Build percentage or fixed discount codes with usage limits, expiry dates, and minimum order requirements in just a few clicks.
Coupon codes are one of the highest-leverage tools in a store owner's promotional toolkit. A well-timed discount code sent to your email list can recover abandoned carts, re-engage lapsed customers, or generate a revenue spike during a slow period — without permanently lowering your prices. UniLink's coupon system gives you precise control over every parameter so that your promotions reach the right people, work for the right amount of time, and never cost you more than you intended.
What Coupon Codes Do
A coupon code is a short alphanumeric string that a customer enters at checkout to receive a discount on their order. When the code is applied, UniLink validates it against the rules you defined — checking whether it has expired, whether the customer's cart meets the minimum order value, whether the product in the cart is eligible, and whether the maximum usage count has been reached. If all conditions are satisfied, the discount is deducted from the order total before payment is processed.
Coupons in UniLink work in two discount modes. Percentage-based coupons reduce the order total by a fixed percentage — for example 20% off everything. Fixed-amount coupons deduct a specific dollar (or local currency) value from the cart — for example $10 off. Percentage codes are more effective for high-ticket items where the visible saving feels significant. Fixed-amount codes tend to work better as a minimum-spend incentive, because "spend $50, save $10" creates a clear and concrete reward. You can create as many codes as needed — there is no limit on how many active coupons your store can have at once.
Each code can be configured as single-use (redeemable once across all customers), limited multi-use (redeemable up to a specific total number of times), or unlimited. Single-use codes are ideal for one-to-one customer recovery campaigns. Limited codes are standard for flash sales or email campaigns where you want to cap the total discount budget. Unlimited codes are useful for long-running referral or affiliate promotions where you want partners to share a code freely.
How to Get Started With Coupon Codes
- Open the coupons panel — Go to Storefront → Coupons in your UniLink dashboard. You will see a list of all existing codes and a summary of their usage.
- Create a new coupon — Click "Create Coupon". A form appears with all the configuration options for your new code.
- Enter the coupon code — Type the code you want customers to use (for example SUMMER20 or WELCOME10). You can also click "Generate" to have UniLink create a random alphanumeric code, which is useful for personalised single-use codes. Codes are case-insensitive at checkout.
- Choose the discount type — Select "Percentage" and enter a number between 1 and 100, or select "Fixed Amount" and enter a specific monetary value. The discount applies to the eligible portion of the cart total after any other automatic discounts.
- Set the expiry date — Enable the expiry toggle and pick a date and time. After this moment the code will be rejected at checkout even if it has not reached its usage limit. Leave the toggle off for a code that never expires.
- Define usage limits — Enter a maximum number of total redemptions if you want to cap the offer. For single-use personal codes, enter 1. For a flash sale open to the first 100 customers, enter 100. Leave the field empty for unlimited use.
- Save and distribute — Click "Save Coupon". The code is immediately active. Share it in an email, on social media, or via your link-in-bio page. Copy the direct checkout link from the coupon detail page to pre-fill the code for customers automatically.
How to Use Coupon Codes
- Add a minimum order requirement — Open a coupon, scroll to "Conditions", and enter a minimum cart value. The code will only apply when the cart total (before discount) meets or exceeds this amount. This protects your margin on small orders.
- Restrict to specific products — In the coupon editor under "Applies to", switch from "Entire store" to "Specific products" and search for the products you want to include. The code will be rejected at checkout if none of the eligible products are in the cart.
- Set a per-customer limit — Enable "Limit to one use per customer" to prevent the same email address from using the code more than once, regardless of the total usage limit. This is the standard setting for welcome and win-back campaigns.
- Monitor redemption count — On the Coupons list page, the "Used" column shows how many times each code has been redeemed in real time. Click any coupon to see a breakdown of which orders used it.
- Pause or deactivate a code — If a code is being misused or shared beyond your intended audience, toggle it to "Inactive" from the Coupons list. Inactive codes are rejected at checkout without deleting the code or its usage history.
- Combine coupons with flash sale pricing — Coupons stack on top of product-level sale prices by default. If you want to prevent double discounting, enable "Cannot be combined with sale prices" in the coupon's advanced settings.
- Export coupon performance data — Go to Storefront → Reports → Coupons to export a CSV of all coupon redemptions, including the order value at time of use and the discount applied. Use this to calculate the true cost of each campaign.
