How to Add Discounts in WooCommerce the RIGHT WAY (Step by Step)

Do you want to add discounts in WooCommerce? If you are looking for a step-by-step guide, keep reading this article.

Offering discounts is one of the most effective ways to attract new customers, boost sales, and reward loyal buyers in any online store.

If you’re running a WooCommerce-powered website, applying discounts isn’t just easy—it can be done in multiple ways depending on your goals. Whether you want to run limited-time promotions, offer bulk purchase discounts, or reward specific users, WooCommerce gives you all the tools you need.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the right way to add discounts in WooCommerce, step by step, while ensuring your pricing strategy stays smart and profitable.

NOTE: This guide will be a bit long. Feel free to use the table of contents box below to navigate to specific sections as needed.

Why Offer Discounts in WooCommerce

Offering discounts in your WooCommerce store isn’t just about slashing prices—it’s a strategic move that can lead to better sales, happier customers, and long-term business growth. When done correctly, discounts can create a sense of urgency, boost customer loyalty, and improve your store’s overall performance.

Here are a few strong reasons why adding discounts makes sense:

• Increase Conversions: Discounts lower the entry barrier for hesitant buyers. When people see they’re getting a deal, they’re more likely to complete the purchase, especially if there’s a time limit attached.
• Clear Out Old Stock: Do you have seasonal items or slow-moving products? Discounts are a great way to move inventory without heavy losses.
• Attract New Customers: First-time visitors love introductory discounts. It encourages them to try your products and builds trust for future orders.
• Drive Traffic During Slow Periods: If your store sees seasonal dips in sales, well-timed discounts can drive traffic and sales during otherwise quiet times.
• Reward Loyalty: Offering exclusive discounts to repeat customers or email subscribers strengthens relationships and encourages them to come back.

Remember, discounts aren’t a “set it and forget it” tactic. You’ll need to test different offers, monitor their performance, and ensure your discount strategy aligns with your overall business goals.

When to Offer WooCommerce Discounts

Timing is everything when it comes to offering discounts in your WooCommerce store. Launching a promotion at the right moment can significantly boost conversions and drive repeat purchases. Here are some of the best times to offer discounts:

• During Holidays and Festive Seasons: Shoppers expect deals during festivals like Diwali, Christmas, New Year, or Black Friday. Offering discounts during these high-traffic periods can help you boost sales and gain new customers.
• On Product Launches or Store Anniversaries: Celebrate milestones with your audience by offering limited-time discounts. This not only drives sales but also builds a stronger brand connection.
• When Launching a New Product Category: Encourage users to explore a new category or product line by offering an introductory discount. It helps you test product-market fit while rewarding early buyers.
• When Cart Abandonment Rates are High: Use conditional discount triggers or exit-intent popups to offer a small coupon code if users attempt to leave with items in their cart.
• For First-Time Customers: Give a warm welcome with a one-time discount code for new users. It encourages that first purchase and improves customer acquisition.
• To Clear Old or Seasonal Inventory: If you have stock that isn’t moving, use time-limited discounts to push those products before they become dead weight.
• When Launching Loyalty or Referral Programs: Use discounts to incentivize referrals or reward loyal customers for repeat purchases.
• To Recover Inactive Customers: Run re-engagement campaigns with special discount codes for users who haven’t purchased in a while.

Now you know when you need to offer discounts on your WooCommerce store. In the next section, we’ll discuss the various types of coupon codes available in WooCommerce.

Types of Discounts You Can Offer in WooCommerce

There are multiple types of discounts available. Below, we will list ten of the popular discount types that you can offer in your WooCommerce store.

1. Percentage-Based Discounts

Percentage discounts are one of the most common forms of discounts offered by WooCommerce stores. These discounts allow you to offer a set percentage off a product or order.

For instance, a 10% off on the total order can encourage customers to buy more. These types of discounts are great for attracting attention to specific products or promotional events.

