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15 Coupon Code Ideas to Boost E-commerce Sales

5 minutes

Coupon code ideas: how can they help your store?

Coupon codes involve giving your customers a (usually) single-use, one-time code that they can enter when they make a purchase at your store. A code may result in a discount, like $50 or 20% off their order, or some other incentive like free shipping.

You can advertise your coupon code on your website, or email select customers their specific code. In this article, we will discuss the benefits of using coupons, the type of coupons you can offer, and coupon code ideas your customers will love!

Do coupons encourage spending?

Yes! Coupons and discounts can attract new customers, generate revenue, and increase customer engagement. In fact, most shoppers feel so keen when using coupons that they tend to spend more than they intended. And 63% of people admitted to buying items they didn’t need because they had a coupon.

The idea that they get to save money makes shoppers feel less stressed, happier, and more relaxed. And so they’ll possibly buy more from you.

According to SpendMeNot, over 142 million consumers in the United States used digital coupons for purchases in 2020, making coupons a must-have for all businesses.

What type of coupons can you offer?

There are several different types of coupons you can tempt your customers with – here are three popular examples:

#1 Coupon code idea: Percentage off the purchase

Most stores use percent-off offers to build their email list since shoppers are willing to sign up in exchange for 10% or 20% off their first transaction. However, you can use percent-off coupons to boost holiday sales or encourage customers to complete their purchases.

#2 Coupon code idea: $ value off the purchase

$ value OFF coupons are amounts deducted from the total cost of an item, or a total purchase. For instance, you can offer customers a $10 off coupon to make purchases. One popular option is to give your customers a set $ off their purchase when they refer a friend who also makes a purchase.

#3 Coupon code idea: Gift offers

Who doesn’t love freebies? And that’s why skincare and beauty brands offer free samples with orders above a certain amount. So, if you have new or small product samples that can get buyers excited, create a free-gift-with-purchase coupon. You can then share it with your social media followers or email list.

15 coupon code ideas your customers will love

There are dozens of discount types for every business that provide incentives for customers to buy your products. With so many options, we’ve compiled a list of the best coupon code ideas and types for your business.

#1 Christmas offers

Christmas is the perfect time to appreciate returning customers and show them some love. So why not surprise Christmas shoppers with coupons for special end-of-year product discounts?

Use a fun, festive code like “HOLLYSAVINGS” to really grab your customers’ attention.

#2 First-time shopper offers

This is one of the most popular coupon ideas that help convert first-time visitors into buyers. You can give a welcome coupon to help them save money on their first order.

A good way to do this is by showing the discount as a popup on your store. You can also send it to shoppers via email after they sign up.

#3 Celebrate store milestones

If your store has a birthday coming up, what better way to celebrate than with your loyal customers? Consider running a birthday promotion – email your customers to spread the word and make sure it’s front and center on your website so your customers can’t miss it!

#4 Weekend offers

Most store owners use weekend offers to boost sales, particularly on slow days. For instance, you can offer discounts on weekends if those days tend to be when your site sees less traffic.

Remember, when running weekend promotions, do an A/B test to determine the ideal time to display offers. Offering your shoppers a little push when they need it might just be what you need to boost sales

Grow your sales with high-performing deals.

#5 Abandoned cart offers

How much more money would you make if you cut your store’s cart abandonment rate by 30%? Have you considered it? If not, think about it. Sending abandoned cart emails is one of the fastest ways to attract consumers today. You can create these emails with MailBot and include great offers shoppers can’t resist.

Kate Spade does a good job at this by using a popup:

#6 Referral offers

Referral offers are most valuable when you have repeat customers. You can simply reward these customers when they refer friends. You can give percentage-off coupons (20% off your next purchase) or fixed amounts (for example, $30 off your next order) as referral rewards.

See how Hanna Andersson did it:

#7 Flash sale offers

A flash sale helps boost brand awareness and customer loyalty while enticing buyers to make impulse purchases. That said, a flash sale uses urgency and scarcity to make shoppers act quickly. People will likely buy a product if they notice the sale will end in a few hours. See what J. Crew Factory did here:

#8 Review offers

Use review offers to compel customers to leave a review and encourage them to visit your store again to make an order with that discount. Tower is giving 35% discounts for customers’ reviews.

#9 Pre-sale offers

What better way to introduce your customers to new arrivals and encourage repeat purchases than pre-sale offers? Offering coupons and discounts, especially on new arrivals, excites customers and compels them to buy.

Take a look at this example below:

#10 Contest giveaways

Online contests can help build a lot of buzz and generate interest, and they can also help increase sales. Now, you can ask your customers to participate in a contest or invite them to use your brand’s hashtag. You can also offer coupon codes to introduce your new products. The condition can be to follow your account, like and share, and tag a friend.

#11 Exit-intent offers

Exit-intent popups and offers can help persuade customers that want to leave your store to stay on, buy products, or subscribe. You can use coupons and discounts to entice visitors to stay on your site and eventually buy something.

#12 Newsletter subscription offers

Different online stores use newsletter subscription offers to grow their email list. And it works so well. Take a look at Kate Spade’s opt-in form. Kate Spade offers a 15% discount for customers to join their mailing list.

#13 Free shipping offers

You can offer a free shipping service on all purchases and orders. You can raise your threshold to save your margins while still offering free shipping. In other words, customers need to spend more to enjoy free shipping.

#14 Back to school offers

Back-to-school sales are popular among retailers. You can offer coupons and discounts on school products such as desks, books, filing cabinets, school bags, and lots more.

#15 Valentine's Day offers

Valentine’s Day is a day filled with giving and gifting. Give shoppers a reason to buy from you by offering discounts and coupons, so they have one less thing to worry about.

Grow your sales with high-performing deals.

Set up storewide coupons with PickyStory

As well as allowing merchants to sell product bundles and deals, PickyStory also offers storewide coupons that can also be stacked with product deal discounts. In your PickyStory admin, you can create coupons and designate a specific code and discount parameters for each one.

You can choose when each of your various discounts is active/inactive, and you can email specific customers the discount code if you don’t want every store visitor to be eligible for the discount.

All your customer has to do is enter the code when they get to the cart page – it’s that easy!

Use these coupon code ideas to boost conversions and revenue

Coupons are a great way to engage your customers, encourage them to perform an action (such as referring a friend or leaving their contact details), and can even prompt would-be buyers to return to an abandoned cart. With PickyStory, it’s easy to set up storewide coupons that can be stacked alongside your PickyStory deal discounts.