Coupon and Deals Plugin Tutorial

The Coupon Plugin is a great way to bring in new customers and encourage repeat business! We'll go over how to use it in this article.

Tim Tietz avatar
Written by Tim Tietz
Updated over a week ago

What is the Coupon Plugin?

The Coupon Plugin is all about giving your users coupons to use. It’s a great way to incentivize your customers to purchase your products with discounts that you can set up in the Coupon Plugin. With this plugin you can encourage new customers to come to your location, or help generate repeat business.

What are some use cases of the Coupon Plugin?

Some use cases of this feature include:

  • You can use the plugin to help showcase featured products by offering a coupon that’s good towards the purchase of that item.

  • With the Coupon Plugin you can encourage your customers to purchase more of your product with a “Buy One Get One” or a “Buy 4 get the 5th item free” type of coupon.

  • If your business offers a service such as a Gym, you can use the Coupon Plugin to encourage new customers to join at a discounted rate.

What is the Coupon Plugin primary function and what are the steps to accomplish them?

The Coupon Plugin is all about giving your users coupons to use. Let’s go over how the Coupon Plugin is used within your app, and how to set it up. First we’ll go over the different sections of the Coupon Plugin, then we’ll go over how to create a coupon, and finally how to use a coupon in your app.

The Image Carousel and Text WYSIWYG Editor allow you to include images and text above the coupons in the plugin. This is a great way to personalize the plugin and make users feel welcome.

If you would like to learn more about the Image Carousel, we have a dedicated article which you can access here, and if you would like to learn more about the Text WYSIWYG Editor, you can do so here.

Note: Using these features are optional and aren’t required for the plugin to work.

Filters

If you would like to organize your coupons by category (such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks, or dessert for a Restaurant app) you can create filters and assign your coupon to a filter.

Here’s how you create a filter:

Step 1: Click on “Add New Filter”

If you would like to create a new filter, simply click on the “Add New Filter” button.

Step 2: Type in the Filter’s title and click “Save” 

Once you’ve clicked the “Add New Filter” button a box will display where you can type in your Filter’s title in the “Filter Title” field.

Once you’ve typed in the Filter’s title, simply click “Save”

Now that you have created a filter, you can assign pre-existing and new coupons.

Note: If you want you can have the Filters sorted Alphabetically from A-Z, Z-A, or you can Manually sort them with the “Sort” drop-down menu

How To Create A Coupon

We offer two ways of adding coupons, uploading multiple coupons at once or creating them individually.

Upload Multiple Coupons

We give you the option to upload multiple coupons at once with our CSV template. Here’s how you can do this:

Step 1: Download the .CSV Template

In order to add multiple coupons at a time, first you’ll need to download the .CSV template.

Note: For Safari users you will need to manually change the file-type to .CSV

Make sure you don’t add or remove any of the fields included in the .CSV template when you’re adding information to it.

Step 2: Fill out the CSV template

Once you’ve download the .CSV template, you can open the file in a number of programs. Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets are what we recommend you use.

When filling out the .CSV template, make sure you don’t add or remove any of the columns in the template, otherwise the template won’t work. The only field that’s required is the Item Title and and you can leave the rest blank if you want to. 

Once you’ve added your coupons’ information to the .CSV template, all you need to do is click on the “Import CSV” button and locate the .CSV file on your computer.

If you ever need to, you can also export the Coupon Plugin’s data by clicking on the “Export CSV” button which will export a .CSV file with all of the pre-existing coupons’ information.

Creating Coupons Individually

If you would like to take your time in crafting your coupons instead of bulk importing them, here’s how you can create your coupons individually:

Step 1: Click on “Add New Item”

To begin working on your coupon click “Add New Item”

Step 2: Give your coupon a Title and a Summary

First things first your coupon needs a Title and a Summary. The Ttle helps users know what the coupon is and the Summary helps give them more information about the coupon.

Simply type your coupon’s title in the “Title” field and the summary in the “Item Summary” field.

Note: Right underneath the Item Summary is where you can assign a category to the coupon if you’ve created any

Step 3: Give your coupon a List Image

The List Image is what displays when users are scrolling through the coupons that you’ve created. To add a list image to the coupon, all you need to do is click on the gray box next to “List Image”.

This will bring up the Media Library. From here you can upload a new image or use a pre-existing one. If you would like to learn more about the Media Library and how to use it, you can do so here.

Once you’ve selected an image or uploaded a new one, click “Insert Image(s)” to add it to the List Image field.