2. Fixed Price Discounts

With fixed price discounts, you can offer a specific amount off the regular price. For example, $20 off a single item or $50 off an entire order.

Fixed-price discounts are often used to make a product more affordable and easier for customers to understand, as they provide an exact dollar value of the savings.

3. Buy One, Get One (BOGO) Offers

Buy-one-get-one (BOGO) offers are incredibly effective at encouraging customers to make additional purchases.

These offers typically include promotions like “Buy one, get one free” or “Buy one, get 50% off on the second item.” This discount type is often used to clear stock or increase the sales volume of low-performing products.

4. Bulk Purchase Discounts

Bulk purchase discounts reward customers who buy in larger quantities. This type of discount is great for both customers and stores, as it encourages larger orders and increases your average order value.

For instance, a 10% discount for buying five or more of a certain product can encourage customers to stock up.

5. Seasonal Discounts

Seasonal discounts are a way to offer special promotions during specific seasons or holidays, like Christmas or Black Friday. These discounts can be either percentage-based or fixed-value discounts and are typically used to attract more customers during peak shopping periods.

6. Shipping Discounts

Offering free or discounted shipping can be a powerful way to incentivize customers to make a purchase. You can offer free shipping on orders above a certain value or provide a fixed discount on shipping costs.

Customers are often motivated to buy when they see that they can save on delivery charges.

7. Loyalty Discounts

Reward your returning customers with loyalty discounts. These can be applied automatically to their orders or through customer loyalty programs. For example, a 10% discount for customers who have made more than five purchases from your store.

This not only increases customer retention but also creates a sense of appreciation among your loyal customers.

8. Time-Limited Discounts

Time-limited discounts create a sense of urgency among customers, prompting them to make a purchase quickly. Offering a discount for a limited time, such as 24 hours or during a flash sale, can encourage customers to act quickly and take advantage of the deal.

9. Referral Discounts

Referral discounts are an excellent way to encourage your customers to share their experience with others about your store. Customers can receive a discount for referring new customers, and the referred customer can also get a discount. This creates a win-win situation for both the referrer and the new customer.

10. Membership Discounts

Offering membership discounts allows you to incentivize customers to join a membership program or subscription service. Members can access exclusive discounts or special pricing, which encourages long-term customer loyalty.

How to Add Discounts in WooCommerce

There are two methods you can use to add a discount to a WooCommerce store.

• By using the default WooCommerce option
• With a dedicated plugin like YayPricing

Below, we will show you both options. So, based on your preferences, you can choose an option.

1. Default Method

If you need a straightforward way to offer discounts in WooCommerce, follow these steps.

You will create coupons and customize the discount amount for each customer. So when the customer applies that coupon, the total order value will be modified.

To do this, go to the coupons section. You can see it under marketing.

From there, you can create a new coupon.

Next, you can make a coupon code, configure how much discount you are planning to offer and publish it.

From the same page, you can add the usage restrictions and limits for the coupon.

Once you are done, test the coupon from the front end.

As you can see from the screenshot, a 30% discount has been added to the total cart value. Next, let’s see how you can use a plugin for the task.

2. Plugin Method

For this tutorial, we will be using the YayPricing plugin. It is a freemium plugin. If you need the free version (with some limitations), you can check the WordPress plugins repository.

In our case, we will use the premium version, which unlocks all the major features. You can download it from here. Once you have got the plugin, install and activate it.

2.1 Setting Up Site-wide Discounts

Configuring the Plugin

On the left-hand side of the dashboard, you can see its settings.

Now, you will see options like:

• Product pricing
• Cart discount
• Checkout fee

For this tutorial, we will be using the product pricing rule. Click the “Add your first rule” button, and you’ll see all the pre-made options.

Most available campaigns focus on WooCommerce product discounts. From there, choose a campaign you like.

You will now be moved to the main dashboard.

In the name field, you can enter any name you like. It won’t be visible in the front end. When you have created multiple campaigns, the name will help you identify certain ones in the backend.

Via the rule type dropdown, you can also switch the campaign type.

