# How to run a sale or discount (3 ways)

> Strikethrough sale prices, coupon codes, and Buy-X-Get-Y offers — what each one does and when to use it.

Guide: https://sitesplaced.com/help/how-to-guides/run-a-sale-or-discount · Section: How-To Guides · Last reviewed: 2026-08-23

There are **three** ways to discount on your store: a **sale price** on the product itself (shown struck-through), a **coupon code** the customer types in the cart, and an automatic **Buy X Get Y** offer. All three are free, all three are recalculated on our servers at checkout, and you can run them together. Here's each one and when to reach for it.

## 1. Sale price on a product (strikethrough)

Best for: marking down **specific products** with a visible "was/now" price — the festival markdown everyone recognises.

1. Open the product from **Products** and set **Original price** to the old (higher) price. The form notes: *Shown struck-through next to the price — set it higher than the price to show a sale.*
2. Set **Price** to the new, lower price and save.
3. On the storefront the original shows struck-through next to the sale price on product cards and the product page — no code needed.

To end the sale, clear **Original price** and put the normal price back in **Price**. If you sell sizes with **Different price per option**, the per-variant prices in the grid are what get charged — set the markdown there.

## 2. Coupon code (entered at checkout)

Best for: a code you **share** (newsletter, Instagram bio, WhatsApp broadcast), or a store-wide / category discount customers opt into.

1. Open **Settings → Discounts**, stay on the **Coupon codes** tab and click **+ Add Coupon**.
2. Type the **CODE** (e.g. `DIWALI15` — it is saved in uppercase with no spaces) and leave **Active** ticked.
3. Choose the **Discount type** — **Percentage off** or **Fixed amount off** — and enter the **Percent (%)** or **Amount**.
4. Open **More rules (category, sale items, min order, cap, expiry)** if you need any of: **Sale items** (how the coupon treats products that already have an original price), **Applies to** (**Whole cart** or **A category**), **Minimum order value**, **Max discount** (only for percentage coupons), and **Expires** (valid through the end of that day).
5. Press **Save**. The grey summary line under the coupon reads back exactly what it does — check it before you share the code.

The **Sale items** rule matters when you combine a sale price with a coupon. **Discount the sale price** stacks the coupon on top of the markdown. **Calculate on the original price** gives the shopper whichever is lower — the sale price or the coupon price — never both. **Not valid on sale items** skips marked-down products entirely.

## 3. Buy-X-Get-Y offer (automatic)

Best for: **bulk** incentives like *Buy 2, Get 1 Free* — applied automatically, no code, and shown as a badge on eligible product cards.

1. Open **Settings → Discounts → Offers** and click **+ Add Offer**.
2. Give it an **Offer name** (e.g. *Festive Buy 2 Get 1*) and leave **Active** ticked.
3. Set **Buy quantity** and **Get free** — *2* and *1* for a classic Buy 2 Get 1.
4. Under **Applies to** choose **All products** or **A category**. Under **Free item comes from** choose **Same products as above (cheapest free)**, **Any product in the cart**, or **A different category** — e.g. buy 2 sarees, get a blouse piece free.
5. Press **Save**. The cheapest eligible items in each qualifying group are made free automatically in the cart.

All three are covered field-by-field in [Discounts, coupons & offers](https://sitesplaced.com/help/md/online-stores/discounts-and-offers.md). Categories used by coupons and offers come from **Settings → Categories** — see [Categories](https://sitesplaced.com/help/md/online-stores/categories-and-collections.md).

> **Which should I use?:** Marking down a few items → **sale price**. A shareable promo or category-wide deal → **coupon**. Rewarding bigger carts → **Buy-X-Get-Y**. You can run more than one at once.

## Tell people about it

- **Announcement bar** — **Settings → Branding → Announcement bar (top of store)**. One line like *Diwali sale: 15% off with DIWALI15* on every page. The **Edit announcement** shortcut on your Home tab jumps straight there.
- **Welcome / promo popup** (Growth plan) — **Settings → Sales boosters**. Tick **Show a promo popup to first-time visitors**, write a **Heading** and pick the **Coupon to show** from your active coupons. Optionally tick **Ask for email before revealing the code** — captured emails land in your **Messages** tab. Your Home tab's **Create coupon** shortcut starts this flow.
- **Product badges** — on the product form, **Product badges** adds marks like *Free Shipping* or *Gift Ready* to a single product page.
- **Free-shipping bar** — also under **Sales boosters** — pairs well with a sale to lift the average cart.

For pricing the markdown itself, the [discount calculator](https://sitesplaced.com/tools/discount-calculator) shows your margin after a percentage off, and [this guide](https://sitesplaced.com/increase-sales-with-offers-and-discounts) walks through which offer types convert best for Indian stores.

## Good to know

- **One coupon per order.** A customer can apply a single code; offers still apply on top, and the coupon is worked out after the offer discount.
- **The coupon box only appears once you have created at least one coupon.** It sits in the cart under the items as a **Coupon code** field with an **Apply** button.
- **Codes are case-insensitive** for the customer — `diwali15` works — but an inactive or expired code is refused with a clear message.
- **Untick Active instead of Remove** to pause a code you may reuse; removing it also breaks the promo popup if that code was selected there.
- **Prices are never trusted from the browser.** Totals, coupons and offers are recalculated on the server, so a shared code cannot be tampered with.

## Troubleshooting

- **"This coupon needs a minimum order."** — the cart subtotal (before discounts) is below your **Minimum order value**.
- **"Add [category] items to use this coupon."** — the coupon is scoped to a category none of the cart items belong to. Category matching ignores capitalisation, but the product must actually have that category.
- **"This coupon can't be used on sale items."** — the coupon has **Sale items** set to *Not valid on sale items* and everything in the cart has an original price.
- **"Your sale price already beats this coupon."** — with *Calculate on the original price*, the shopper keeps the better sale price; this is working as intended.
- **The strikethrough isn't showing** — **Original price** must be *higher* than **Price**; equal or lower values are ignored.

**Q: Can I limit how many times a coupon is used?**

Not yet — there is no total-uses cap. Use an Expires date, a Minimum order value and a Max discount instead, and untick Active when you want to stop it.

**Q: Can I give a coupon to one specific customer only?**

Not as a rule. Create a unique code (e.g. PRIYA20), share it privately, and untick Active after it has been used. You will see the code on the order in your Orders tab.

**Q: Do coupons work on WhatsApp and COD orders?**

Yes. The coupon is applied in the cart before the customer chooses how to order, so the discounted total is what lands in your Orders tab and on the invoice, whichever method they pick.

**Q: Can an offer give a free item from another category?**

Yes — under Free item comes from, pick A different category and choose the free item's category. The cheapest qualifying item in the cart becomes free.

**Q: Is there a cost to running discounts?**

No. Sale prices, coupons and offers are included on the free plan with no commission.