What’s the Difference Between Coupons and Sales Campaigns in Zibster?
Zibster provides two tools for offering discounts and promotions on your website: Coupons and Sales Campaigns. While both reduce prices for your customers, they function differently and are designed for different promotional strategies. Understanding how each option works will help you choose the right approach and avoid confusion during checkout.
Coupons vs. Sales Campaigns: Key Differences
Coupons
Coupons require customers to enter a coupon code at checkout to receive a discount. They are best suited for targeted, controlled, or limited promotions.
Coupons can be used for:
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Products
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Services
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Scheduler bookings
Important notes about coupons:
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Only one coupon code can be used per order
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Coupons can be limited by:
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Expiration date
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Number of uses
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Specific items or item groups
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Minimum or maximum order totals
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Coupons do not work with:
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Invoices
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Form Payments
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Common uses for coupons:
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Client-specific or private discounts
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Referral or loyalty rewards
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Single-use or limited promotions
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Free or discounted service offers
Sales Campaigns
Sales Campaigns automatically apply discounts without requiring customers to enter a code. Sale pricing is visible immediately while customers browse your store or services.
Campaigns can be applied to:
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Products
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Services
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Scheduler bookings
Important notes about campaigns:
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Discounts apply automatically to eligible items
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Sale pricing is visible before checkout
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Campaigns can apply to:
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All items
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Specific categories
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Selected individual items
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Campaigns are ideal for broad, time-based promotions
- Campaigns do not work with:
Invoices
Form Payments
Common uses for campaigns:
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Holiday sales
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Seasonal promotions
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Limited-time sales
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Store-wide percentage-off discounts
Choosing the Right Option
Use Coupons if you want:
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Customers to enter a discount code
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Usage limited to specific clients
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A single-use or tightly controlled promotion
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A free or special-offer incentive
Use Sales Campaigns if you want:
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Discounts applied automatically
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Sale prices visible upfront
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A broad promotion with no extra checkout steps
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A streamlined, friction-free shopping experience
Using Coupons and Campaigns Together
Zibster allows you to control whether coupons can be used in addition to Sales Campaigns. This setting is managed in your Campaign preferences. You can choose to:
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Prevent coupons from stacking with sales
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Allow coupons to apply on top of sale pricing
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Control how overlapping discounts are handled
For more details, see the related article on managing coupon and campaign stacking.