| Coupon Redemption |
Copyright © 2000, William Weiland |
|
Overview Manage coupon addition and redemption functions within a MIVA Merchant 5.x storefront with this plugin module. |
|
|
Initial Setup You will install three modules (couponrd.mvc, couponrp.mvc, cim_log.mvc). Install couponrd.mvc 1) In admin, click Add Modules link (fig 2) 2) Click the file upload button 3) Browse to find the couponrd.mvc file on your hard drive and upload (fig 3) 4) Click Add to add it to the domain 5) Then in admin click on the plus to the left of Stores 6) Click the plus to the left of your store name 7) Click on Order Fulfillment Configuration link (fig 9) 8) Check the box next to the Coupon Redemption 9) Click Update 10) Click on System Extension Configuration link 11) Check the box next to the Coupon Redemption 12) Click Update 13) Click on the Shipping Configuration link 14) Check the box next to the Coupon Redemption 15) Click Update 16) Click Pages link to get to the User Interface (fig 4) 17) Click Items link at the top of the User Interface page (fig 5) 18) Click the Add Item button (fig 6) 19) Enter couponrd for the code (fig 8) 20) Look up and scroll to the last page of items and Coupon Redemption should be at the end of the list of items 21) Select Coupon Redemption 22) Click the Add button to assign the module Install couponrp.mvc 23) Again, click Add Modules link 24) Click the file upload button 25) Browse to find the couponrp.mvc file on your hard drive and upload 26) Click Add to add it to the domain 27) Click on the word Utilities 28) Check the box next to the Coupon Utility 29) Click Update 30) The CIM Activity Log (cim_log.mvc) may already be in your store as it is used by many of our modules. Check under the Modules link to see if it is already there. If it is there, skip to 39. If not, then go to 31. Install cim_log.mvc 31) Again, click Add Modules link 32) Click the file upload button 33) Browse to find the cim_log.mvc file on your hard drive and upload 34) Click Add to add it to the domain 35) Click on the Logging Configuration Link 36) Check the box next to the CIM Activity Log 37) Click Update 38) Skip to 44 Update cim_log.mvc 39) Click Modules link 40) Scroll down to CIM Activity Log and click the link 41) Click the file upload button 42) Browse to find the cim_log.mvc file on your hard drive and upload 43) Click Update to update the module Configure the module 44) Return to the Order Fulfillment Configuration screen and click the link for Coupon Redemption (admin) to enter the configuration settings and Coupon Redemption (coupons) to add coupons Editing Requirements 45) After configuring the module, insert the tokens per the Editing Requirements section below |
|
|
Configuration Settings (fig 10, 11) An unlimited number of coupons can be assigned to the store and each identified with a coupon code. Once you have added the module to the store, you can add coupons in the Order Fulfillment section of the admin interface. When you select the Add icon, you will have several input fields to fill in. Coupon ID Expiration Date Redemption Value In the compiled version of the coupon module you can assign a coupon to
remove the shipping charge. It has no specific value (using .01 for the
value is fine) as it will eliminate the shipping charge no matter how much
it is. To use this option, put the letter "S" (upper case) in the separate
field to the right of the redemption value (the same input you would have
used for the % option). Beginning with coupon module version 4.56, you can
also use the letter "P" for free shipping AND a percentage discount or the
letter "F" for free shipping AND a flat value off. The discount is
calculated the same as leaving the field blank (for the F) or entering a
% (for the P). The letters P and F cannot be used if you offer Google checkout
in your store. Beginning with coupon module version 5.013 you can redeem coupons
in conjunction with the Google checkout module for Miva Merchant 5.x. You
can have fixed (input blank), or percentage off (input %), and free shipping
(input S). Note if you use the free shipping coupon Google will make whatever shipping
method the customer selects free. If you are using the CBS Shipping Supermod, the
free shipping coupon will also make whatever shipping method the customer chooses free.
The coupon code will not be included in the CBS shipping method line item.
