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How to Create a Coupon Code for BigCommerce stores (Step-by-Step Guide)

Last updated: October 01, 2024
Written and researched by experts at AvadaLearn more about our methodology

By Sam Nguyen

CEO Avada Commerce

In this article, we’ll instruct you how to create a BigCommerce coupon code for your ecommerce store.

How to Create a BigCommerce Coupon Code

Step 1: Go to the Coupon Codes section

  • First, log into your BigCommerce store’s control panel. Click on ‘Marketing’ and then look for ‘Coupon Codes’. This is where you'll see all your coupons.
Go to the Coupon Codes section

Step 2: Tap on Create a Coupon Code

  • Find and click the button that says 'Create a Coupon Code.' This will open a new page where you can put in the details of your coupon.
Tap on Create a Coupon Code

Step 3: Type the coupon code details

  • Name and Code:
    • Name: Give your coupon a name that tells you what it’s for, like "Spring Sale 20% Off."
    • Code: Decide what the customers should type in to get the discount, such as “SPRING20”. It doesn’t matter if they use uppercase or lowercase letters.
    • Length: Make sure the code isn’t longer than 50 characters and the name isn’t over 100 characters.
  • Discount Info:
    • Type of Discount: Choose if you want the discount to be a specific dollar amount off, a percentage off, or free shipping.
    • Amount: Put in how much the discount will be unless it’s for free shipping.
Type the coupon code details

Step 4: Add Some Rules

  • Minimum Buy: You can set a minimum amount that customers need to spend to use the coupon.
  • How Many Times It Can Be Used:
    • Total Uses: Decide how many times in total the coupon can be used in your store.
    • Per Customer: Set how many times each customer can use it.
  • More Settings:
    • Stop Other Discounts: If you don’t want this coupon to be used with other offers, check the box here.
    • Turn It On: Make sure you check this to make the coupon active or leave it unchecked to keep it inactive for now.
    • End Date: Choose when the coupon should stop working.

Step 5: Choose Where It Works

  • Limit to Certain Products: If you want, you can make the coupon only work for certain things. Pick the categories or specific products. If you want it to work on everything, just select ‘All Categories.’

Step 6: Optional Advanced Settings

  • Special Limits: If needed, you can make the coupon only work in certain places or with certain shipping methods. This is great for deals like free shipping.

Step 7: Save and Share Your Coupon

  • Save: Hit ‘Save’ to keep all your settings.
  • Tell Your Customers: Let your customers know about the coupon through emails, social media, or banners on your site.
Click Save

Pros and Cons of BigCommerce Coupon Codes

A coupon code will have certain advantages and disadvantages because any commercial plan will have two opposite sides.

Pros of coupon code

  • Promote Business Growth: Coupons can promote business development for both new and old products.
  • Stimulate Trade Demand: Coupons can help businesses stimulate trade demand because the coupon allows shoppers to get discounts compared to the normal sale price, so it will help customers to shop more than usual.
  • Maintain Retailer Relationships: Coupon also helps to reduce retail prices at grocery agents without affecting the cooperation or approval of the retailer.
  • Reduce Purchase Risks: Discount coupons help customers to be assured of reducing the risks of buying or changing their usage habits with new items while positively impacting customers to buy more after trying that product.
  • Encourage Product Trials: The BigCommerce coupon will help customers buy old products according to their habits. Customers who have not tried them will also buy and try the versions that have been updated from time to time.

Cons of coupon code

Along with the advantages of a BigCommerce coupon, of course, a coupon also has limitations.

  • Usage Uncertainty: It's hard for both customers and businesses to predict when coupons will be used, as customers often hold onto them for 3 to 6 months.
  • Shortened Validity: Many marketers shorten the coupon validity period to about 2.5 months to better manage operations and secure sales.
  • Limited Reach: Coupons often reach only those customers who are already familiar with the product rather than attracting new customers.
  • Economic Influence: The actual value of BigCommerce coupons is often lower than customers expect, affected by economic factors, production costs, and distribution challenges.
  • Cash Value Limitation: Coupons primarily provide a cash discount on transactions and cannot be used to redeem physical goods or items.

Useful Tips to Boost Sales with BigCommerce Coupons

Looking at reviews of BigCommerce can give you a better idea of how it helps with sales and marketing, including coupons. And these are useful tips we highly recommend:

Don’t ask for an email subscription for the coupon

Don’t ask visitors to enter their emails for the coupons you give. If they choose to use this coupon, they will definitely provide you with email and related information. Forcing customers to comply with certain requests to gain access to a coupon is relatively low inefficiency, as a lot of consumers may not accept the offers.

Use Exit Popup to reduce abandoned carts

BigCommerce has many marketing tools to help your coupon campaigns do well. These tools help you reach the right people and sell more. By using BigCommerce's features, you can make your coupon offers more effective and attract more customers.

Use an exit-intent popup plugin for advertising the coupon to people who visit the website but do not buy the product. You can also add a BigCommerce coupon code to the popup content.

How to Include BigCommerce Coupon Codes in Your Marketing Plan

Here are 3 steps to use BigCommerce coupon codes effectively to make the most of what you have paid for BigCommerce to use their platform. 

Identify target customers

The success or failure of a Coupon Marketing strategy depends on the relevance of your business’s target audience. You will need to find the right customers for your BigCommerce Coupon campaign first. 

