Prorated Shipping - Free Shipping For Specified Products
Beginning with coupon module 5.028 and cim activity log 5.018 you can provide free shipping for specific products in the order. Other products will be charged shipping as if the free shipping products did not exist in the order. This feature should work with most shipping modules that follow the Miva Merchant API. You'll need to test it in your store. It cannot be used with the address supermod module. The customer chooses the shipping method they want to use and enter the coupon code, then click continue. The module checks the basket and if there are free shipping products in it, it retrieves from the installed shipping modules the cost with and without those products. If that means there are no products to charge shipping on or the shipping module is configured such that it doesn't charge for the remaining products, the module inserts the free shipping line item that you have already configured for the store. To use this option select Prorated Shipping. The value can be 0. Enter the product codes to be exempted followed by the | character after each. This coupon may not be a separate line item in the basket in all cases. Sometimes the chosen shipping line item will simply be discounted. Most times you will see the chosen shipping line item and a coupon line item with the calculated discount (difference between with and without the free ship products). Normally, it will cause a lower shipping cost. In some cases it may not even do that, e.g. the cost is the same between 1-2 pounds and the free shipping product caused the basket to go from 1.9 to 1.5 pounds, there would be no change in shipping cost. Also, this coupon may not limited by the number of times it can be used. Since it may not be recorded as a line item, there may be no history to check to see if it has already been used. You'll need to test in your store with the installed shipping modules to see how the coupon effects the shipping charges and whether it is a separate discount line item. This coupon type cannot be used with Google checkout. It can only be used as a checkout coupon on the OSEL page. If you have coupon module 5.028 or newer but your cim activity log is older than 5.018 you can get a free updated cim activity log at the Request Form.

Free Product
You will need Coupon Redemption module version 5.041 or newer to use this coupon type. This type cannot be used in the checkout/shipping coupon input because you don't want to add free items after shipping and payment methods have been selected. It also cannot be used in the input for instant coupons. However, it can be used in the basket screen or any other page by using the coupon input form listed below under "Customer Interface". This type can be a free product coupon; e.g. buy X and get Y free. To configure this you would put 100 in the value input and the qualifying (X) product codes followed by the free product (Y) code in the eligible products input. The free product code is prefaced with the # character. So in the eligible products input you might have ABC|MNO|#XYZ| This setting would make the coupon valid if either ABC or MNO product codes were in the basket. Then if the coupon was redeemed in the basket screen, the XYZ product would be added to the basket and a separate line item with the coupon equal to the XYZ price would be included. If the item is already in your basket, it simply adds the coupon line item. If you delete the qualifying products, the coupon will be removed but the product will remain. So customers cannot cheat the store. If you try to remove the free product it won't let you unless you clear the whole basket or you remove the qualifying products first. There is also a variation of this type coupon. Buy 2 get 1 free or discounted. It does not require any specific qualifying product. Instead it requires multiples (that you specify) of the discount product. For example, #XYZ:2| could be put in the eligible product codes input. In the value input you could put 50. The configuration of this example is if you have 2 or more of the XYZ item in the basket, the second will be 50% off (i.e. buy 1 get the 2nd half off). If you have less than 2 in the basket, it will add to the quantity to make the coupon valid if you redeem it. It could just as easily be buy 4 of the specific product and get 1 of that same product free. You set the rules for the coupon. As you can see, this coupon is great for running short specials. The same rules can apply as a typical checkout coupon except it will not be limited by location since it is usually redeemed before they go to checkout. It also could result in customers getting too much discount. So if you make a free or reduced coupon and also have a percent off entire order coupon, you would want to exclude the free/reduced product codes from the entire order coupon list. See "Eligible Products" section below. The free product cannot have attributes and options if it needs to be added to the basket. If it is already in the basket you could use this type coupon as long as the attributes/options do not change the price and the price is based on the base product price. So if they first add product X AND Y to the basket, they then can apply the coupon using X|#Y| as the eligible products. You cannot use this if the item is the same product with different attributes, e.g. #X:2| would not work if the attributes were different as it would try to add another to the basket. It will also not work if you used X|#X| as they could cheat you out of free products. This is a new coupon type and we have tested it under many conditions. But before you use this coupon type, you need to thoroughly test your scenario to be sure it is giving the discount you intend it to give and no more. This coupon type cannot be used with Google checkout.

Combo Fixed Discount
This subtracts the value you set from the order total. For example, if the value is 5.00, it will subtract $5.00 off the order total. All products listed in the eligible products input must be in the basket before the coupon can be redeemed. It can be used as a checkout or basket coupon, but not an instant coupon. You cannot use the wildcard for product codes. You cannot use the exclude option for product codes. You cannot limit to a specific attribute/option of a product. This coupon type cannot be used at Google. If one of the qualifying products is removed from the basket, the coupon will also be removed from the basket. You will need coupon module version 5.046 or newer to use this coupon type.

