How to Set Up Smart Discount Rules in WooCommerce

Did you know that 80% of US shoppers would consider purchasing from a new brand if they offered a discount? When you’re trying to attract new buyers, implementing smart discount strategies can significantly boost sales, increase average order values, and improve customer retention for your online store.

While traditional coupons require manual code entry at checkout, discount rules apply automatically when specific conditions are met. This not only simplifies the process for customers but also allows store owners to create more complex pricing strategies.

WooCommerce, however, offers very limited built-in functionality for discount sales. For example, you can’t schedule bulk discounts, only individual ones. Moreover, you can’t assign the same discount to multiple products in bulk. Instead, this is a time-consuming manual process where you edit the sale price of each product.

Thankfully, there is a way around that. The most effective solution is to use a dedicated discount plugin to unlock the full potential of different offers and create a wide range of promotions.

Which type of storewide discount is best?

When it comes to implementing discounts in your WooCommerce store, several strategies can be highly effective:

1. Percentage discounts: These apply a percentage reduction to product prices. They’re ideal for seasonal sales or clearance events and can be applied storewide or to specific products or categories.
2. Fixed amount discounts: These subtract a set amount from the product price or cart total, e.g. $2 off all hats, or $20 off orders over $150.
3. Fixed price discounts: Encourage bulk purchases by offering a set price for multiple items, such as “2 T-shirts for $20” or “Any 5 nail polishes for $25”.
4. Buy-One-Get-One (BOGO): Boost sales of specific items with offers like “Buy one, get one free” or variations like “Buy X, get Y”.
5. Tiered discounts: Incentivize larger orders with increasing discounts based on quantity, such as “Buy 2, get 10% off; buy 5, get 20% off”.
6. User role-based discounts: Offer special pricing to specific customer groups, such as wholesale buyers or loyal customers.

To implement any of these strategies easily, use WooCommerce Discounts – a user-friendly plugin that enables store owners to create all of these discount types and more. Let’s explore how to set up some of these discounts using this powerful tool.

Step-by-step guide to creating fixed-amount discounts with WooCommerce Discounts

Storewide sales are an excellent strategy for clearing excess stock and offering seasonal promotions. They help build customer loyalty and can increase Average Order Value (AOV) as shoppers tend to buy more when items are discounted. 

Let’s walk through the process of setting up a fixed-amount discount using the WooCommerce Discounts plugin.

Installing and activating the plugin

• Purchase the plugin and log in to your Studio Wombat account. 
• Go to the downloads tab and click on the plugin to save it locally.  
• Go to your WordPress dashboard → Plugins → Add New and upload the file.
• Activate the plugin, and you’re done! 

Creating your first discounts

1. Go to Marketing → Discounts.
2. Click on Add New and choose the type of discount you want. In this example, we’ll create a flat, fixed-amount discount of $3 off all hats. 
3. Choose a descriptive name for your discount and the time period.
4.  Select whether you want this to be applied to the entire store or specific products only. In this example, this will be the Hats category. After that, choose the discount amount, which can be a percentage or a fixed amount per item. 
5. You can add extra text to be displayed with each eligible product or to appear on the cart when the discount is applied. 
6. You can also add additional discount conditions such as minimum spend. For this discount, we don’t need any extra conditions, but we will exclude any items that are already on sale.
7. When you’re done, you’ll receive a useful summary of your discount, which you can double-check to ensure everything is according to your requirements. 

Maximize sales with product-specific and category-specific discounts

The WooCommerce Discounts plugin offers the flexibility to create highly targeted promotions. Let’s set up a discount for “10% off all accessories except sunglasses”:

1. Go to the step where you choose the products and select “Apply this discount to selected products only.”
2. Click on Add Products and choose the conditions. In this case, we want to select Accessories as the category and then exclude only Sunglasses.
3. Save your settings and check how it looks on the front end. 

Such targeted discounts can help you manage inventory more effectively by promoting slow-moving items or highlighting new product lines.

You can also combine different discount types. For instance, you might offer a percentage discount on a specific category while also providing a fixed-amount discount on the entire order if it reaches a certain threshold. This strategy can encourage customers to explore different product categories and increase their overall spend.

