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There are many different ways to discount products on the Shopify platform, and all of them have advantages and disadvantages. There is no perfect way to do it, so the best approach is the one that fits your promotion and the item you are discounting. Let’s take a look at them!
EG automatic discounts are our recommended way to discount rewards. You create them on the rule page, and they apply only to items EG added to the cart. For instance, if an EG rule gives product A free once the cart reaches $50, only a product A that EG added gets the discount, so a customer can't add a second one themselves and get it free.
Advantages:
+ They only apply to products added to the customer’s cart by EG
+ The saving shows in the cart straight away
+ Applied automatically, with nothing for the customer to do
+ Created from the rule page, so they automatically match the rule's conditions
+ Work with targeted rules (magic links, customer tags, order history), subscription products, and fixed-amount or percentage pricing on popup rules
+ Don't stop trigger products from getting other discounts, as long as those discounts are set to combine
Disadvantages:
- Count toward Shopify's limit of 25 active automatic discounts per store. The limit covers all automatic discounts, not just app ones.
Shopify automatic discounts are a good second choice when you want the discount to apply to any qualifying cart, however the item got there. You can create one from the EG rule page, or in the Shopify admin under Discounts. A full guide is available here.
+ Discounts shown immediately in cart
+ Lots of granular controls, such as usage limits and scheduling
+ Can combine with other discounts when both are set to combine
- Only available for EG rules that apply to all customers
- In a Buy X Get Y discount, the "X" (trigger) items can't receive another product discount
- Count toward the same limit of 25 automatic discounts
Promo codes are set up in the Shopify admin under Discounts, and EG can apply one automatically when a rule fires. The official guide is available here. They don't count toward the automatic discount limit, so they suit stores running many promotions at once. More than one code can be used on an order when the codes are set to combine.
+ Many offers can run at the same time
+ Lots of granular controls
+ Can combine with other discounts when both are set to combine
- The saving usually shows only at checkout, not in the cart
Some merchants use zero-priced products instead of a discount. These are special products set up on your online store with the price set to 0.
This approach is very risky, as some customers may attempt to cheat your promotion and order lots of the zero-priced gift item.
EG attempts to limit the ways customers can cheat with the setting that prevents customers adding the reward outside the rule, however it’s important to know THIS WILL NOT PREVENT ALL FRAUDULENT ORDERS. There are many reasons why, and although we work hard to ensure this setting works well, we almost never recommend this approach.
Furthermore, you need to remember to remove the zero-priced gift item from your store after the promotion has ended.
+ Discounts shown immediately in cart
+ You can still use promo codes and automatic discounts elsewhere
- Customers can cheat your promotion and make zero-priced orders.
- Very hard to control
- Inventory tracking can be troublesome.
Although some customers use this approach, we would only recommend it if you are gifting an item which isn’t valuable. Think about giving away free candies at the counter in a traditional brick-and-mortar store: there will always be someone who sticks their hand in and takes a handful. That’s ok because it’s candies, but this can also happen on your online store, so we don’t recommend it unless you are comfortable with this!
Many discounting apps are available on the Shopify App Store. Some generate a single-use code at checkout, which means the saving isn't visible in the cart. If you use one alongside EG, check that its discounts are set to combine with yours.
