Making promo codes for online booking and checkout
Make codes like SPRING20 for a percentage or amount off, for chosen services and dates, that clients use online or you enter at checkout.
A promo code is a word like SPRING20 that takes something off: 20% off colour this spring, $15 off for new clients. Clients type it when they book online (or open a link with it filled in), and you can enter it at checkout. Each code keeps count of how often it's been used, the discount given and the takings it brought in.
Who can make promo codes
Promo codes are on Messages → Promo codes. Seeing, archiving and deleting them needs Send campaigns, set up automatic marketing, and make promo codes (with "Give discounts" too). Making, changing or restoring one also needs Give discounts, so nobody hands out a discount they couldn't give at the desk. Owners have every permission. Using a code at checkout needs no permission: the code is the approval.
Making a promo code
- Open Messages → Promo codes and press New promo code (or N).
- Type the Code: 3 to 20 letters and numbers, like SPRING20. Clients can type it in any case.
- Give it a Name (for your team) if you like, such as "Spring colour special".
- Choose Percentage off or Amount off and enter it.
- Choose What it's for, the dates and any limits.
- Leave On ticked and press Save.
Two codes that are in use can't share a spelling.
Percentage off or amount off
- Percentage off (1 to 100%) comes off each service it covers.
- Amount off comes off the visit (or the sale at checkout), shared across what it covers, and never more than they cost.
Choosing what a promo code covers
- All services, or Chosen services: pick whole categories (services added to them later count too) or single services.
- Products too, at checkout takes the same off products sold with it.
A code never comes off gift vouchers or custom items, and leaves alone anything that already has its own discount at checkout.
Dates, limits and new clients only
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Can be used from / Until | The days it can be used: when the booking is made online, or the day of the sale. Empty: Straight away, No end date. |
| For appointments from / To | The appointment dates it's for. Leave both empty for any date. |
| Uses in all | How many bookings and sales can use it. A cancelled booking frees its use up. Empty: No limit. |
| Minimum spend | The least it needs on what it covers, before the discount. |
| Once per client | Each client can use it once. Online, everyone on the email or mobile typed counts as one, so a family sharing a mobile gets it once. |
| New clients only | Only for clients who haven't been in yet. Online, nobody on the email or mobile typed may have been in, so a regular can't get it by typing another mobile or a child's name. |
A booking held for an online payment, or a booking request waiting for approval, holds a use until it's cancelled or released.
Sharing a promo code with clients
Each code has a Booking link (or press the link button beside it in the list) that opens your booking page with the code already filled in. Put it in a social post, or in a campaign. To choose services too, add &promo=SPRING20 (your code) to a service's booking link.
How clients use a promo code online
On your booking page, clients press Have a promo code? and type it. They see the code, what it takes off and the discount on their booking. A code that's for new clients or once per client is checked again when they book.
If it can't be used, they're told why: it's finished, it's for other appointment dates, it's been fully used, they've used it already, it's for new clients, it doesn't cover the services chosen, or the booking is under its minimum spend. A code that's off, archived or hasn't started yet is answered as if it didn't exist ("We don't recognise that code"), so codes that aren't live aren't given away.
Using a promo code at checkout
A code a client booked with comes to checkout with the appointment, marked "(booked online)", and also covers products and services added at checkout if it's set to. To use one at the desk:
- In checkout, press + Promo code.
- Type the code and press Apply.
It shows as Promo code SPRING20 with the discount on the items it covers; press it to take it off. At the desk, the team is told the real reason a code can't be used, like "This client has already used that code" or "Choose who's paying first: that code is for new clients". Each discounted item is recorded with the reason "Promo code SPRING20", so reports can group discounts by code (discounts at checkout).
Following how a promo code is doing
The list shows each code's state (On, Off, Starts with the date, Ended, Used up or Archived), its rules in short, and:
- Used: bookings and sales so far ("3 of 50" when it has a limit), with appointments still to come counted and shown as "to come".
- Discount given: the total taken off.
- Revenue: what was paid at checkout on sales with the code, not counting tips.
Turning off, archiving or deleting a promo code
- Turn it off (untick On) to stop it working for now. Bookings already made with it keep their discount.
- Delete a code nobody has used: it's gone for good.
- Archive a code that's been used: it stops working online and at checkout, bookings made with it keep their discount, and it stays under Show archived codes with its numbers. Its spelling is free for a new code. Restore brings it back.
Changes to a code never change bookings already made with it, and a code that's been used keeps its spelling.
Common questions
Can a client use two promo codes on one booking?
No, one code at a time.
Does a promo code work with a deposit?
Yes. Online, a deposit or full payment is worked out on the price after the code's discount, but whether one is asked for at all goes by the price before it, so a code never takes away your deposit (deposits).
Can I give a regular client a code meant for new clients?
Not with the code: New clients only checks they haven't been in. Give them a discount at checkout instead (discounts at checkout).