If you don’t want to offer a 50% discount, you can change the value from here.

Now, you need to choose which products you want to get this discount for. By default, all products will get the discount.

But if you like, you can change it to something else.

Save the rule and check the store from the front end.

Testing the Configuration

As you can see in the screenshot, the total price of the product has been halved. YayPricing also has a conditional logic function. So if you need to apply specific conditions, that’s possible.

Here’s how you can apply the discount to people who have more than $100 worth of products in their cart.

Once you have saved the rule, check the cart value, and you will see that since the total is below $100, the discount will not be applied.

So when someone adds more than $100 worth of products to their cart, the discount will be applied.

Similarly, you can tweak the discount campaigns and make them unique. There are no limits on how many campaigns you can create with YayPricing. So, create as many campaigns as you need.

2.2 Show Offers on Product Pages

With the help of YayPricing, you can show the discount on the product pages. The plugin features an encouraging notice. If you go to the YayPricing settings, you can see the’ Encourage notice’ option.

You need to enable it from there.

Once you have configured it, save the settings. After that, you can check the product page from the front end and see the notice.

As you can see in the screenshot, the plugin added a notice to the bottom of the screen. This way, you can promote your discounts, generate more revenue, and increase customer loyalty.

2.3 Adding Countdown Timers

If you need to create scarcity and use it to your advantage, look no further. Use countdown timers. People hate losing a good deal. So, you might want to use a countdown timer for the task.

There are dedicated plugins available to add a countdown timer to your WordPress site. Some page builder plugins also have this function. Here, we are using Brandy WordPress theme. It’s one of the best themes for e-commerce stores.

If you are using the Brandy theme, you can use the Brandy Blocks plugin.

So, if you are using Brandy, use the Blocks plugin. Install and activate it on the website.

After activation, you can start using their countdown timer block. You can add it to the sidebar, posts, or pages.

Here’s how to add a countdown timer to a page.

Now, a countdown timer will be added to the page.

On the right-hand side, you can see all the customization options you can do for the countdown timewr. The things you need to do are change the time duration, modify the styling, etc.

You should also add some content and a CTA to let the user know about the discount. Once you are done, you can publish or update the page.

If you have a page to list all the limited-time offers or the current deals that are happening now, this is an ideal option.

2.4 On the Order Confirmation Email

To do this, we need to edit the email template. By default, WordPress won’t allow editing email templates. So, you need to use a dedicated plugin like YayMail.

YayMail is a freemium WordPress plugin that you can use to customize email templates. The Lite version can be downloaded from the WordPress plugins repository, and the premium version can be purchased from here.

Once you have activated the plugin, you can view its settings on the left-hand side. Open it, and you will be redirected to the YayMail editor.

From the dropdown at the top, you can switch the email templates.

Select the email template you need to edit. In this case, we will use the completed order template.

On the left-hand side, you can see all the available blocks you can add to the template. The right side will show you a preview of the email.

You can add a text block to the template and start adding the content for the coupon promotion. In our case, we will promote a coupon code that offers an extra discount on the customer’s next purchase.

So, configure the text block like this:

The best thing about this option is that to claim the coupon, the customer needs to complete another purchase. So, that’s more revenue for you.

If you’d like, you can also use the conditional logic feature available with the YayMail plugin to customize the block further. The coupon code will only be displayed when the user has spent over a certain amount.

That’s it!

This is how you can use YayPricing to handle WooCommerce discounts.

Pros and Cons of Using a Dedicated Plugin for the Discounts

Since there are two methods available for this task, you might be confused. However, if you need total control over the discounts, we recommend using the plugin method.