You can also add images to the Image Carousel of the coupon by clicking on “Add Image” next to “Image Carousel”.

This will display above all of the coupon’s information.

Step 4: Set up the Pre-Redemption and Post-Redemption Images and Body Content

The Pre-Redemption Image and Body Content are what displays before the user redeems the coupon, and the Post-Redemption Image and Description display after they have redeemed the coupon. 

Just like the List Image, all you need to do to add an image to the Pre-Redemption and Post-Redemption Image fields is click the gray box which will bring up the Media Library where you can use a pre-existing image or upload a new one.

If you would like to add text to display under the Pre-Redemption and Post-Redemption images, you can do so in the Pre-Redemption and Post-Redemption Body Content fields.

Since these are WYSIWYG text editors you can be creative with the content you add to these areas of the plugin. If you would like to learn more about how to use the WYSIWYG text editor, you can do so here.

Step 5: Set up a Start and Expiration Date for the coupon

After you’ve set up the Pre-Redemption and Post-Redemption Images and Body Content, you can set up the coupon’s start and end dates in the “Start” and “Expiration Date” fields.

Note: This is completely optional. You don’t have to apply a start or expiration date if you want to create a coupon that never expires.

You can also adjust the frequency of how often users can redeem the coupon in the “Reuse After” field.

If you want it to be a one-time use, set it to “Single Use”, or if you would like to make the coupon available for multiple uses, you can set up a time limit between uses with a range from every 10 minutes to once a month with every 30 days.

Step 6: Add a Location where the coupon can be redeemed

After you’ve set up the dates that the coupon is good for, you can add a location where users can redeem the coupon in the “Coupon Location” field.

This will allow users to bring up a map showing them where that location is. You can also give the location link a name in the “Address Title” field,

Note: This is optional, and used for coupons that can only be used at one location.

If you would like to include a link to an advertisement or  your business’ website, you can do so by clicking the “Add Link” button which will bring up the Action Builder.

If you need help with how to use the Action Builder, we have a dedicated article on how to use this feature which you can find here.

Now that you’ve completed creating an awesome coupon, click “Done” to add your coupon to the Coupon plugin.

How To Use A Coupon In Your App

Now that you know how to create coupons, let’s go over how they’re used in the app. This will give you a better idea of how to design your coupons for the best user experience.

Note: In order for coupons to be used, users are required to create in-app profiles and log-in. This is to help prevent abuse of the coupons as the app will track which users have used the coupon and when.

Step 1: The app user will tap on the Coupon plugin in the app

While the app is open your app user will navigate to the Coupon plugin and tap on its name or icon.

Step 2: They will tap on the Coupon that they want to use

If they’re not already logged-in to their in-app profile, they’ll be prompted to log-in. If they’re already logged-in, then the Coupon plugin will open so that they can see all of the coupons available within the plugin. Once they find the coupon that they want to use, they’ll tap on it.

Step 3: They will hand their phone to the cashier or employee

Once the app user selects the coupon that they want to use, they will hand their phone to the cashier or employee of your company.

Step 4: The employee will tap on “Redeem this item” and hand the phone back to the customer

Once the employee verifies that the coupon hasn’t already been redeemed, they will tap on the “Redeem this item” button and hand the phone back to the user.

This method allows the employee to ensure that the coupon isn’t being abused. The app will remember that the coupon has already been redeemed and will display the post-redemption image as well as when the coupon was redeemed whenever the app user logs into their account and goes back to that coupon.

Now that you know how to create a coupon and how it’s used in the app, you’re ready to go forth and set up some killer deals! Happy couponing! 

What are some tips you should know about?

Having worked with apps for years, we’ve learned a thing or two. So, to both help your app stand out and accomplish your primary goals, here are some tips you should consider.

Pro Tip 1: Create Useful Coupons

You want to engage your customers with coupons that they’ll use and benefit from. Think about how you would feel when using a coupon. Will it make you want to purchase more products?

Pro Tip 2: Don’t Over Discount Your products 

You want to entice your customers to come in and purchase products, but don’t provide so much of a discount that you’re unable to benefit from the sale of your products as well. It’s best to find a balance between encouraging your customers to shop in your establishment and provide deals that give you a profit while making them feel like their money was well-spent. 

What are some related articles?

In addition to this article, we recommend checking out the following related articles so that you have a better insight into how to use the system to its fullest advantage:

Still have questions? No problem! Reach out to us and we’d be happy to help :)

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