Increase cart value with bundle deals

Bundle deals are very effective in increasing the average cart value and encouraging customers to try new products. WooCommerce Discounts makes it easy to set up these promotions. Here’s how to create a bundle deal:

1. Navigate to the Discounts tab and choose “Free product(s)” as the discount type.
2.  Name your discount (e.g. “Buy 2 T-shirts, Get 1 Free”) and set the promotion period.
3. Set up the discount mode – do you want to give the same product for free or a different one? You can also opt in to have the system automatically add the eligible products to the cart instead of the customer having to do it.
4.  Set up the “Buy and Get” conditions:
   • Select the products or categories customers need to purchase (e.g. T-shirts).
   • Specify the required purchase quantity (“buy quantity” in the screenshot below) and the quantity of free products the user will receive (“get quantity” in the screenshot below). For example: Buy quantity “2” and Get quantity “1” means that the user needs to buy 2 products in order to get 1 for free.
   • Decide whether you want to repeat the discount recursively in the same cart: If the user buys 2 products, they get 1 free. If they buy 4 products, they get 2 free. If they buy 6 products, they get 3 free, etc.
5. Write any additional content to show up on the product page of eligible products. 
6. Add any additional conditions, such as minimum cart value and whether to exclude items already on sale.
7. Save your discount rule.

Both the “Free Product(s)” and “Buy X, Get Y” discounts allow you to create various bundle deals. For example:

• Buy any 2 T-shirts, get 1 free
• Buy a laptop, get 50% off a laptop bag
• Buy 3 books, get the cheapest one free

By strategically combining products, you can introduce customers to new items, clear out slow-moving inventory, or promote high-margin products. Experiment with different combinations to find the most effective bundles for your store and customer base.

How to set up user role-based discounts

Another great tactic is to create targeted discounts for specific user roles, such as wholesale customers, loyal customers, or members. Here’s how to set that up:

1. Choose the offer type from the Marketing tab, for example, a quantity discount.
2. Name your discount (e.g. “Wholesale 20% Off”) and choose the period. If you don’t, the discount will be applied indefinitely. 
3. Choose whether you want to apply this to the entire store or to specific products only. Let’s set it for the entire Clothing category.
4. Create your pricing tiers. 
5. Adjust the content settings, including whether you want the tiered pricing table to appear on the product page, what the columns in the pricing table need to be, and where it should be located on the product page. 
6. Next, create a condition so that the discount is only applied to users logged in as wholesalers. 
7. Save your discount rule.

This feature allows you to create sophisticated pricing strategies. For example, you could offer:

• 20% off for wholesale customers on orders over $500
• 10% off for registered members on all products
• 15% off for loyalty program members on specific categories

Remember to communicate these role-based discounts clearly to your customers to encourage sign-ups and repeat purchases.

Best practices and tips for WooCommerce discount success

To maximize the effectiveness of your WooCommerce discount strategy, consider these best practices:

1. Plan your discount strategy: Develop a clear, well-thought-out discount strategy that aligns with your business goals. Whether you’re aiming to clear inventory, boost sales during slow periods, or attract new customers, your discount strategy should support these objectives.
2. Use data to inform decisions: Analyze sales data and customer behavior insights to tailor your discount campaigns. This will help you figure out which products are popular, which ones need a boost, and what discount types have been successful in the past.
3. Segment your audience: Take advantage of WooCommerce Discounts’ user role-based discount feature to offer targeted promotions. Consider segmenting your customers based on:
   • New vs. returning customers
   • High-value customers
   • Customers who haven’t purchased in a while
4. Tailor your discounts to each segment: For example, offer a welcome discount to new customers or a loyalty discount to frequent buyers.
5. Communicate discounts effectively: Make your discounts visible and easy to understand and clearly state the discount terms to avoid customer confusion. Use clear messaging on your website, including:
   • Sales badges on product images
   • Banners announcing storewide sales
   • Pop-ups highlighting limited-time offers
6. Schedule discounts strategically: Time your discounts for maximum impact and use WooCommerce Discounts’ scheduling feature to set up these promotions in advance. Consider:
   • Seasonal sales (e.g. Black Friday, Christmas)
   • End-of-season clearance events
   • Special occasions relevant to your niche
7. Monitor and optimize: Continuously track the performance of your discount campaigns to refine your discount strategy over time. Consider A/B testing different discount types or amounts to determine what works best for your store. Pay attention to key metrics such as:
   • Conversion rate
   • Average order value
   • Total revenue
   • Profit margins

Boost your WooCommerce sales with storewide discounts 

Adding different types of discount rules in your WooCommerce store is a surefire way to attract new customers even if they’ve never heard of your brand before. Everyone wants to save money, and if you provide people with tempting deals, you’ll see your sales and customer retention rise in no time. 

With WooCommerce Discounts, you can easily create a wide range of promotional offers, from simple percentage discounts to complex bundle deals. The plugin’s strength lies in its versatility. You can set up storewide sales, create product-specific discounts, offer role-based pricing, and implement tiered discounts with ease. These features can really improve your ability to cater to different customer segments and shopping behaviors. Try out WooCommerce Discounts today and start creating the tailored promotional strategies your store needs to thrive.