How do I set up Promotions?

You may want to offer specific promotions at your store. Shift4Shop allows you to configure any type of promotion you can think of. This guide will show you the step-by-step process on how to setup example promotions.

Promotion Setup
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For information on the Promotion Manager tool itself, please refer to our guide on it here.

Examples
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This section will show you specific examples of how to set up certain types of promotions. We'll be using generic types of products for these examples so feel free to substitute your own product offerings in these scenarios.

Free Shipping When an Order is Over $XXX
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You may want to only give free shipping to orders that are over a certain amount of money. Let's say $200 or more as an example.

To do this under the promotion manager:

1. Go to Marketing >Promotion Manager
2. Click the Add Promotion Button.
3. Type in a name for the Promotion
   Example: Free Shipping Promotion
4. In the Promotion description field, add the details for your free shipping promo
   Example: Free shipping for orders over $200.00!
5. Add the start and end dates you would like this promotion to be valid for.
6. Leave the discount field blank
7. Click +Save.

Great, now let's look at the settings involved. Click the +Icon next to Promotion Rules and specify whether this will be a coupon or automatic promo, set the customer pricing group it applies to, the country/state limitations etc. These can be set to whatever your preferences are.

For the purpose of this example, the main setting you'll want to concentrate on is the "Order Amount ($)" setting.

7. Go to the "Order Amount ($) section and enter "200" in the "Min Amount ($)" field.
8. Click "Save" at the top right.

By now we've specified that the promo will apply when the order is over $200. Now let's set the "Free Shipping" part of it.

7. Click on the +Icon next to Promotion Offers
8. Mark the checkbox labeled "Free Shipping" and save the page.

You can pretty much leave the rest of the offer settings untouched since all we're really doing is giving free shipping to orders over $200.

After saving your promotion, click on the "click here to enable it now" link and you're all set! Orders over $200 will enjoy free shipping.

Buy One, Get One Free
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You may want to offer a promotion where a customer purchases a specific item and receives another one free. This one is a little trickier so pay close attention.

To do this:

1. Go to Marketing >Promotion Manager
2. Click the Add Promotion Button.
3. Type in a name for the Promotion
   Example: Buy One, Get One Free
4. In the Promotion description field, add the details for your free shipping promo
   Example: Buy one pair of sunglasses, get a second pair free!
5. Add the start and end dates you would like this promotion to be valid for.
6. Leave the discount field blank
7. Click +Save.

Good job! Now let's review the settings. As before, we'll go over the Rules section first. Click the +Icon next to Promotion Rules and specify whether this will be a coupon or automatic promo, set the customer pricing group it applies to, the country/state limitations etc. These can be set to whatever your preferences are.

For the purpose of this example, the main setting you'll want to concentrate on here is the "Applies if these Products are in the Basket" setting.

8. Go to the "Applies if these Products are in the Basket" section and use the "Action >Change" button (at the right) to select the product.
   In this case, the main pair sunglasses.
9. Set the Qty field for the item to 1
10. Click "Save" at the top right

By now we've specified that the promo will apply when the shopper adds 1 of the main pair of sunglasses to their cart. We've got the "Buy One" part covered. Now let's cover the "Get One Free" part of it.

11. Click on the +Icon next to Promotion Offers
12. Go down to the "Fixed Price Product" section and click on the "Change" button
13. Select the same pair of sunglasses
14. Set its price to 0

You can pretty much leave the rest of the offer settings untouched since all we're really doing is adding one free pair of sunglasses when the shopper orders the same pair. After saving your promotion, click on the "click here to enable it now" link and you're all set!

Bulk Discount
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For this example, we'll show how a promotion can be used when a customer orders items in bulk. For Example: If the shopper purchases 10 items, they get 50% off a separate product.

1. Go to Marketing >Promotion Manager
2. Click the Add Promotion Button.
3. Type in a name for the Promotion
   Example: Bulk Shirt Order
4. In the Promotion description field, add the details for your free shipping promo
   Example: Buy 10 Shirts, get a knit sweater half off!
5. Add the start and end dates you would like this promotion to be valid for.
6. Make the discount field 50 and make it a percentage
7. Click +Save.