Combo Percent Discount
This multiplies the subtotal of the order times the percent discount and subtracts it from the order total. For example, if the value is 10.00, it will multiply .10 times the order subtotal, then subtract that amount from the order total. The order subtotal can be the sum of all the product prices or it can be the sum of just some of the product prices. See the eligible products paragraph below for more details. All products listed in the eligible products input must be in the basket before the coupon can be redeemed. It can be used as a checkout or basket coupon, but not an instant coupon. You cannot use the wildcard for product codes. You cannot use the exclude option for product codes. You cannot limit to a specific attribute/option of a product. This coupon type cannot be used at Google. If one of the qualifying products is removed from the basket, the coupon will also be removed from the basket. You will need coupon module version 5.046 or newer to use this coupon type.

Percent Off Highest Priced Item
The module looks at every product in the basket. It finds the highest priced item and applies the specified percent off that product as the discount. It can be used as a checkout or basket coupon, but not an instant coupon. You will need coupon module version 5.053 or newer to use this coupon type.

Redemption Value
A flat value OR percentage off the order total is assigned to each coupon. The default is flat value, eg $5.00 off the order total. If you select the percent off type, it will calculate the coupon value based on the assigned percent of the order total. Note: only include numbers or decimal in the value field. The %, if used, is selected from the type input. See the section "Eligible Products" below about restricting calculations to specific products.

Tiers
Beginning with coupon module version 5.056, you can vary the value of the coupon based on the products subtotal. This input, when used, overrides the value setting if a tier level is met. You must still put a value in the value input. The subtotal can be the sum of all the products in the basket or just specified eligible products. See the use of the "$" in the "Order Minimum" discussion below to limit the subtotal to just the eligible products. The subtotal can then be used to meet the order minimum requirement (discussed below) and the tiers for the sliding discount values. The highest tier is first, with lower tiers descending to the right. Example: 100=20|50=15|25=12. The subtotal is to the left of the = and the coupon value to the right. So in this example, if the subtotal is $51.95, the discount would be 15. If the coupon type is fixed discount, that 15 would be $15 off the order. If the coupon type is percent discount it would be 15% off the subtotal. The subtotal would be either the full order or just the eligible products, depending on if you check the box to apply the % discount to only eligible products. Most coupons will have the optional tiers input blank, as this is not a common coupon usage.

Maximum Value
This field can be left 0 for fixed discount coupons as they will not be redeemed for more than the fixed amount. However, with percentage discount coupons you may want to limit the discount amount off the order total. If you do, enter the value in this input. If left at 0, there is no maxiumum.

Order Minimum
Optionally, a coupon can be allowed only when an order total reaches a specific amount. In all cases where a fixed discount type is used, you must make this value equal to or greater than the value of the coupon. If you use the percent calculation, this value can be any value, including zero. Beginning with coupon module version 5.0500 a variation of this feature is to only allow the coupon when the sum of the specified eligible products exceed the specific amount. For instance, you make a coupon valid if either or both product A and product B are ordered. In the eligible product input you would put A|B| However, if you wanted it to only be valid if the dollar value of A and/or B exceeded $100 and 1 or more of A or B were ordered, you would put 100 in the order minimum input and A|B|$ in the eligible products input. The $ after the last | character tells the module that the minimum sum must come from the eligible products. This feature can be used by all coupon types except the free/discounted product where you specify a code and the number to be bought in order to get the coupon discount. Since you are specifying the number to buy, the dollar value of the eligible products is not a factor.

Start Date
Beginning with version 5.054 you can include an optional start date. It will prevent its use prior to the start date. Enter it in the international date format, i.e. year, month, and day (YYYYMMDD). For example, 20000724 would be July 24, 2000. If you leave this field blank the coupon will be available for use the moment you create it.

Expires
An optional expiration date can be included which will prevent its use if the date has passed. Enter it in the international date format, i.e. year, month, and day (YYYYMMDD). For example, 20000724 would be July 24, 2000. If you leave this field blank the coupon will never expire. However, you can still delete it manually through the admin interface. Also, if you are creating coupon templates (which permit auto-generation of unique coupons) this value will be not be an actual date. See the Coupon Code Generator section for more details on that exception.

