To create a discount code in Shopify, go to Discounts in your admin, click Create discount, and pick a type: Amount off products, Amount off orders, Buy X get Y, or Free shipping. Under Method, select Discount code, enter the code, set the value and limits, choose combinations and active dates, then click Save.
How do you create a discount code in Shopify?
Every discount code starts from the same screen. Open Discounts, click Create discount, choose the type, and select Discount code as the method. Then name the code, set what it gives, decide who can use it and how often, and set the dates. Click Save and the code shows on your Discounts page.
The shared steps, as Shopify documents them in Amount off discounts:
- From your Shopify admin, go to Discounts.
- Click Create discount.
- From the Select discount type menu, pick the type.
- Under Method, select Discount code.
- Enter a name for the code, such as SUMMER15, or click Generate code for a random one.
- Set the value and any minimum requirements.
- In Eligibility, choose All customers, Specific customers, Customer segments, or Markets.
- Set Maximum discount uses, Combinations, and Active dates.
- Click Save.
Pick the type carefully. Shopify's Combining discounts page says the type and method can't be changed on an existing discount. To switch, you delete the discount and create it again.
Pick a code people can type. Short, in capitals, with no spaces, like SUMMER15, is easy to read out in an email or on a post.
How do you set up each Shopify discount type?
Each type adds its own section to the shared steps. Amount off products and Amount off orders ask for a percentage or fixed amount. Buy X get Y asks what the customer buys and what they get. Free shipping asks which countries it covers and whether to skip expensive rates.
Amount off products. Under Value, select Percentage or Fixed amount and enter it. In Applies to, choose Specific products or Specific collections. For a fixed amount on specific items, you can check Only apply discount once per order; otherwise it applies to every eligible product in the order. Amount off discounts don't apply to shipping costs.
Amount off orders. Same menu, same Value choice, but the discount comes off the order rather than chosen items. Shopify notes that when an amount off discount applies to everything, it is spread proportionally across the items in the cart, and the order value can't go below zero.
Buy X get Y. Steps from Buy X get Y discounts:
- In Customer buys, choose Minimum quantity of items or Minimum purchase amount, set the number, and pick specific products or collections.
- In Customer gets, set the quantity, pick the products or collections, and choose Percentage, Amount off each, or Free.
- Optional: check Set the maximum number of uses per order.
Shopify warns that the "get" item is never added to the cart for the shopper. Customers add every item themselves, then enter the code.
Free shipping. Steps from Free shipping discounts:
- In Countries, leave All countries or choose specific ones.
- Optional: check Exclude shipping rates over a certain amount. This caps the shipping rate covered, not the order total.
- Optional: add a Minimum purchase amount or Minimum quantity of items.
What is the difference between a discount code and an automatic discount?
A discount code only works when the shopper types it at checkout. An automatic discount applies on its own in the cart and at checkout once the conditions are met. You choose between them under Method, and every discount type offers both.
Shopify's Discount methods page frames the trade:
- Discount codes suit targeted marketing, like an email to a subset of customers or a partner promotion. The risk is a shopper who forgets the code and leaves.
- Automatic discounts suit site wide sales, collection promotions, or bulk buys. They keep checkout simple, but customers might not notice they got a deal.
Two practical differences. An automatic discount gets a Title instead of a code, and for free shipping that title displays to customers in the cart and at checkout. And Shopify caps you at 25 active automatic discounts, including ones created by apps.
How do you set usage limits on a Shopify discount code?
Use the Maximum discount uses section. Check Limit number of times this discount can be used in total to cap total redemptions across all customers, or Limit to one per customer to allow one use per shopper. You can check both. Leave both unchecked and the code has no usage limit.
How each limit works, per Shopify Help:
- Total limit. A limit of 200 lets the code be used 200 times across your customer base. On its own, it still lets one customer use the code more than once.
- One per customer. Shopify tracks the customer's email address or phone number.
- Once per order. For a fixed amount code on specific products or collections, Only apply discount once per order stops it from discounting every eligible item.
- Uses per order (Buy X get Y). Set the maximum number of uses per order caps how many times the promotion repeats in one cart.
Eligibility is a separate control. It decides who can use the code at all, such as one customer segment or one market, while Maximum discount uses decides how many times.
How do Shopify discount combinations work?
Discounts don't combine unless you allow it. In each discount's Combinations section, you check which classes it can combine with: product discounts, order discounts, or shipping discounts. Two discounts stack only when the setting on each one allows the other.
What Shopify's Combining discounts page lays out:
- Order of application. Product discounts apply first, order discounts apply to the reduced subtotal, and shipping discounts apply last.
- Code limits. A customer can use up to 5 product or order discount codes and 1 shipping discount code on the same order.
- Always allowed. Any store can combine order with free shipping, product with free shipping, and product discounts on separate items.
- Eligibility needed. Product with order, and order with order, need a store without checkout.liquid customizations. Stacking product discounts on the same item is Shopify Plus only.