So now, we have a promotion that is oferring 50% off. We still need to fine-tune it though, so click the +Icon next to Promotion Rules and specify whether this will be a coupon or automatic promo, set the customer pricing group it applies to, the country/state limitations etc. These can be set to whatever your preferences are.

For the purpose of this example, the main settings you'll want to concentrate on here are the "Order Quantity" and "Applies if Products from these Categories are in the Basket" settings.

8. Go to the Order Quantity section and set 10 for "Min Quantity"
9. Next, scroll down to the "Applies if Products from these Categories are in the Basket" and click on the "+Add" button there
10. Select whatever category the shirts reside in.
11. Click "Save" at the top right

What we've done so far is created a promotion that will offer 50% off on the order when the shopper has 10 items in their cart, and if those 10 items reside in the Shirts category. If we leave this promotion as it is, the ultimate effect will be 50% off the whole order. That's not what we want. Instead we want to have the 50% discount apply to the Knit Sweater. So let's read on:

12. Click on the +Icon next to Promotion Offers
13. Look for the "Discount Applies to this Product" setting and click its "Change" button
14. Select the item that will get the 50% off
    In this case, the knit sweater.
15. Save your promotion and enable it.

You're all set! The store will now take an order for 10 items from the shirts category and - if the shopper adds the knit sweater to their order - apply 50% off the sweater.

Of course, these are all basic examples of how to create different types of promotions on the store. We don't expect you to limit your store to just these three promotions. Our goal in writing out these examples is to illustrate how some of the various settings can be used to get to (or at least close to) the effect you're looking for.

Feel free to experiment and create your own types of promotions now that you have a better understanding of how the store "thinks" when it comes to promos.

Get X Discount if Previously Purchased Product Y
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This example covers how to offer a discount to customers who have purchased a specific product in the past. These promotions are an effective strategy to reward loyal customers, boost sales and profits, and clear out slow-moving inventory.

For instance, you could offer a returning customer a 10% discount on printer paper if they previously purchased printer ink. Additionally, you can set the number of days a product was previously purchased. These promotions can be implemented as either discount codes or automatic discounts.

1. Log into your store and go to Marketing > Promotion Manager
2. Click Add a Promotion then enter a Promotion Name, Description, Start Date and End Date, Promotion Type and Discount. Click Save.
3. Click Promotion Offers then click the Change button for Discount Applies to this Product and select or search for a product for the discount. (This is the product that will be discounted if a Returning Customer previously purchased a product or products from a specific category)
4. Click Promotion Rules
   • a. Select Returning Customers.
   • b. Choose your preference for Requires Coupon and Discount Group
5. Scroll down to Applies if any of these Products or Products from these Categories ( This is where you specify what Product the Returning Customer previously purchased and when). Select Previously Purchased and enter a number. Please note that entering a number is optional.
6. To specify if the previously purchased product belongs to specific Category, click the Add button under Includes Products in these Categories
7. To specify a previously purchased product, move down to the Applies if these Products are in the Cart section and click the Action gear then Change to select or search for the previously purchased product. Click Save.

Troubleshooting
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Regardless of how carefully they're set up, there's always a chance that a promotion will not work the way you planned. If your promotion is not functioning or acting "wonky" (actual technical term), there are a few settings you can double check to make sure your promotion has been properly configured.

• Check the Total Uses field Promotion Manager section.
  Make sure the Total Uses for the promotion is not at 0.
• Check the Uses per Customer field in under the Promotion Manager section.
  Make sure you have not ordered more than the allotted Uses per Customer allows for in the promotion. In fact, while testing the promotion for yourself, it may be best to raise the number of uses a bit to cover for trial and error.
• Start/End Dates
  Make sure the order has been placed within the Start and End date for the promotion. Check the start and end date of your promotion to make sure it isn't expired or set for the future.
• Enabled?
  Make sure your promotion is Enabled.

Of course, if all else fails, our support team can take a look and offer assistance. Log into your support portal and leave us a ticket so we can have a look!