Reduce Tax
Based on your state's tax requirements, the coupon can be designated to reduce the sales tax or not reduce it. For example, in some states, a store coupon reduces the value of products purchased before the sales tax is applied, hence you would want it to reduce tax. The exception to doing this is if your products are likely to be non-taxable, making a coupon reduce tax could result in a negative tax calculation. Another type coupon might be the manufacturer coupon. In some states, manufacturer coupons do not decrease the tax liability. You should determine your state's tax requirements before adding coupons to your store.

Coupon Usage
- multiple times - The coupon can be used at every visit by any customer who shops at your store. This is usually used as a promo to customers, user lists, clubs, etc. They often have a short expiration date to limit their use. A typical usage might be a special holiday sale, eg 10% off everything in the store if used by a specified date. This would eliminate the need for special price groups if the intent is that everybody who has the coupon code can use it. Just below the selection for usage, there is an input for the number of times the specific multiple coupon can be used. When an order is completed, the coupon becomes used. It is possible that the usage limit can be exceeded if a customer puts one of them in their basket during checkout while there is still one remaining. But before their order completes, someone else completes an order who also had the last one in their basket. This is a limitation you should be aware of when deciding how you will use the limit feature of multiple times coupons.
- only one time for each customer - The coupon can only be used for one visit per customer. When the same customer shops at your store a second time, if he/she uses the same coupon code, it will be rejected. This is probably the most common coupon and is usually used in print ads or as a promo, e.g. "$5.00 off on your next visit". Note: This type cannot be used with Google Checkout since the Google module does not supply the customer info back to the coupon module when redeeming coupons. It also can only be used as a checkout page coupon since the identity has to be known of the person who is using the coupon.
- only one time for a unique coupon code - The coupon can only be used once. Once any customer has used this code, it becomes unavailable for any other purchase. This is often used as a customer relations tool, e.g. "sorry for the inconvenience, please accept this coupon.....".

Eligible Products
You can restrict usage of a coupon in your store so that it can be used only if a specific product code is ordered. You can list several product codes, any of which in the basket would make the coupon valid if the other requirements are met. IMPORTANT: After each product code, put the | character at the end of the product code. Caution: do not put the same product code in the list more than one time. Leaving the product code blank means that customers do not have to order a specific product as long as they meet the other requirements the store owner has specified. If you check the "Apply % Discount Only to the Above" box just below the product code input, and are using the percentage discount, only those products in the product code list will be used in the calculation. If you do not check the box, the percentage will be applied against the order total. You can use an asterisk to create a wildcard of product codes. It only works with the first few letters of the product codes. So if you enter 1AA*| as the input, all product codes which BEGIN with 1AA will be eligible. The coupon module has the ability to restrict the coupon usage down to the attribute level. For example, you can limit the coupon to product codes beginning with 1AA and the attribute "Version" with the option of "4.5". The format for the input would be 1AA*~Version~4.5| You can also create a coupon that can be used for all items except those specified in a list. For excluding, put the minus character at the very beginning of the list. Example: -ABC|XYZ|NOP| would exclude those three products from activating the coupon. Do not put the minus character for each; only put it at the beginning. You cannot use excluded coupons down to the attribute level. Keep in mind when excluding products that if any product in the basket is not in the exclude list, the coupon will be valid.
      - Category Coupons - Beginning with Coupon Redemption module version 5.043 you can put the category codes in the eligible products input. You cannot use the asterisk, nor can you restrict to the attribute level. But you can list all the category codes you want to use. If a product in the basket is in one of the categories listed and the other restrictions are met, the coupon can be used. If not, the customer will get the typical message that the coupon cannot be used for the products in the basket. To use category codes instead of product codes in this input, begin the line with the tilde character, then follow with the codes. Terminate each code with the pipe character. So a line like ~BOOKS|TAPES| would allow the coupon for products that are in the books and tapes categories. This coupon can be used with all coupon types except the prorated shipping.

Instant Coupons
If you check the input "Instant Coupons", the coupon can only be used on the individual product screen. More than one instant coupon can be redeemed in a single order. Because they are redeemed at the product screen (before checkout), they do not have the restrictions on order subtotal or order location nor can they be used for free shipping. Thus, don't create a fixed amount $5 coupon for a $4 product. Always make sure the value of instant coupons are appropriate to the product you are assigning them to. Instant coupons must have one or more products it can be used for listed in the input for "Eligible Products" in order to calculate a discount. Percentage off coupons are more appropriate when you are allowing the instant coupon to be redeemed with more than one product code. Likewise, they are not limited to the multiple coupon limitation number within a single order because the multiple usage is not recorded until the order it completed. You need to consider that these coupons will provide additional discount for multiple quantities of eligible products. They also cannot restrict to one per customer because they are redeemed before the customer even logs in. If you do not want to use the instant coupons, erase the admin input for Instant Coupon Prompt. Instant coupons are particularly useful if you want to send out a link in an email with the product code and coupon code in the link so the customer can click the link and it puts the product and coupon in the basket automatically. Coupon Insertion Example You can alternatively use a form, for example:

Additionally, if customers go back to the basket and remove items which previously qualified them for a coupon, then go to checkout, they will not be able to get past the coupon validation step with a coupon not meeting the pre-established criteria.

