Discount rules for WooCommerce: A comprehensive guide

Want to use discounts to boost your ecommerce site's sales and revenue? In this detailed tutorial, I'll show you step-by-step how to create various types of WooCommerce discount rules. The best part? It takes less than 10 minutes from start to finish.

WooCommerce discount rules are automated pricing instructions that apply reductions based on conditions like quantity, user roles, or cart total.

As an ecommerce store owner, you know firsthand that offering discounts can significantly boost your store's sales and revenue.

If you're looking for a detailed guide on how to add discount rules to your WooCommerce store, this tutorial has your back. Here, we'll discuss:

• The benefits of discount rules in WooCommerce.
• Types of WooCommerce discount rules.
• How to set up flexible discount rules using the powerful WooCommerce Discount Manager plugin.
• Lots more.

To begin, let's explore what WooCommerce discount rules actually are.

What are discount rules in WooCommerce?

In WooCommerce, discount rules are instructions you set up to offer price reductions or incentives to your customers based on certain conditions. They allow you to customize and control how discounts are applied to products in your online store. Discount rules determine when discounts trigger and how they affect final product prices.

There are many ways to customize discounts to fit your specific business needs and goals. However, at its core, discount rules comprise of:

• Conditions: The criteria that must be met for the discount to take effect. Conditions specify when a discount applies.
• Actions: Actions define what discount type applies when conditions are met. This includes percentage or fixed amount discounts.
• Usage limits: You can limit how often each discount applies per user or total uses. This prevents discount abuse.
• Date restrictions: Most offers work best with time limits. You can set start and end dates for each discount rule.

What is the difference between rules and conditions for WooCommerce?

The terms "rules" and "conditions" are sometimes used interchangeably. However, it's important to note that they don't mean the same thing.

Think of rules as the overarching guidelines or instructions for the discount. Rules define the actual action or outcome that occurs when the specified conditions are met. Conditions, on the other hand, are the criteria that must be met for a discount or promotion to apply. Conditions act as the prerequisites that trigger a particular rule.

To illustrate this with an example:

Let's say you want to offer a 15 percent discount in your store. To ensure that you don't lose money on each sale, you can stipulate that this discount only applies to customers who buy at least three items in each order.

In this case, the condition would be the minimum quantity of items in the cart - it needs to be three or more. And the rule would be the 15 percent discount applied to the total purchase amount. So, if a customer adds three or more items to their cart, the discount rule kicks in, and they get 15 percent off their order.

How discount rules work in WooCommerce

Discount rules automatically apply pricing reductions when specific conditions are met.

These rules require plugins since WooCommerce's native functionality only supports basic coupons. Once you've installed the right WooCommerce discount rules plugin, the rules process automatically at checkout without requiring customer coupon codes. If you have multiple discount rules then they will use priority settings to determine which discount applies.

I find that automating discounts this way saves hours compared to manually managing coupon codes. Plus, customers appreciate the convenience of automatic discounts appearing at checkout.

What are the benefits of discount rules in WooCommerce?

There are tons of practical benefits to creating discount rules to manage campaigns and promotions in your WooCommerce store. Here are the top ones:

Types of discount rules in WooCommerce

Discount rules in WooCommerce include percentage, fixed amount, BOGO, tiered, and role-based discounts.

Let's explore various types of discount rules that you can implement in your WooCommerce store:

• Percentage-based discounts: Percentage-based discounts reduce product prices by specified percentages. For example, offering 15 percent off all products during your yearly anniversary sale.
• Fixed amount discounts: Fixed amount discounts deduct specific currency amounts from products or orders. For example, offering a $10 discount on the first purchase over $50.
• BXGY (Buy X, Get Y) offers: BOGO deals give free products when customers purchase qualifying items. BXGY offers like buy one get one (BOGO) are excellent for clearing inventory or promoting specific products.
• Tiered discounts based on order subtotal or quantity: Tiered discounts offer lower prices as purchase quantities or values increase. For instance, ten percent off orders over $100, fifteen percent for orders over $200.
• Product-specific discounts: These discounts allow you to highlight or clear out specific products or categories. For instance, offering a 20 percent discount on all electronics or a $5 discount on a newly launched product range.
• Time-based discounts: Time-sensitive discounts have defined start and end dates to prompt customers to place orders swiftly. For example, a flash sale offering 30 percent off selected items for a 24-hour period.
• User role-based discounts: These discounts are tailored for specific customer segments based on specific user roles in WooCommerce. For instance, if you run a hybrid wholesale and retail store, you can offer a 20 percent discount to users registered with the wholesale role.
• Purchase history discounts: Purchase history discounts reward customers based on previous order values or frequency. For example, customers who've spent over $1000 lifetime might receive an exclusive 25 percent VIP discount.
• Free shipping offers: Free shipping offers waive delivery fees when cart conditions are met. For instance, you could offer free shipping on all orders over $50.

