Overview
Offering discounts is a popular way to encourage new signups, reward loyal customers, or promote special offers in your Shopify store. Shopify allows you to create both automatic discounts (applied automatically at checkout) and discount codes (codes customers can enter at checkout). This article explains how to create discount codes specifically for subscription purchases, how to set limits, and how your subscribers can use them.
What types of Shopify discounts can I create?
Shopify lets you create different types of discounts, grouped into three main categories:
Discount Classes
Order discounts: Reduce the total order price
Product discounts: Reduce the price of specific products
Shipping discounts: Offer free or discounted shipping
Discount Types
Buy X get Y: Give a free or discounted product when specific items are purchased
Free shipping discounts: Offer free shipping on qualifying orders
Amount off discounts: Take a percentage or fixed amount off the order or products
You can manage all your discounts from the Discounts page in your Shopify admin.
How do I set up a discount code for subscription purchases?
To make a discount code work with subscription purchases:
In your Shopify admin, go to Discounts.
Click Create discount.
Select your preferred discount type (e.g., percentage off, fixed amount, etc.).
Under Method, select Discount code.
In the Purchase type section, choose Subscription or Both.
When you select Subscription or Both, a new section called Recurring payments for subscriptions will appear. Here, you can decide how many recurring subscription orders will be eligible for the discount (for example, just the first order, or multiple orders).
Now, your customers can use this discount code when checking out with a subscription product.
For a step-by-step visual guide, see Shopify’s discounts documentation.
Now your customers can apply this Shopify discount code to their subscription orders.
Can I limit a discount code to only the first subscription order?
Yes, when setting up your discount code and you select the Subscription or Both purchase type, you’ll see the Recurring payments for subscriptions options.
Choose Limit discount to the first payment if you want the code to apply only to the first order in the subscription.
If a subscriber applies the discount code through their customer portal, it will only be applied to the next upcoming order in their subscription.
How can subscribers use a discount code on their existing subscription?
To let subscribers use a discount code on an existing subscription:
Share the discount code with your subscriber.
Direct them to their customer subscription portal where they can enter the code for their active subscription.
For details, see Customer portal: How your subscribers can manage their subscriptions.
Shopify free shipping discount codes can also be used on subscriptions.
You can set the discount code to apply only to the next order or limit it to a single use per customer. For more information, see our guide on limiting discount codes for subscription purchases.