The use of a promotional code applies a percent discount on the regular price of a ticket, or presents a different ticket offer to your customers. An applied promotional code will display a strikethrough of the original price, showing the new reduced price for the same ticket categories. You can decide which ticket categories the promotion applies to, and on which calendar events.
Promotional codes are created to be shared without having control over the sharing. A code used by a customer has an effect on the price of ticket categories or changes the categories offered as well as the price.
There can be two types of effects:
- A percentage reduction of the regular price of ticket categories.
- A change in the price list, which makes it possible to change the tickets offered or to change the price of the ticket categories independently.
In both cases, the promotional code used will display a strikethrough of the original price, showing the new reduced price for the same categories.
The list of available codes for an activity is accessed through the Settings menu, Promotional Codes.
To add a code, click on the "+" at the top right of the page.
To modify the parameters of an existing code, the "pencil" button in the Actions column provides access to the code's settings. You can also make a copy of a code and view the changes made to it with the other icons.
The list consists of the relevant settings of the existing codes:
- The code that the customer must enter to activate it (its name in a way)
- The effective date and its expiration if applicable
- The type of promotion: price list or percentage
- Value: either the name of the price list chosen or the percentage of discount
- Usage / Permit: the number of commands that used the code versus the number allowed
- Activated or disactivated code
Settings of a code
Promotion Code: The alphanumeric code for the promotion. This code is what you need to give to your customers so that they can redeem the code in your ticket office.
Effective date: Date on which the code can be entered in the ticket office. Leave empty so as not to define a precise date, so only the expiration date will be used.
The code is activated at the start of the chosen day, i.e. at 00:00:00
The entering by your customers of a code in the ticket office is only available if at least one promotional code is in effect.
Expiration: Date on which the code can no longer be entered in the ticket office.
The code is deactivated at the end of the chosen date, i.e. at 23:59:59.
Promotion type: The code can apply a percentage discount of the regular ticket price or completely change the regular price list to another, which offers a lot of possibilities.
The percentage is recommended when the objective is to apply a uniform price reduction on some or all categories of tickets. The price list is recommended when the objective is to change prices in a variable way or even to display other categories of tickets.
Quantity allowed: Used to limit the number of times the code can be used by customers.
Please note, the count is in number of orders made by customers. It does not control the number of tickets we want to offer at a discount, for example. A customer can purchase as many tickets as there are permitted by the ticket category and quota settings in a single order.
Using a quota to limit the number of tickets under promotion is an alternative to the quantity allowed.
Automatic: When automatic is checked, it ensures that when a customer enters the ticket office the promotion is applied automatically without the need to enter a code.
Please note, only one automatic promo code must be in effect at a given time otherwise the first on the list will be used. A customer cannot use other promo codes when an automatic code is in effect.
Disabled: Used to disable the promotional code without erasing it. It can be used again at another time. You can destroy a code, but if it has been used by customers it cannot be destroyed. Disabling a code is the way to ensure that it is no longer in effect.
Description: Use to present a short message to your customers explaining what the code does once the customer uses it in the ticket office. It can help your customers understand the discounts... The choice of language depends on the language settings of your activity.
Controls
The three controls make it possible to limit the effect of a code in order to refine the desired targeting. By default (no controls), a % discount code is applied to all ticket categories that the ticket office offers, and for a price list change all the categories offered by the price list will be available.
Using the controls is an advanced operation, so please feel free to contact us for guidance or to do it for you.
The controls use the labels which are arbitrary codes that you use in various targeted places (ticket categories, price lists, calendar events) to allow them to be identified without having to make explicit choices, which is impractical when the number of targets are important. Targets can contain multiple labels allowing various uses other than promo codes.
Each control allows you to identify targets depending on whether or not they contain a specific label or to target all items (default choice). If a tag is required, you will need to type in its name, which is arbitrary and under your control. You just need to use the same name in the various targets you want to hit.
Price List Control
Allows you to limit the use of the promo code only if the regular price list of the event chosen by the customer in the ticket office satisfies the chosen control.
Example: A repetitive activity that takes place several times a week and whose prices vary between the week and the weekend. A promo code could apply only on the events of the week by targeting the price list (s) for the week. The chosen label (eg week price) would be used and it should be added to the Labels field of the price lists that are used during the week.
Control per event
Allows to limit the use of the promo code only if the event chosen by the customer in the ticket office satisfies the chosen control.
Example: A repetitive activity that takes place several times a week and several times a day might want to offer a discount only Tuesday and Wednesday for the 10am and 12pm events. Just choose the "Events containing" setting and type the label promomm for example. Next, we need to add this tag to all calendar events for Tuesday and Wednesday 10am and 12pm, which we do quickly with bulk editing of events. You could apply the label only for a certain period (month of June for example).
Control per category
Allows to limit the use of the promo code only on certain categories of tickets. This control is a little different from the other two, because its behavior depends on the type of promo chosen. The principle of the label remains the same.
Percent Discount - targeting allows you to limit the categories of tickets that will have the discount. For example, a 20% discount only on children's tickets.
Price List Change - The price list is changed, but only the ticket categories offered by the new price list that meet the targeting will be displayed.