Introducing the best WooCommerce discount rule plugin

WooCommerce's default functionality for setting up discount rules is pretty limited. For example:

Several WooCommerce discount plugins can create automated pricing rules.

Basic plugins like Discount Rules for WooCommerce by Flycart offer limited features. However, WooCommerce Discount Manager provides everything you need, with all six discount types plus front-end pricing tables.

WooCommerce Discount Manager is a comprehensive WooCommerce discount plugin. It is the best plugin to create discount promotions and dynamic pricing rules in your online store.

It creates eight types of automated pricing reductions. This means that you can use it to create and manage virtually any type of discount rule - percentage-based, fixed amount, quantity-based, role-based, product-specific discounts, and more. It also displays tiered pricing tables on product pages showing quantity-based savings.

You can apply the discount rules storewide, to specific product categories, and specific products or variations. Customers won't even need to apply any coupon codes for the rules to take effect.

WooCommerce Discount Manager requires PHP 7.2 or higher and is compatible with WooCommerce 5.0 and above. Also, it has loads of built-in features to promote discount offers throughout your WooCommerce store.

Let's explore its features in more detail.

WooCommerce Discount Manager's key features

How do I set discount rules in WooCommerce?

This video demonstrates creating six types of WooCommerce discount rules using Discount Manager:

Setting up discount rules using the WooCommerce Discount Manager plugin is pretty straightforward. Follow these steps:

1. Install and activate WooCommerce Discount Manager

The setup instructions are similar to those of any other WooCommerce plugin:

1. Get WooCommerce Discount Manager.
2. Save the plugin's zip files to a folder on your computer.
3. Next, head into your WordPress admin area and locate the 'Plugins' section.
4. Then, select Add New → Upload Plugin and upload the plugin zip file you saved to your computer earlier.
5. Now, select Install Now → Activate.
6. Finally, enter the license key (from the email confirmation or your account on Barn2's website) into the plugin setup wizard and activate it.

2. Create a new discount rule

The next step is to add your preferred discount rule to your website:

1. When you install the WooCommerce Discounts Manager plugin, it adds a dedicated "Discounts" section to your WordPress admin area. You'll find this in Marketing → Discounts.

   

2. Next, select "Add New" to create a new discount rule.
3. Enter a name for the new rule.
4. Now, select the type of discount from the dropdown menu in the modal window. Here are the options for the type of discount rules you can create:
   • Simple discount: This gives shoppers a fixed dollar amount or percentage off.

     

   • Based on total spend: This sets a threshold amount that customers must spend in order to qualify for the discount rule.
   • Free products: With this rule, customers must buy a minimum number of products to qualify for a specified number of free products. (Note that the free products will either be the same-value items or the lowest-valued items in their cart).
   • Buy X products for a fixed price: This rule offers several items for a fixed amount. For example, a buy 2 t-shirts for $30 promotion.
   • Buy X products for Y discount: This rule gives shoppers either a fixed percentage off or a fixed amount off a portion of the entire cart subtotal.
   • Bulk pricing: This gives buyers a fixed percentage or amount off specific products in the cart or the entire cart value.

3. Customize the rule

1. "Which products?" - Here, you can define the products the discount rules should apply to. If you plan to apply the rule storewide, i.e., to all the products in your store, select 'All products'. Note that you can still specify specific products and categories to be excluded from this discount rule later on.