Here are the main pros and cons of using a dedicated plugin for this task:

Pros	Cons
Supports BOGO, bulk pricing, cart conditions, and more	Some advanced rules are only available in the premium version
Clean, user-friendly interface that blends well with WooCommerce	It may take time to fully understand all available features
Easy to create dynamic pricing strategies without custom code
Powerful rule-based discount engine with flexible conditions
Compatible with many themes and WooCommerce extensions

Best Practices When Offering WooCommerce Discounts

Offering discounts can supercharge your WooCommerce store’s performance, but only if done right. Here are some best practices to make sure your discount strategy boosts sales without hurting your profit margins:

• Set clear goals: Decide why you’re offering a discount — whether it’s to boost sales, move old stock, attract new customers, or improve customer loyalty.
• Use smart conditions: With plugins like YayPricing, apply rules like cart total, user role, or product type to ensure discounts are targeted and effective.
• Avoid discount fatigue: Overusing discounts can make customers expect them all the time, which can hurt your long-term revenue and brand value.
• Test different strategies: Try different discount types (e.g., fixed vs. percentage) and monitor which works best for your audience and profit margins.
• Optimize for mobile: Ensure that your discounts display correctly and apply smoothly on mobile devices, where many customers complete purchases.

Following these practices can help you in the long run.

How to Promote Your WooCommerce Discounts

Once your discount strategy is ready, the next step is getting it in front of potential customers.

Start by highlighting the discounts on your homepage and product pages with banners or badges to make them easily visible. Use your email list to inform subscribers about ongoing deals—whether it’s a flash sale, a seasonal offer, or a discount for first-time buyers.

Social media platforms are also powerful tools for spreading the word. You can post stories, reels, or countdowns to generate urgency and excitement.

If you have an active blog, create posts around promotions or related buying guides to drive traffic toward your offers subtly.

Additionally, consider setting up exit-intent pop-ups or cart-based triggers that offer discounts to users about to leave your site. Running limited-time campaigns with a visible countdown timer can also help drive conversions.

Most online stores use this tactic to drive more sales by creating a sense of scarcity.

How to Track the Performance of Your Discounts

Tracking the performance of your WooCommerce discounts is essential to understanding their effectiveness and making data-driven decisions to optimize future campaigns. Here are some methods and tools you can use to track the performance of your discounts.

1. Analyze Coupon Code Usage

If you’re using coupon codes for discounts, track how often each code is used. You can analyze which codes are more popular and which ones generate the highest revenue. This data can be accessed through WooCommerce’s built-in reporting or third-party tools.

2. Customer Feedback and Surveys

After a successful discount campaign, engage with your customers to gather feedback. You can send a simple survey asking them about their shopping experience, whether they were attracted to the discount, and what products they purchased.

Customer insights can provide valuable context for your performance metrics.

3. Monitor Sales Performance

Keep an eye on your sales reports before and after implementing a discount. Comparing your sales figures will help you understand whether the discount boosted sales or attracted the right type of customers.

Look for spikes in product purchases or specific categories that your discounts target.

4. Track Conversion Rate

Use Google Analytics or other analytics tools to monitor your site’s conversion rate. A successful discount should ideally increase conversions, so tracking this metric will allow you to see if customers are more likely to complete a purchase after applying a discount code.

5. Use UTM Parameters

When promoting discounts through email, social media, or ads, include UTM parameters in the links you share. This helps track the effectiveness of your discount campaigns across different marketing channels.

By monitoring the traffic that arrives at your site from these campaigns, you can see which promotions are driving the most sales.

You can use this campaign builder to create custom targeting URLs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Now, let’s see some frequently asked questions and answers regarding the topic.

Conclusion

Offering discounts in WooCommerce isn’t just about slashing prices—it’s about creating smart, targeted offers that encourage conversions, boost sales, and build long-term customer loyalty.

Whether you’re running flash sales, offering bulk discounts, or rewarding loyal buyers, the right strategy can make a noticeable difference.

With tools like YayPricing, setting up advanced discount rules becomes easier and more effective.

Just remember to plan your offers wisely, monitor results, and always keep the customer experience in focus. When done right, WooCommerce discounts can be a powerful asset to your store’s growth.

Do you know any other method to add discounts in WooCommerce?

Let us know in the comments.