Discount codes for subscription products are configured directly within Shopify. Shopify discount codes can be used alone or in conjunction with subscription group discounts.
Subscriptions for Shopify Checkout allows your customers to add or remove Shopify discount codes in the Customer Portal so you can leverage these discounts in your retention strategy.
This article is relevant to Subscriptions for Shopify Checkout. If you have Subscriptions V1 on your store, please visit Discount Code Types & Setup. If you are unsure of which version of Bold Subscriptions you have, please visit Identify Your Version of Bold Subscriptions.
You can configure your discount codes within the Shopify admin by navigating to the Discounts tab and selecting Create discount.
Supported discount types are:
- Amount off discounts: These are discounts that give your customers a fixed value or a percentage off of the products in an order, but don't apply to shipping costs.
- Free shipping: This is an offer that deducts shipping costs. For example, free shipping on a subscription purchase.
When creating your discount code, you can choose whether you would like to have the discount available for one-time purchases, subscription purchases, or both.
Discount codes can also be created for specific collections or products for a more targeted promotion.
For more information, please visit Shopify's article on Creating Discount Codes.
Alert
Shopify is responsible for the validation of discount codes whether they are applied to subscriptions or one-time purchases. If you feel as though a discount code should not have applied to an order, please reach out to Shopify support.
It is recommended to ensure that your discount codes are set up correctly before offering it to your customers. Editing the conditions of a discount code may not apply if it is already active on an existing subscription.
If you wish to disable an active discount code, it is best to deactivate the code altogether instead of editing it to expire.
When using Shopify's discounts with subscriptions, please note the following limitations.
- Automatic and Buy X Get Y discounts are not eligible for subscriptions.
- Quantity based discounts can work with subscriptions, but it is important to note that they will continue to apply to recurring orders if your customer adjusts the quantity from within their Customer Portal to no longer meet the condition. This is because Shopify verifies the eligibility of a discount code on its first application only.
- When a discount code is applied to a subscription, the product's price will not appear discounted within the Customer Portal or admin.
- When a discount code is no longer valid, it will remain visible on the subscription within the Customer Portal and the admin until removed. If you wish to add a new code, you will need to remove the expired code before adding the new code. For more information on how to do this, please visit Subscription Management: Merchant Perspective.
- Discount codes with product specific conditions will cause errors when swapping. The discount code will need to be removed before swapping and then reapplied. For more information on how to do this, please visit Subscription Management: Merchant Perspective.
- Combined discounts are not compatible with Bold Subscriptions. While combined discounts will work on the initial order, only one discount will apply to recurring orders.