   

2. Now it's time to select the logic for this discount rule. For example, if you created a "Simple discount" in step 4 above, you can now define the fixed percentage or amount.
3. Next, toggle the "sale" badge on or off to add a banner on products that are eligible for the discount rule.
4. "Applies to" - Here, you can specify the users or user roles eligible for this discount rule, e.g., wholesale or retail customers. The options are: everyone, selected roles, and selected users.
5. "Availability" - Select "Always available" to add the discount rule indefinitely. Select "Specific dates" to add start and end dates and schedule the discount promotion. For example, if you want to offer a Black Friday Cyber Monday (BCFM) sale, I recommend scheduling it a few days before it is due to start.

Pro tip: For Black Friday sale setup, create a discount rule for all products, set a percentage or fixed discount, schedule the start date for Black Friday, and add an end date for automatic expiration.

3a. Setting up BOGO deals

1. Navigate to Marketing → Discounts.
2. Select the 'Free products' discount type.
3. Set the minimum purchase quantity.

I find that BOGO deals work particularly well for clearing seasonal inventory while maintaining profit margins.

3b. Creating bulk discount options

Many stores need bulk discounts to encourage larger orders. Here is how to set up this type of WooCommerce discount rule:

1. Select the 'Bulk pricing' discount type.
2. Enter your discount tiers.
3. Choose whether to display the tiered pricing table on product pages.

This plugin method saves time and reduces errors compared to manual coupon management.

6. Displaying discount rules on the front end

After setting up your discount rule, it's time to advertise them. WooCommerce Discount Manager lets you easily promote them throughout your site - on the product detail page and above the cart. Let's look at how to set this up on your site:

1. Within Marketing → Discounts, select the discount rule you want to promote.
2. Scroll down and update the following options:
   • "Product page content" - This is where you add a custom message to promote the discount rule on the product detail page of products that are part of the promotion. Note that you can use relevant emojis and even images to make your message as eye-catching and prominent as possible. For example, something like, "Buy 2 sunscreens, get 1 cleanser free 🎁".

     

   • "Content location" - There are six places on the product page where you can display the promotional message: before the product page content, before the product title, before the short description, before the add-to-cart button, before meta information, and before tabs.
   • "Cart notice" - You can also add another custom promotional message to the cart page. This will be shown above the cart when the discount rule is applied. Continuing with the above example, something like, 'Congrats 🎉! We've added your free product(s) to your shopping cart 🛒!'.
3. And that's it! Save the discount rule, then head to the front end of your site to check it out.

Here's a discount rule in action on the product detail page of a demo Woo site. Notice the custom message promoting the discount rule:

Here's the tiered pricing table for the bulk discount rule option:

And, the cart product page of a demo Woo store with another custom message to promote the discount rule:

7. Combining multiple Woo discount rules

WooCommerce Discount Manager lets you create and offer multiple discount rules at once.

For example, let's say you run a hybrid wholesale and retail store that sells fashion apparel and accessories. You can have the different discount rules active at the same time, such as:

• A buy one gets one free (BOGO) offer for shirts and trousers.
• Flat 20% off for wholesale buyers.
• Flat 5% off for retail customers.

Naturally, there might be some customers who qualify for more than one discount rule at the same time. Also, multiple products might be eligible for the same discount rule.

To make sure every sale remains profitable, WooCommerce Discount Manager ensures that only one discount can be applied at once. So, if you have more than one discount rule, you can indicate the priority for each one to be applied.

It's pretty easy to set this up: Head to Marketing → Discounts and use the drag-and-drop option to reorder the discounts to be applied in the order of priority. Note that priority 1 is the highest.

WooCommerce Discount Manager will automatically apply the highest-priority discount rule to each sale. This ensures every sale remains profitable for your business.

Start adding discount rules to WooCommerce today 🏷️

Discount rules automate pricing without requiring coupon codes from customers. The default options for creating and managing WooCommerce discount rules are not ideal for most stores. Instead, WooCommerce Discount Manager makes creating and managing discount rules super easy. It lets you:

Get WooCommerce Discount Manager and add discount rules to your ecommerce store in minutes!