Automated Discount Code Sets
Introduction
An Automated Discount Code Set creates a referral discount code in your ecommerce system for every BrandChamp included in the set. You can target the set to include all your BrandChamps or just those who have, or don't have, a matching tag. A discount code will also be created for any future BrandChamps who join your program and match the set targeting.
If any of the BrandChamps in a set later leaves your program, is removed by an admin, or they no longer match the set targeting, then their discount code will be automatically deleted from your ecommerce system also.
The format of the generated codes is configurable and is based on part of the BrandChamp's name plus a random component. For example, a BrandChamp called "John Smith" might get a discount code like "JOHNS482". You can edit the auto-generated codes to provide custom codes instead, and you can also bulk regenerate codes with a single click. Great if coupons get on coupon sharing sites for example.
For more differences between automated and manual discount code sets, see our article here.
Creating an Automated Discount Code Set
Create a Discount Code Set as usual by going to the Referrals -> Discount Code Sets area and clicking “Add Set”.
In the General properties of the set, select to automatically create codes:
When you select to automatically create codes, a new "Code Generation Settings" tab appears which lets you select in which ecommerce integration to generate the codes, and what the format and value of each will be. For example, the following settings will generate referral codes in Shopify which give 5% off.
The "Discount Code Format" area controls how our system will create new codes. In the example above, it will take up to 15 letters from a BrandChamp's first name and then add 3 random numbers to the end. We require a minimum of 3 random numbers to ensure we can always create unique codes and to allow you to regenerate codes at any time by clicking a button (more details below).
You can optionally allow your BrandChamps to edit their own codes by checking the "BrandChamps can edit their own discount codes" checkbox at the bottom of the form. For more details on this, see the Editing Codes section below.
You can click the "Show preview" link to show examples of what codes would look like for all your BrandChamps. Note: the preview will always show a preview for all your BrandChamps, even though the targeting options of the set may result in only a small number being included and actually having a code generated for them.
Finally, click the “Save” button to start the process of creating codes in your ecommerce system.
We don’t automatically send any email notifications to your BrandChamps when you create a new set, so you may want to send an email letting them know a new discount code is available.
Viewing Automated Discount Codes in Shopify
Once you create an Automated Discount Code Set in BrandChamp, you’ll see a new “BC-DISCOUNT-CODE-SET” entry in the Shopify Discount Codes area, as shown below.
Important Notes:
- Do not delete discount codes from within this Shopify collection. Manage the codes from within the BrandChamp interface instead.
- If you change details of the discount code in Shopify, that will not be reflected in BrandChamp. For example, if you create codes with a “5% off” value in BrandChamp but later change that to “10% off” via the Shopify interface, it will still show as “5% off” in BrandChamp
Editing Codes (Administrators)
An administrator can edit any code by clicking on the edit icon beside it:
A new random code will be suggested, or you can edit that and choose a custom code:
Editing Codes (BrandChamps)
Checking the "BrandChamps can edit their own discount codes" option at the bottom of the "Code Generation Settings" tab will allow any BrandChamps in that set to edit their own discount code.
In the BrandChamp portal, your BrandChamps will see an “edit” option beside their code for that set:
Clicking that will allow them to edit their own code up to 3 times.
When a BrandChamp edits their code, it will immediately delete their old one and create a replacement in your store.
We have implemented a profanity filter that will prevent creation of inappropriate codes and you can always review recently created custom codes by clicking on the “Custom Codes” filter in the discount code set:
Admins can always edit a code to any value if necessary. If an admin generates a new random code for a BrandChamp, it will reset the edit count so the BrandChamp can customize their own code once again.
Generating New Codes
You can automatically generate new codes by selecting the codes you want to update and clicking the "Generate New Codes" button. This will delete the selected codes from your ecommerce system and start creating replacements.
The new codes will use the same format defined in the set - for example take the first 5 letters of someone's first name - but will generate a new random number part. That's one of the reasons why we need to include a random number.
Note: if you have created special custom codes for one or more of your BrandChamps, you may want to exclude them from your selection to avoid generating a standard format code again.
Deleting an Automated Discount Code Set
To delete an automated set, click the Delete button up the top right. This will immediately delete all discount codes for this set from your ecommerce system.