- No double shipping. Two shipping discounts can't apply to the same order.
- Best deal wins. When discounts can't combine, the best discount for the customer's cart applies.
Two percentage order discounts are both calculated on the same subtotal. Shopify's example: 10% and 20% off a $100 USD subtotal comes to $70 USD. Combinations only work on Online Store, Storefront API, and Shopify POS orders.
Before you share a combinable code, test it. Add products to a cart, go to checkout, enter the codes, and check the totals before closing the page.
How do start and end dates work for a Shopify discount?
Set them in the Active dates section. Choose a start date, then click Set end date if the code should stop. Without an end date, the code doesn't expire. For a one day code, use the same calendar day for both dates. Times follow the time zone set in your Shopify admin.
Shopify's example: if your store is on Eastern time and the start date is November 26, the discount starts at 12:00 am Eastern that day. Check your store's time zone before a launch at midnight.
After a code is live, you have two manual controls, per Managing and editing your discounts:
- Deactivate. Open the discount and click Deactivate. A shopper who enters it then sees "Unable to find a valid discount matching the code entered."
- Reactivate. Open an expired discount and click Activate. It becomes Active with no end date, so set a new end date if you want one.
Is a discount end date the same as a compare-at price sale?
No. They are different tools that end differently. A discount with an end date stops on schedule. A compare-at price sale stays until someone changes it back. Shopify's sale pricing page says sale prices are different from discounts.
How they differ:
| Discount with an end date | Compare-at price sale | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you set it | Discounts | The product's Price section |
| What changes | A discount applied at checkout | The product's actual price |
| Where shoppers see it | A discount line in the cart and at checkout | Product and collection pages, depending on theme |
| When it ends | On the end date you set | When someone edits the price back |
A compare-at sale means lowering Price and putting the original price in Compare-at price. Nothing reverts it on a date, so put the restore on your calendar. For changing many prices at once, see How to Bulk Edit Product Prices on Shopify.
Can you create a Shopify discount code by text with Shoperator?
Mark remains a current Shoperator entry path. For supported percentage-code work, you set the code, discount rate, scope, dates, limits, and combination rules; review the exact preview; and approve before Shoperator creates the live code. A no leaves your discounts as they were. Eligible connected merchants can also work through a supported personal agent using the same shared store knowledge and controls; current availability depends on the merchant's plan and rollout.
Mark can also deactivate a discount code after your yes, for example "Deactivate SUMMER15."
What Mark does not do:
- Create automatic discounts, fixed amount discounts, Buy X get Y, or free shipping. Those are made in Shopify admin with the steps above.
- Deactivate automatic discounts. That is also done in Shopify admin.
- Delete a discount. To stop a code Mark created, text Mark to deactivate it.
After an approved change, open the code in Shopify admin, confirm that its status, rate, scope, dates, limits, and combination rules match the approved preview, and test its eligibility at checkout before you share it. The request alone is not proof of completion.
For whether an AI should create codes on its own, see Should an AI Create a Shopify Discount Code Without Approval?. To read a preview before you answer, see How to Approve or Reject a Change Mark Proposes. For what a no does, see What Happens When You Say No to Mark, and How to Undo. More requests live in What Can I Text Mark?.
FAQ
How do you create a discount code in Shopify?
In your Shopify admin, go to Discounts and click Create discount. Pick Amount off products, Amount off orders, Buy X get Y, or Free shipping. Under Method, select Discount code, enter the code, set the value, eligibility, usage limits, combinations, and active dates, then click Save.
What is the difference between a Shopify discount code and an automatic discount?
A discount code applies only when the shopper enters it at checkout. An automatic discount applies on its own in the cart and at checkout when the conditions are met. You choose under Method, and a store can have up to 25 active automatic discounts.
How do you limit how many times a Shopify discount code can be used?
In Maximum discount uses, check Limit number of times this discount can be used in total to cap total uses, or Limit to one per customer to allow one use per shopper. You can check both. With neither checked, the code has no usage limit.
Can customers use more than one discount code in Shopify?
Yes, if each discount allows it in its Combinations section. A customer can use up to 5 product or order discount codes and 1 shipping discount code on one order. Discounts don't combine by default, and two shipping discounts never apply together.
Does a Shopify discount code stop on its own when it ends?
Yes. If you click Set end date in Active dates, the code stops on that date in your store's time zone. Without an end date, it doesn't expire. A compare-at price sale is different: it stays until someone changes the price back.
Can Shoperator create a Shopify discount code?
For supported percentage-code work, Mark is a current entry path: you set the scope, review the preview, and approve before Shoperator creates the live code. Eligible connected merchants can also use a supported personal agent when their plan and rollout allow it. Verify the resulting code and its checkout behavior after an approved change. Automatic, fixed amount, Buy X get Y, and free shipping discounts are made in Shopify admin.