Offer a discount for an email on a first visit

A first-visit discount shows a box to people visiting your store for the first time: leave your email, get a code. You collect an email address from somebody who might otherwise leave without buying, and they get a reason to buy now. The code is an ordinary discount you can see and switch off like any other.

Before you start

• A store. See Open a store.
• A percentage you are happy to give away on a first order, between 1 and 90.

Steps

1. Open Sites › Stores, press Open store, and choose the Settings tab.
2. Scroll to At the door.
3. Tick Offer a discount for an email on a first visit. The percentage starts at 10.
4. Change the number in "% off their first order" if you want a different amount. Wick & Ember Candle Co. uses 15.
5. Press Save settings at the bottom of the page.
6. Open the store in a private browser window to see the box as a first-time visitor does.

What happens next

• First-time visitors see a box reading "Welcome to" your business, with the offer and a Get 10% off button (with your percentage). It stays away once they submit it or press No thanks.
• When somebody leaves their email address, they are sent a First-order discount email with the code.
• The code is made the first time somebody claims it: an ordinary discount named "Welcome 10% off" with the code WELCOME10 (with your percentage). It applies on its own, not combined with other discounts. It appears in the store's Discounts tab and in Sales › Coupons.
• The email address becomes a contact, so you can follow up with them.
• To change the wording of the email, open Marketing › Email › System emails and choose First-order discount.
• To stop the offer, untick the box and press Save settings.

Things to know

• A welcome code is never accepted at a sales page checkout, only in your stores.
• The percentage is capped at 90.
• "First order" is kept by handing the code out only at the door. The checkout itself does not check whether the customer has bought before.
• If you turn the welcome discount off in the Discounts tab, no more codes are sent.

For agencies

Set the offer inside each client's store with Sub-accounts › Open. The email goes out with the client's logo and colour.

Troubleshooting

I don't see the box on my store. It is shown only on a first visit. Open the store in a private browser window, or clear the site's cookies, to see it again.

The customer's welcome code was refused at checkout. Check the code's row in the store's Discounts tab: it may be turned off or used up. If they tried it on a funnel's sales page, welcome codes only work in stores.

Customers say the email never arrived. Ask them to check their spam folder. Check that the welcome discount is turned on in the Discounts tab, and that the First-order discount email is switched on under Marketing › Email › System emails.

I changed the percentage, but the code still takes off the old amount. The code keeps the amount it was made with. Open the Discounts tab, press Edit on the welcome discount, set Percent off to the new figure and save, so the box and the code agree.

Related

• Create discount codes and automatic discounts
• Set up your store's settings
• Receipts, invoices and tax