Key Settings Explained
| Setting | What it controls | Best practice |
|---|---|---|
| Discount type (% vs fixed) | Whether the coupon reduces the cart by a percentage or a flat currency amount | Use percentage for general promotions (SUMMER20); use fixed amount as a spend incentive tied to a minimum order value (SAVE10 with $50 minimum) |
| Expiry date and time | The exact moment after which the code stops working at checkout | Always set an expiry for flash sales and email campaigns — open-ended codes circulate indefinitely and can surface months later with an unexpected budget impact |
| Total usage limit | Maximum number of times the code can be redeemed across all customers combined | Set this for flash sales where you want to cap total discount spend; leave unlimited for affiliate or referral codes with no budget ceiling |
| Per-customer limit | Whether the same customer email can use the code more than once | Enable "one per customer" for welcome codes and win-back campaigns; disable for bulk purchase or loyalty codes where repeat use is the point |
| Minimum order value | The cart must meet this threshold before the code is valid | Set it 10–20% above your average order value to prevent the discount from applying to orders that would have happened anyway |
How to Get the Most Out of Coupon Codes
The most effective coupon campaigns are targeted rather than broadcast. A welcome code sent to new subscribers (WELCOME10) converts far better than the same code posted publicly on your social feed, because it rewards a specific action (signing up) and creates a personal sense of exclusivity. Design your coupon structure around the customer lifecycle: a welcome discount for new sign-ups, a win-back code for customers who have not purchased in 90 days, and a loyalty reward for customers who have placed three or more orders.
Flash sales use the scarcity principle — a code that works only until a specific time, or only for the first 100 redemptions, drives urgency that a permanent sale cannot replicate. When you create a flash sale coupon, set both a usage limit and an expiry date, and make sure your email and social messaging prominently communicates the deadline. Countdowns on your UniLink page's banner block reinforce the urgency when customers arrive from the email.
Minimum order value requirements are a powerful way to increase average order value without offering a discount on every order. A rule like "spend $75, save $15" means customers who were going to buy $50 worth of products have a strong incentive to add more to the cart. To calculate the right minimum, look at your median order value in Storefront → Reports → Sales and set the threshold about 30% above it.
Review your coupon performance in the reports section regularly. Look at the redemption rate (how many people who received the code actually used it) and the average order value of orders that used the code versus those that did not. If the average order value with a code is lower than without one, the code may be pulling in only discount-seekers rather than converting buyers who would not have purchased otherwise. Adjusting the minimum order value upward is usually the right lever to pull.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Customer says the code "is not valid" but you know it should work | Code has expired, reached its usage limit, or the customer's cart does not meet the minimum order value | Open the coupon in the dashboard and check expiry date, usage count vs limit, and whether the products in the customer's cart are eligible. Share the correct conditions with the customer. |
| Code applies to products it should not | Coupon is set to "Entire store" when it should be restricted to specific products | Edit the coupon, change "Applies to" from "Entire store" to "Specific products", and select only the intended items. |
| Same customer has used the code multiple times | "Limit to one use per customer" was not enabled | Enable the per-customer limit on the coupon for future redemptions. For past over-use, you will need to review those orders manually and decide whether to honour them. |
| Coupon stacks with a sale price unexpectedly, resulting in too large a discount | Combination with sale prices is allowed by default | Edit the coupon and enable "Cannot be combined with sale prices" under advanced settings. |
Pros
- No limit on the number of active coupon codes you can maintain simultaneously
- Pre-filled checkout links remove the need for customers to type codes manually
- Per-customer limits prevent abuse on welcome and win-back campaigns
- Real-time usage tracking lets you monitor campaign performance without running reports
Cons
- Coupons without an expiry or usage limit can circulate indefinitely if shared publicly
- Product-level restrictions require manual selection — there is no option to restrict by product category or collection
- Stacking behaviour with other promotions requires deliberate configuration to prevent unintended double discounts
Frequently Asked Questions
Can customers use more than one coupon code on the same order?
No. UniLink allows only one coupon code per order. If a customer tries to apply a second code, the first one is replaced. This is the standard behaviour for most storefronts and avoids unintended compounding discounts.
Can I create a coupon that only works for a customer's first order?
Yes. Enable "Limit to one use per customer" and the code will be rejected on checkout if the customer email has been used to redeem the same code before. For a truly first-order-only restriction tied to any code (not just this specific one), use the "New customers only" toggle in the advanced settings.
Does a coupon code affect my revenue reports?
Yes. In Storefront → Reports → Sales, revenue is reported as the amount actually collected from customers after discounts. The gross revenue before coupons and the discount amount are shown as separate columns so you can see both the full value and the cost of your promotions.
Can I create coupon codes in bulk for personalised customer campaigns?
Yes. The bulk code generation feature under Storefront → Coupons → Bulk Generate lets you create a set of unique single-use codes sharing the same rules. Download the list as a CSV, then use your email platform's personalisation to send each customer their own unique code.
What happens to an order if I delete a coupon that was used on it?
Deleting a coupon does not affect orders that already used it. Those orders retain their original discount amount in the order history. Deleting a coupon only prevents it from being used on future orders — it does not modify any completed transactions.
Key Takeaways
- Use percentage codes for broad promotions and fixed-amount codes tied to a minimum order value to increase cart size.
- Always set an expiry date and usage limit on flash sale codes to avoid open-ended budget exposure.
- Pre-filled checkout links remove friction and measurably improve conversion rates for email campaigns.
- The "one per customer" limit prevents welcome and win-back codes from being shared and abused.
- Review coupon performance in Reports → Coupons to confirm that discounted orders have higher average value than undiscounted ones.
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