Controlling Access to WooCommerce Coupons by Email Address, Usage Limits, Expiry Date, Products, and Categories

In WooCommerce, coupons are a useful way to offer discounts and promotions, but it’s important to set limits and restrictions to control their use effectively. As of recent updates, coupons have been moved to the Marketing menu in WooCommerce, allowing easier access and management. This post will walk you through how to control access to coupons by setting limits based on usage, expiry date, and specific products or categories, using WooCommerce’s native features without additional plugins.

1. Setting Usage Limits for Coupons

WooCommerce allows you to limit how many times a coupon can be used by individual customers or across all customers. This is useful to prevent overuse or abuse of the coupon.

Setting General Usage Limits:

1. Go to Marketing > Coupons > Add Coupon.
2. In the Usage Limits tab, you can set:

• Usage limit per coupon: Limits the total number of times the coupon can be used across all customers.
• Usage limit per user: Limits how many times each individual customer can use the coupon.

This helps you control how many times the discount is applied, either across the board or per user.

Limiting Coupon Use by Product Quantity:

If you want to restrict the coupon to only apply when a certain number of items are in the cart:

1. In the same Usage Limits tab, use the Limit usage to X items field to define the number of products the coupon will apply to.

This option is useful if you want to control the scope of the discount based on the number of items purchased.

2. Setting an Expiry Date for Coupons

To ensure that a coupon is only valid for a certain period, you can set an expiry date. This is especially useful for time-sensitive promotions, like holiday or seasonal sales.

Adding an Expiry Date:

1. While creating or editing a coupon, go to the General tab.
2. In the Coupon expiry date field, choose the date when the coupon will no longer be valid.

Once this date passes, customers will not be able to apply the coupon, even if they have the code.

3. Restricting Coupons to Specific Products

If you want the coupon to only apply to certain products, WooCommerce allows you to limit its use to those items. This is helpful for product-specific promotions or clearance sales.

Restricting by Product:

1. In the Usage Restriction tab, you will see options to control where the coupon is applied.

• Products: Select specific products where the coupon will be valid. The discount will only apply to these products when the coupon is used.
• Exclude products: You can also specify products where the coupon should not be applied. This helps protect high-margin or premium items from unintended discounts.

4. Restricting Coupons by Product Categories

WooCommerce also allows you to limit coupons to specific product categories, which is helpful for category-wide promotions or sales.

Restricting by Product Category:

1. In the Usage Restriction tab, use the Product categories field to choose the categories where the coupon can be used.
2. Alternatively, use the Exclude categories option to prevent the coupon from applying to certain categories.

This is useful for applying discounts on broader groups of items while excluding others, like premium or seasonal collections.

5. Limiting Coupons by Email Address (Workaround with Native WooCommerce)

While WooCommerce doesn’t provide a direct option to limit coupon use by email address without plugins, there’s a simple workaround using user roles or customer data:

• Usage limit per user: This option indirectly controls email-based restrictions, as each registered user is linked to a unique email address. Setting a usage limit per user ensures that the coupon is only applied to a specific customer (based on their email).
• For better control, consider offering coupons only to registered users or using manual processes to email specific coupons to chosen customers.

Conclusion

With WooCommerce’s built-in tools, you can control access to coupons without relying on additional plugins. By setting limits on usage, expiry dates, and restricting them to specific products or categories, you can create more targeted promotions. While limiting coupons by email address may require some manual handling, the other options provide flexible, native ways to manage your WooCommerce coupons effectively.

Do you need help with WooCommerce? Get in touch.

Photo by Alberto Bigoni on Unsplash