copied link does not apply it again.

Links work while Codes in Links is on in Settings › Bag and Wishlist (on by default). See Bag and Wishlist Settings.

Codes on Product Pages

To show a code on the pages of the products it is for, tick Show this code on product pages in the editor's On Product Pages card: "Listed under ADD TO BAG on the products it applies to, with a COPY button." It shows in an Available Offers box. Line Shown with the Code is the line beside it, up to 120 characters, "Like “₹100 off your first order over ₹599”. Empty: the title."

A code for some shoppers only (first order, signed in, a reward tier, a phone list, a payment way or a delivery area) is never shown on product pages. The whole box can be switched off with Codes on the Product Page in Settings › Product Page (see Product Page Settings).

Limits per Customer

In the editor's Limits card:

• Total Uses: how many orders in all may use the code.
• Uses per Customer (1 to 99): "Counted by the phone number at checkout and the signed-in account. A cancelled order gives the use back."

Because guests can check out, a customer is the phone number at checkout. A shopper who has used the code as often as allowed is told so at checkout. For first-order codes, First order only checks that no earlier order exists on the phone or the account; turning on COD confirmation codes makes it much harder to cheat with someone else's number (see COD with Confirmation Codes).

A delivered order, or a COD parcel that came back to you, keeps its use. Only a cancelled order gives a use back.

What Happens at Checkout

The order is priced again at the moment it is placed, with the discount's uses locked, so the last use of a code can never be taken twice. If a code stopped working between the bag and placing the order (it was used up, it ended), checkout explains why in plain words and asks the shopper to review the bag.

Good to Know

• The discount's report counts each use of each code on confirmed orders: see Discount Report.
• Up to 10,000 one-time codes per discount; Mercayo can set a lower number for your store.
• A copy made with DUPLICATE gets its own new code (the old code with a dash and four characters), never the one-time codes.
• An exported or imported offer never carries its one-time codes (see Move Discounts).

Questions

Can a shopper use a code in small letters?

Yes. Codes are not case-sensitive: welcome10 works for WELCOME10.

How do I give 50 influencers their own codes?

Make one code discount, save it, then in One-Time Codes make 50 codes starting with a word such as INFLU-, and press EXPORT CSV. Each code works for one order. For one fixed code per influencer that many followers can use, make a separate discount for each instead.

Can I see which influencer's codes were used?

Yes. In One-Time Codes, choose Used: each used code shows its order number. The export lists them all.

Why did a shopper's code stop working after a cancelled order?

It did not: a cancelled order gives the use back, so the code works again. If it still does not work, check its Total Uses, dates and status.

Can I make a code that works only on prepaid orders?

Yes. Under Who Can Use It, choose Paid online only. The bag tells COD shoppers to pay online to use it.

Do code links work with my own domain?

Yes. ?code= works on any address of your store, on its Mercayo address or your own domain.