Minimum Order Reduce Tax Coupon Usage Product Code Specificity Location Restriction Instant Coupons Deleting Expired Coupons |
|
|
Editing Requirements The module is called within specific template screens with render tokens. They are in the format of <mvt:item name="itemcode" param="xxxx" /> The templates are listed at the Pages link. You will edit the template by inserting the token and clicking the Update (fig 7). Important: After adding the render token to a template page, you must click the Items link for that page, scroll down to the item name and assign it to the page (fig 8). These two steps are repeated for every page that a module's render token is used on. 1) On page 'prod' (product display), click the tab at the top labeled Product Display Layout. Then near the bottom, if the template code is not exposed, click the link for Advanced Mode. Insert <mvt:item name="couponrd" param="prod" /> on the page. You may insert it within an existing table cell or create a new table row with cell(s), e.g. wrap the token with <tr> <td> (token here) </td> </tr> 2) On page 'osel' (shipping/payment selection), insert <mvt:item name="couponrd" param="osel" /> just above the continue button code and the closing </form> tag. 3) On page 'opay' (order payment), insert <mvt:item name="couponrd" param="opay" /> just above the continue button code and the closing </form> tag. 4) If your products have attributes and you are going to use the instant (product page) coupons, you will need to add a hidden input to the 'patr' missing product attribute page template within the form with the other hidden inputs. The input to add is <input type="hidden" name="coupon_id45" value="&mvte:global:coupon_id45;"> |
|
|
Customer Interface Coupon codes are entered at the checkout screen which also displays the shipping and payment selections. Appropriate error messages are displayed when coupons do not meet the usage criteria established by the store owner. When the shopper enters a coupon code at checkout that is not valid based on the criteria you establish, he/she will see an error message just below the coupon code input when the checkout form is re-displayed after the validation step. Customers are allowed to redeem one coupon per order. 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. |
|
|
Historical Review A historical database, which can be imported and analyzed in database or spreadsheet software, is maintained on all coupons used. The couponuz.dbf can be FTPd to your PC for further analysis in MS Access, MS Excel, or other data management software. This could be useful in determining which coupons bring you the most activity. |
|
|
Coupon Import from Flat File 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 flat of percentage, maximum redemption value,
limit to number of uses, instant coupon on product page, zone. For
example:
|
|
|
Coupon Code Generator 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 ID must begin with the # character. Then it is followed by a number, e.g. #3 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. 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 ID 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 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. 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. |
|
|
Display Number of Mutiple Coupons Remain If you use multiple use coupons and have a limit set and want to display the number remaining of a specific coupon code to customers, you can use a token to retrieve the amount as a variable. Then display a message. You would use a render token in the format <mvt:item name="couponrd" param="~XXXXXXXX" /> where you want a to calculate the number of a specific multiple coupon remaining when it is limited. Begin the param with "~". The "XXXXXXXX" represents the coupon code. After calculating, you can access the variable cim_multi_coupon_remaining to display that number with standard Miva page template code. As example, let's say you are running a sale on your site for the first 20 customers. You could include the following code (example coupon code here is DEALS) on the storefront or whereever you thought is would be noticed. Don't forget to also assign the couponrd item under the item list for the page you put it on. <mvt:item name="couponrd" param="~DEALS" /> <mvt:if expr="g.cim_multi_coupon_remaining GT 0"> &mvt:global:cim_multi_coupon_remaining; DEALS coupons remaining <mvt:else /> All DEALS coupons have been used </mvt:if> |
|
|
Coupon Usage Report Under admin:storename:utilities 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 coupons to an affiliate or advertising campaign. You can determine how much business was brought in with the coupons from various sources. |
|
|
Frequently Asked Questions Q: The prompt to enter the coupon code during checkout is not showing up. A: Make sure you insert the render token in the template for the osel page and you assigned the Coupon Redemption under the list of items. Then, check the opay, prod, and patr template pages for those two required steps. Q: After the customer enters the coupon code, the discount is not applied to the order. A: Make sure that the Coupon Redemption module is "assigned" to the store under the store's System Extension Configuration screen. Q: I created an instant coupon for redemption on the product screen. After the customer enters the coupon code, the discount is not applied to the order. A: Make sure that the CIM Activity Log module is "assigned" to the store under the store's Logging Configuration screen. Q: I installed the module and now there is a promotion code prompt showing on the individual product screens. I only want to redeem coupons during checkout so how do I get rid of the input on the product screen? A: If you do not want to use the instant (promotion) coupons on the product screen, erase the text in the input at admin > stores > order fulfillment configuration > coupon redemption (admin) for Instant Coupon Prompt and/or do not put the render token on the prod template page. Q: In the Order Fulfillment Configuration:Coupon Redemption (Coupons) there is a Go To: text area. What is that for? A: It is so you can skip to the coupon you are looking for without having to click screen after screen. If you have a coupon code of XYZ, then you would enter XYZ in the input and click update. Q: I have installed Google Checkout module in my store and I don't know how to configure it to use coupons. A: If you are using my coupon module version 5.013 or newer, you can add it as an "extension" to the Google Checkout module. Adding extensions is covered in the instructions that come with the Google Checkout module. The module code to use is couponrd. If you are using coupon module version 5.012 or older, you will need to update the coupon module through the store you got the original from. Still have a question? |
|
Fig 1: Main admin screen
Fig 2: Add a new module
Fig 3: Upload the module to the server
Fig 4: Template page selection
Fig 5: Items list
Fig 6: Add a new item
Fig 7: Editing a template page
Fig 8: Assign a page item to the template
Fig 9: Assigning a module to the store
Fig 10: Admin settings
Fig 11: Coupon add/edit/delete
|