In addition to the checkout coupons, you can have instant coupons which are redeemed on the product page when the item is added to the basket. See the notes and limitations about instant coupons.

Beginning with the coupon module version 5.0320, you can redeem percent off and fixed discount coupons on almost any page in the store, e.g. the basket page. You cannot redeem them on the OPAY or INVC pages because it is too late to change the total submitted to your payment processor. You also cannot redeem free/reduced shipping coupons with this form. Below is the form you would put on the page(s) you want to redeem on.
<form method="post" action="&mvt:global:sessionurl;">
<input type="hidden" name="Store_Code" value="&mvte:global:Store_Code;">
<input type="hidden" name="Screen" value="&mvte:global:Screen;">
<input type="hidden" name="Action" value="NEW">
<input type="hidden" name="SubScreen" value="CouponRd">
<input type="hidden" name="Product_Code" value="&mvte:global:Product_Code;">
<input type="hidden" name="Category_Code" value="&mvte:global:Category_Code;">
<input type="hidden" name="Offset" value="&mvte:global:Offset;">
<input type="text" name="coupon_id55" value="" size="15">
<input type="submit" name="cpn" value="Redeem Coupon">
<font color="red" size="-1">
<mvt:item name="couponrd" param="misc" />
</font>
</form>
Be sure to assign the couponrd item to the items list of the page template you put this code on, e.g. the BASK page.
Use caution with this redemption method. Unlike the checkout coupon, which is one per order, this redemption method can be used on as many coupons as the customer has (up to the limit you set as discussed above). You might end up owing them if you have a lot of unexpired discount coupons available. Also, if you use this feature, you cannot hide the coupon prompt from specific price group customers like you can with the checkout coupon. Those customers don't need to login before checkout so there is no verification for that restriction. You also can't use the location restriction or one per customer for basket page coupons either as the customer info is unknown at this point.

The coupon utility for importing is accessed under admin:storename:utilities:import

Upload the flat file containing coupons through admin. Name the flat file coupimpt.dat. It contains the coupon code, expiration date, value, minimum order amount to qualify, reduce tax, usage once or many or one per customer, good for which codes, good only for specific codes when calculating, calculate as fixed or percentage, maximum redemption value, limit to number of uses, instant coupon on product page, zone, price groups, label (label added in version 5.052), and start date (start date added in version 5.054). For example:
SPRINGSALE^20110621^10.00^0.00^1^O^1AA0*|^1^%^50.00^0^0^SC-US|CA^Wholesale|Premium^Spring Deals^20110625

Leave the last line of coupimpt.dat blank

The above fields are:

• Coupon code in upper case letters or numbers
• Expiration date as YYYYMMDD
• Redemption value
• Minimum order amount equal to or greater than the redemption value if the redemption value is a fixed amount
• Whether to make a taxable or non-taxable deduction (1 = yes, 2 = no)
• Usage: M = multiple times, O = one per customer, S = single use
• Good for specific codes. Normally a list of product codes, each terminated with a | character. You can use an asterisk (*) as a wild card, ie all product codes beginning with 1AA0 in the above example would apply. The asterisk only applies to the beginning characters in the product codes.
• Good only for the product codes listed. If 1, then the discount will only be calculated for the eligible product codes when applying the percentage calculation. If 0, then the discount will apply to all products in the order if using the percentage calculation.
• Calculation is either empty if the coupon is a flat amount value or a % if it is to be multiplied times the cost of products. If it is to be used for free shipping, use S.
• Maximum value is used when limiting the redemption value of a coupon which is a calculated percentage. This number is not necessary if the value of the coupon was already set as a fixed amount.
• Limit is the number of times a coupon can be used if multiple usage. Leave as 0 if not limited.
• Instant determines location for coupon redemtion; 1 is on product page, 0 is at checkout or other pages
• Zone is a | separated list of country codes if you want to limit the coupon usage.
• Price group is a | separated list of price group names which can limit coupon usage.
• Label is an optional label you want to appear in the basket with the coupon. If left blank it uses the default label. This column was added in version 5.052 of the module.
• Start date as YYYYMMDD

