TABLE OF CONTENTS

About Coupons

A Coupon triggers a Discount on a ticket or a membership lifecycle action. Coupons can be configured to reduce the price by a flat dollar amount, or by a percentage of the price, as configured on the Discount List. Read more about how coupons and discounts work together in Discounting Prices in ACME.


To be redeemed, a coupon code is entered during checkout by the customer online, or entered by staff on POS. This triggers a discount that reduces the price of the ticket or membership. 


In ACME, all individual Coupons are grouped into larger Coupon Categories. This allows you to use similar coupons in the same way. Because individual coupons are always part of Coupon Categories, it's important that you set up Coupon Categories before you create individual coupons.


Example: You may want to create five different Coupons, which all give $1 off an Adult ticket. Each of these coupons will have a different coupon code, but you will group them into the same Coupon Category ("$1 off Adult"). If you configure additional coupon codes that offer the same discount, you can just add them to an existing category and there's no further configuration necessary for them to be active.


Creating a New Coupon Category

  1. Log in to the ACME Back Office.
  2. Click on "Pricing" in the left navigation panel.
  3. Select "Coupons" from the expanded Pricing menu.
  4. Click "Categories" in the upper right corner of the screen.
  5. Click "Create Category" in the upper right corner of the screen.
  6. In the popup window, enter:
    • Category Name: This is what will appear in the drop-down menu in the pricing section of an Event Template.
    • Description: This shows up only in the Back Office.
  7. Click "Create Category".

Creating Individual Coupons


Once you have Coupon Categories created, you can create individual coupons.

  1. If you're already in "Coupons" (e.g. if you've just created a Coupon Category), click "All Coupons" in the upper right. Otherwise:
    1. Log in to the ACME Back Office.
    2. Click on "Pricing" in the left navigation panel.
    3. Select "Coupons" from the expanded Pricing menu.
  2. Click "Create Coupon" in the upper right of the screen.
  3. In the popup window, enter:
    • Name: identifier will show up in the Back Office. We recommend naming the coupon something easily identifiable (e.g. "$2 off Adult GA").
    • Code: this is the actual code a customer or POS agent will enter during check out. For record-keeping, it can help to make this code descriptive (e.g. "WINTER$5OFF"). This is displayed in the POS for agents to select.
    • Description: this is displayed on the POS under the code, and can be used to give agents additional information, like redemption rules or limits you want them to enforce. While optional, it is recommended.
    • Program Name: optional, though you can use this field if you're creating coupons for a specific program, and want to be able to track them in Reports.
    • Company Name: optional, though you can use this field if you're creating coupons for a specific company, and want to be able to track them in Reports.
    • Organization: optional, though you can use this field if you're creating coupons that can only be used by a specific organization, and want to be able to track them in Reports.
    • Coupon Category: The Coupon Category you want this coupon to be associated with. All coupons in the same category will trigger the same discount for any events they are configured on.
    • Eff. Start Date: the date the coupon will become valid to use (not related to the date of an event ticket).
    • Eff. End Date: the last date the coupon will be valid to use (not related to the date of an event ticket).
    • Notes: optional
  4. Click "Create Coupon" to publish the new coupon.


Reminder: A coupon is not active until its Coupon Category is added to an Event Template and associated with a discount list.


A coupon's Eff. Start Date and Eff. End Date identifies the date range in which the coupon can be used during purchase. The Event Instance must fall within the coupon's date range. For example:
- Coupon Eff. Start Date: 01/01/2023 
- Coupon Eff. End Date: 12/31/2024
- Event Instance Date: 07/01/2023 thru 8/31/2023.  

The coupon can be applied to purchases because the Event Instance dates are within the coupon date ranges. 
**The coupon will only work if the Event Instance falls within the coupon effective start and end dates.** 


To configure a coupon for a presale period, the coupon effective dates need to coincide with the Event Instance dates. For example: 
- Coupon Promotional Discount runs thru 07/04/2023 (The discount is for an Event Instance that runs 06/29/2023 thru 09/02/2023)
- Coupon Eff. Start Date: 06/29/2023
- Coupon Eff End Date: 09/02/2023
- Event Instance Date: 06/29/2023 thru 9/02/2023

After the coupon promotional discount timeframe ends, edit the coupon Eff End Date to a date prior the promotional discount end date (this turns off the discount).  In the above example, on 07/05/2023, edit the coupon Eff End Date to 07/04/2023.  The coupon can no longer be used for this Event Instance.

Editing Individual Coupons


Most fields in the Coupon configuration menu are editable. If you want to edit a Coupon, ACME strongly recommends doing so before any Coupons have been redeemed. Editing Coupon elements after Coupons have been redeemed can impact reporting.

  1. Log in to the ACME Back Office.
  2. Click on "Pricing" in the left navigation panel.
  3. Select "Coupons" from the expanded Pricing menu.
  4. Click "Edit" next to the Coupon you want to edit
  5. Edit any of the Coupon fields.
  6. Click "Effective Dates" to change the dates the Coupon is valid.
  7. Click "Save and Close".


Removing coupons from ACME will make any associated orders with event tickets uneditable. For this reason, we do not recommend deleting coupons associated to any active event. However, removing membership coupons will still allow memberships purchased with that coupon to be cancelled if necessary. Removed coupons will no longer display on individual order summaries, but will be visible in applicable reporting fields.



Applying a Coupon to an Event Template


To make a Coupon effective, you need to add a Coupon Category to an Event Template, and associate that Category with a Discount Code. Once you've done this, all Individual Coupons within that Coupon Category will trigger the Discount when applied during a sale.

  1. Log in to ACME Back Office.
  2. Click on "Events" in the left navigation panel.
  3. Select "Templates" from the expanded Events menu.
  4. Click "Edit" next to the Template to which you want to add a Coupon.
  5. Click on the Pricing tab in the Event Template.
  6. Click on the Coupons tab (about halfway down the page).
  7. Click "Add Discount".
  8. Use the drop-down Category menu to select the coupon category. All coupons in that category will trigger a discount on applicable ticket types for this event.
  9. Use the drop-down Discount menu to associate a discount list with the coupon category you just selected. This list maintains the discount amounts that will be applied.
  10. Click "Publish".




Enabling Coupons on your B2C Website


NOTE: this is for Administrators only. Most users do not have to worry about this section.


To ensure that a "Coupon Code" field is available in the payment section during check out, you have to enable Coupons in the Back Office.

  1. Log in to the ACME Back Office.
  2. Click on "Settings" in the left navigation panel.
  3. Select "Administration" from the expanded Settings menu.
  4. Click the Website(B2C) tab.
  5. Locate "Accept Coupon Codes" in the Website(B2C) menu.
  6. Click "Yes" to enable Coupons.
    • Optionally, you can enable the use of multiple (unlimited) coupon codes per order, though this is not recommended.
  7. Click "Update Website(B2C)".

NOTE: the "Administration" Menu is reserved for Local Administrators. If you navigate to the "Settings" Menu and do not see "Administration" in the list of sub-menus, you can contact your ACME representative for more information.



Troubleshooting


If you are having an issue with a coupon on POS or online, please check the following to troubleshoot:

  • Check the coupon start and end dates.
  • Check the event template or membership rule to ensure that the coupon category is configured for that item.
  • Check the discount list triggered by the coupon to ensure that the correct item is present on the discount list (ticket types must have a configured discount amount, memberships can have a $0 discount).
  • Confirm that you are selecting the item on the POS before attempting to apply a coupon. (See Applying a coupon to an order in ACME Sales for step by step instructions.)