Are you planning on targeting new customers? Or do you want to attract existing customers to stick with your business?

If you’re looking to target new customers, you’ll need to surpass what your competitors are offering. Remember, 80% of buyers switch brands for better discounts and promotions.

On the other hand, if you want to target your existing customers, you need to analyze their buying patterns and browsing behavior carefully and then carefully find the types of BigCommerce coupons that match their buying habits. Take the example of the brand Crocs:

Famous brand Crocs is looking to make its existing customers loyal. The company offered coupons to attract customers in the 18- to 50-year-old group from its Crocslite group.

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Crocs Coupon Codes

The results of this campaign are quite staggering. The company received 94,000 product purchase requests in the first month alone.

Decide Which Coupon to Use

Each customer has different buying preferences, which makes sense that offering BigCommerce coupons are based on their preferences, and needs are varied and varied. The sheer variety of coupon marketing can easily lead to an overall confusion that spoils your successful coupon campaign.

This means you’ll need to be very careful when choosing the best coupon type to target your audience. Make sure the coupon type you choose matches the shopping habits of your target audience.

Choose coupons for instant value if your intended buyer loves instant savings on a purchase. Or send digital coupons with “Email Notifications” to encourage buyers to complete their transactions. Carefully choosing coupons for your buyers can spell out the difference between a good conversion rate and a bad conversion rate. The New York-based company Birchbox sends a 20% coupon with “The Forgotten Cart Email Alert.”

As a result, online beauty products companies can reduce cart abandonment rates; therefore, conversions increase even more.

Select a Venue for Your Event

How do you maximize the reach of Coupon campaigns in your efforts to drive traffic and leads?

Many marketing people are proud that their campaigns highlight creativity and make a mark in the readers’ minds, but they have not yet succeeded in boosting business sales. For example, they choose to market BigCommerce coupons in the wrong place, not attractive to consumers. The advice here is to be cautious when selecting your marketing site. You probably don’t want a marketing campaign without people.

What’s The Best Way To Tell My Customers About A New Coupon Code?

Here are some strategies to ensure your customers know about your new coupon code:

Email Marketing

Send out an email blast to your subscriber list announcing the new coupon code. Make sure the subject line is attention-grabbing and directly mentions the discount or benefit. Include a clear call-to-action that encourages recipients to use the BigCommerce coupon code at checkout.

Social Media

Share the coupon code on all your social media platforms. Use engaging posts that might include images, a short video, or even a live announcement. Encourage followers to share the post to increase reach. Using targeted ads to promote the coupon can also help reach a broader audience.

Website Banners

Place prominent banners on your website’s homepage and relevant product pages that display the BigCommerce coupon code. Make sure it’s visible and eye-catching to anyone visiting your site.

Checkout Prompts

Incorporate reminders about the coupon code at various stages of the checkout process on your website. This can remind customers who may have forgotten to enter the code or who weren’t aware of it before beginning their purchase.

Blog Posts

Write a blog post about the coupon code, explaining the benefits and potential savings. You can also suggest products or categories where the BigCommerce coupon could be applied, helping guide customers on how to make the best use of their discount.

Push Notifications

If you have a mobile app or if your website supports push notifications, send out an alert announcing the coupon code to users who have opted in to receive notifications.

SMS Marketing

For immediate reach, consider sending a text message to customers who have opted into SMS alerts. Texts have high open rates, making this an effective way to communicate urgent or limited-time offers.

Influencers and Partnerships

Collaborate with influencers or other brands that align with your market. They can help promote your BigCommerce coupon code to a larger or new audience through their platforms.

Printed Materials

If you have a physical store or attend events, printed materials like flyers, posters, or cards can be used to inform customers about the BigCommerce coupon code. These can be especially effective for local customers.

Customer Service

Train your customer service team to inform callers or chat users about the BigCommerce coupon code. This can be a pleasant surprise for customers interacting with your support team and can enhance their shopping experience.

The Difference Between a Coupon and a Voucher

The biggest difference I can say to help you easily distinguish between a Coupon and a Voucher is that the Voucher is discounted by a certain amount, while the percentage discounts the Coupon.

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Coupon vs Voucher

Let's look at the examples below for a better understanding:

A voucher is a promotional voucher with a fixed value used in the transaction of goods or services. According to the conditions specified above, customers use the voucher and will not be refunded the excess money (if any).

Example: 

KFC issues a voucher worth $10, which applies to fried chicken + soft drinks combo. Customers buy this voucher for $3 (save 70% compared to the value of the meal), use the combo as on the ticket, and there will be no refund.

Meanwhile, a Coupon is issued by the business/retailer to offer discounts through a percentage or a fixed value.

Example: 

HawkHost issues a coupon card with the content: An additional 15% off for all hosting products when entering the code HAWKHOST when making payment.

Final thought

We’ve already known the importance of BigCommerce coupons in driving sales and engaging with customers. Above is the article to guide you on creating a BigCommerce coupon code for your BigCommerce store. Besides, you can find something useful in these smart tips to maximize coupon code efficiency. 


Sam Nguyen is the CEO and founder of Avada Commerce, an e-commerce solution provider headquartered in Singapore. He is an expert on the Shopify e-commerce platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems. Sam loves talking about e-commerce and he aims to help over a million online businesses grow and thrive.

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