Overview of coupons

Coupons are a specific type of pricing rule.

A coupon is used to make pricing adjustments to an order. These adjustments will be applicable only if the coupon is applied to the order and certain conditions are met. A coupon is characterized by conditions and effects. When a condition pertaining to a coupon is satisfied, the corresponding effect is applied to the order price. While pricing adjustments are made automatically in the context of pricing rules, for a coupon to affect an order's price, a user must add the coupon manually to the order. Pricing adjustments can be made at either the order level or the line level.

The effect of a coupon is applied to the order price as a discount. Discounts can either be an absolute amount or a percentage amount. A coupon that modifies an order price by an absolute amount can be applied only to a single currency. A coupon that modifies an order price by a percentage amount can be applied either to a single currency or all currencies.

While a pricing organization user can only create or modify a coupon, an enterprise user can only assign a coupon to customers.

Coupons are of the following types:

Combination: A combination coupon adjusts the price of a target item ID if a certain combination of source item IDs is present in the order. The coupon is applied only if the target item ID is already in the order. A combination coupon can have one target item, many items, and one action. A combination coupon can support multiple items, attributes, and categories.
A combination coupon may require that certain quantities of item IDs be present, for example, buy two televisions and get a free DVD player.
Item quantity: An item quantity coupon adjusts the price of an item if the customer buys more than a specified number of the product. An item quantity coupon can give either a percentage adjustment or an absolute adjustment on a single target item, and it can have one or more actions. An item quantity coupon can support multiple items, attributes, and categories.
For example, buy between 5 and 10 DVDs and get a 10% discount; buy 11 or more DVDs and get a 15% discount.
Order total: An order total coupon takes action if the total value of the order (before shipping and tax) falls within a range. Typically, the action is to reduce the order total by either a percentage adjustment or an absolute discount. An order total coupon can have one target item and one or more actions. An order total coupon can support multiple items, attributes, and categories.
For example, if the order total is between $100 and $200, get a 10% discount on the order total; if the order total is greater than $200, get a 15% discount on the order total.
Shipping charge order total: A shipping charge order total coupon applies a discount on the shipping charge based upon the order total. The discount can be a fixed amount, a percentage, or a flat fee shipping charge. A shipping charge order total coupon can have one target item, many target attributes, and one or more actions.
For example, if the order total is between $100 and $200, the shipping charge is discounted by 10%; if the order total is greater than $200, the shipping charge is discounted by 15%.

Note: You cannot use derived, computed, or reference attributes in coupons.

A customer can add one or more coupons to an order. A coupon affects the price of the items in an order only if a customer and the order meet the constraints defined for the coupon. When the pricing rules are applied, the rule associated with the coupon is also applied, and if it is valid for that order, the rule modifies a line item price in the same way as the other pricing rules.

You can define pricing rules and coupons that are mutually exclusive.

The Pricing Service also provides management APIs for pricing rules, coupons, and price lists.