What is a discount code?

How a code works at checkout

The customer types the code, the shop checks that it exists, is active, falls within its dates, has uses left and meets any minimum spend, then calculates the discount and shows it as a line before payment. The check must happen on the shop's server, not in the customer's browser, otherwise a technically minded customer can change the result. Stripe's Checkout documentation describes the same pattern, with coupons that define the discount and promotion codes that customers type to apply them.

Where codes come from

Most shops use a few kinds at once: a public code in a newsletter or banner, private codes sent to individual customers, and codes given to partners or creators so the shop can see which audience bought. Unique codes are worth the extra effort for anything valuable, because public codes spread to coupon websites within days, where they are used by customers who would have paid full price anyway.

The pricing rules

A discount must be honest about the price it is taken from. Australian Consumer Law prohibits false or misleading claims about price, which covers inflated was prices and discounts that are not really available. UK and EU rules are similar. In practice, keep a code's terms short and visible, apply the advertised discount exactly, and do not raise the base price before a promotion so the discount looks larger.

Common mistakes

No minimum spend on a fixed amount code, so a $15 code makes a $15 item free. No expiry, so an old influencer code is still costing margin two years later. Stacking several codes on one order without meaning to. Codes that fail silently, so customers abandon instead of asking why. And launching a code without deciding how you will measure whether it brought new customers or just discounted existing ones.

Where it shows up in the product

OneCraft has no discount code screen of its own. When a site needs codes, the agent builds them from the loyalty guide into the site's own database: codes can be percent, fixed or free shipping, with a minimum subtotal, start and end dates and a usage limit; the order function checks them and computes the discount on the server, the checkout shows a code field with the applied line or a plain error, and codes are made in the site's admin area. Payments run through Stripe Checkout as a direct charge on the owner's connected Stripe account, with prices read from the site's database rather than the browser, on paid plans only; the platform fee is 2 percent on Starter, 1 percent on Pro and 0.5 percent on Pro+, with Stripe's own fees on top.

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