Beginning with version 5.052 of the coupon module you can import just the coupon codes and assign them to a coupon template. This is useful if you receive a csv file of coupon codes from social coupon sites like Groupon. The coupon codes must be in the first column and the columns separated with the comma. All coupons in the file will have the same rules. Those rules are defined in the coupon template. So first create a coupon template like you do for the coupon code generator (see next section). Go ahead and put the number of days for expiration. You can override that when you do the import. Assign it a code which begins with #, e.g. #1000. Then in the coupon import, select "Social Coupons (csv file)". Enter the template code. If you want the coupons to expire on a certain date, enter the date in the format YYYYMMDD. I would run a small test with just one or two lines in the csv file to make sure you have the methodology correct. Then check to make sure those coupons generated and the rules look correct. If they are, delete them and then run the whole file. It is easier to delete one or two test coupons than having to delete a thousand bad coupons.

You can generate a unique code and display that code to the customer at runtime.

The first step is to create a coupon template. You create it just like you create all other coupon codes except for two fields. The CODE must begin with the # character. Then it is followed by a number, e.g. #3 You will probably put some other text after that, see below. The other field which is different is the date of expiration. Instead of a fixed date in the format YYYYMMDD, you will enter the number of days from the coupon code generation, e.g. 10 You should keep the expiration short to minimize the number of coupons in your system and promote short term redemption.

Then, using a module like our Mail Manager, you will include the token to run the coupon generator. As an example, the token %module|couponrd|3% could be inserted in a Mail Manager generated welcome email or its customer confirmation email. Every time that email with token is run, a unique coupon code with parameters matching the template would be created and displayed to the customer. Hence, the #3 template would be used and would have an expiration 10 days from the current date of the email. If you don't have our Mail Manager module for generating HTML formatted emails, you can place the token in the token areas of other email modules capable of using this style token. That said, you may want to invest in our Mail Manager module as its features are similar to other HTML formatting email modules and is much less expensive.

An advanced feature in the coupon generator is the ability to prepend a series of characters before the unique coupon code to create easily identifiable sub-coupons. For example, suppose we want to prepend FLW- to all of the coupon codes generated through our Follow-on Contact module. In the coupon module we could have a template with the CODE of #4~FLW- Then in the contact email body we could include the token %module|couponrd|4~FLW-% The required portions of this 3rd parameter are that the parameter begins with a number. The number is followed with the tilde character (~). Then the characters we want prepended to the random, unique coupon code. This would result in a coupon code like FLW-LPQTSMVR The beginning is a constant (FLW-) which is easily tracked in the report module so you can judge effectiveness of specific marketing campaigns. You can also list the current sub-coupons from each template by clicking the convenient link in the master list of coupons. The next eight characters are randomly generated. Keep in mind that this has the ability to automatically generate hundreds or thousands of unique coupon codes so you will probably want to keep your expiration time short.

Another use of the coupon generator is to generate a unique coupon on any template page in your store. The format of a render token is a little differnt from the module token. As example, to put a render token on a template page, you would use the token <mvt:item name="couponrd" param="3" /> which would have the same result as the #3 module token above. Don't forget to also assign the couponrd item under the item list for the page you put it on. Similarly, <mvt:item name="couponrd" param="8~BONUS-" /> for a coupon template that prepends tracking code as part of the coupon. Beginning with coupon module version 5.042 we added a second paramter to the render token format. Normally you would not use this parameter. However, in our Deal of the Day we needed a way to dynamically change the product code the token could be used for. Using the Emporium Plus Tool Kit we create a variable called override which has the value of the discount product code plus the | character at the end of the code. Then on the DEAL page we have the render token <mvt:item name="couponrd" param="22~DEAL-|g.override" /> The coupon setup that goes with this token has #22~DEAL- for its coupon code. It has the number 0 for the expires date, thus making it expire at midnight of the current day. It has 10 for the value and is a percent discount coupon. For the products eligible it is blank as it will receive that value from the token. Make sure you check the box "Apply % Discount Only to the Above" so that only the dynamically inserted product will be discounted. Then check the box for Instant coupon since this will be an instant coupon type redemption, just not on the product page.

In the main coupon redemption configuration menu you can select the Usage Reports tab. Or under admin:storename:utilities you can also access the same report. You can summarize or list each coupon used for a specific time period. You can also restrict the output to a specific coupon code or a string of characters in a coupon code. This latter is useful when you have assigned a series of sub-coupons to an affiliate or advertising campaign. You can determine how much business was brought in with the coupons from various sources. When you run the report in "itemize" mode and you include your email address in the email input, the module will send you an email with an attachment listing all of the email addresses in the report. Depending on your privacy policy you could then use this list to contact them with more coupons.