Applying Coupons at the Till

Pro Feature

Applying coupons at the register requires WCPOS Pro. Free users can see the Coupons screen as a blurred preview but the Add Coupon action is disabled in the cart.

This page covers the at-counter workflow — finding a coupon, applying it, stacking multiple coupons, and dealing with errors. For coupon types, setup, and validation rules see Coupons; for ad-hoc discounts a cashier creates on the fly see Cart Discounts.

The Add Coupon flow

Below the cart line items there's an Add Coupon button. Tapping it opens a small input where you can either type a code or search.

1. Tap Add Coupon in the cart
2. Start typing — the input doubles as a search across all synced coupons (code and description)
3. Pick the coupon from the suggestion list, or finish typing the code and press Enter

The coupon validates instantly against your locally-synced data — there's no round-trip to the server — and the discount appears on the cart total. If you change cart contents afterwards (add an item, change a quantity, swap a customer), the discount recalculates automatically.

Code vs. search

Cashiers who know the code (e.g. "SUMMER10") can type it and hit Enter — fastest path. The search is for when a customer hands over a printed coupon and the staff member doesn't remember the exact code, or when looking up a loyalty discount by customer name.

Coupon pills in the cart

Each applied coupon appears as a small pill in the cart, sitting just above the totals. The pill shows the coupon's description (or code, if no description is set) and the amount it discounted. Tap the × on a pill to remove that coupon — the cart total recalculates immediately.

Pills stack vertically when more than one coupon is applied. The order shown is the order they were added — and that order matters for sequential discounts.

Receipt labels

The pill text is also what prints on the receipt. If you'd like a cleaner label than the raw coupon code (e.g. "Loyalty Discount" rather than "LOYAL10"), set the Description field on the coupon in WP Admin → Marketing → Coupons. WCPOS uses the description as the discount label whenever it's set.

Sequential discounts

You can apply more than one coupon to an order. WooCommerce treats them sequentially — each coupon discounts the running subtotal left by the previous one, not the original cart total.

Worked example

Cart subtotal: $100.00

Step	Coupon	Calculation	Running total
1	LOYAL10 (10% off)	$100 × 0.90	$90.00
2	WELCOME5 ($5 off cart)	$90 − $5	$85.00
3	EXTRA20 (20% off)	$85 × 0.80	$68.00

The order they're applied in changes the final number. Two 10% coupons stack to 19% off the original (not 20%), because the second 10% applies to the already-discounted total.

When coupons can't stack

A coupon configured with Individual use only in WooCommerce blocks any other coupon from being applied alongside it. If SUMMER25 is individual-use:

• Apply SUMMER25 first → adding any other coupon shows "This coupon cannot be combined with other coupons."
• Apply other coupons first → adding SUMMER25 shows the same message.

Remove the conflicting coupon to apply the other.

Fixed-product coupons

A fixed product discount coupon (e.g. $2 off each T-shirt) only discounts the line items it matches — it doesn't reduce the running subtotal for other coupons. Stacking it with a percentage cart coupon is safe and predictable.

Removing a coupon

• Tap the × on the coupon pill to remove that single coupon.
• Clearing the cart (More menu → Clear cart) removes all applied coupons.
• Removing a line item that was the only qualifying item for a product-restricted coupon will auto-remove the coupon and show a brief toast — "Coupon removed: no qualifying items".

Validation errors and how to resolve them

The POS runs the same validation rules as WooCommerce — see How Validation Works for the full list. When a coupon is rejected, the cashier sees a specific message:

Message	What it means	What to do
"Coupon does not exist"	The code wasn't found in synced data.	Check spelling. If the coupon was just created in WP Admin, run a sync from the Coupons screen (long-press the sync icon for Clear and refresh).
"This coupon has expired"	Today's date is past the coupon's expiry.	Extend the expiry in WP Admin, or use a different code.
"Usage limit reached"	The coupon's overall usage limit is exhausted.	Raise the limit in WP Admin, or use a different code.
"Customer has already used this coupon"	The selected customer is over the per-user limit.	Switch customers, or raise the per-user limit.
"Minimum spend not reached"	The cart subtotal is below the coupon's minimum.	Add more items or use a different code.
"Maximum spend exceeded"	The cart subtotal is above the coupon's maximum.	Split into separate orders or use a different code.
"This coupon cannot be combined with other coupons"	Either the new coupon or an already-applied one is set to Individual use only.	Remove the conflicting coupon, then apply the desired one.
"Coupon not valid for items in cart"	None of the cart items match the coupon's product/category restrictions.	Add a qualifying item, or pick a different coupon.
"Coupon not valid for this customer"	The selected customer's email doesn't match the coupon's Allowed emails rule.	Switch to a customer whose email matches, or remove the email restriction.

If a coupon validates locally but the order is rejected at checkout, the server re-ran validation against fresher data — usually the usage limit was hit in another sale during the same shift. Re-apply or pick another.

Common workflows

Manager discount — ad-hoc 10% with a tracked code

Create a coupon in WP Admin → Marketing → Coupons called something like MGR10:

• Discount type: Percentage discount
• Coupon amount: 10
• Usage limit per coupon: (blank — unlimited)
• Individual use only: off (so it can stack with loyalty / promo codes)
• Description: "Manager Discount" (this is what prints on the receipt)

Share the code with managers only. The coupon shows up in WooCommerce reports as a tracked discount, unlike a POS price override which now just lowers the line price.

Loyalty reward — repeat-customer $5 off

Create LOYAL5:

• Discount type: Fixed cart discount
• Coupon amount: 5
• Minimum spend: 25 (or whatever your threshold is)
• Usage limit per user: 1 (if the reward is one-time)
• Description: "Loyalty Reward"

At the till, search "loyalty" to find it without having to remember the code.

Single-use promo — flyer or print campaign

Create one coupon per campaign with Usage limit per coupon: 1 if it's a single-redemption flyer, or a higher number for a multi-use promo. Set a tight Expiry date so the code can't be reused later by mistake.

For multi-use promos where each customer should only redeem once, set both Usage limit per coupon and Usage limit per user: 1.

Stacking a manager discount on top of a coupon code the customer brought

Apply the customer's code first, then the manager code. WooCommerce treats them sequentially — the manager discount calculates against the already-discounted total, which is usually what customers expect.

If the customer's coupon is Individual use only, the manager code will be rejected. Either remove the customer's coupon first (and re-apply later if needed) or update the customer's coupon in WP Admin to allow stacking.

A customer wants to return part of an order and re-ring it with a different coupon

Refund the original order first (see Refunds), then start a fresh sale with the new coupon. Coupons are tied to the order at the time of sale — you can't retroactively swap a coupon on a completed order from the POS. The refund returns the usage count to the coupon so it can be applied again on the new order.

Interaction with POS price changes

If a cashier lowered a line price at the till (a POS price override) and then applies a coupon, the coupon calculates against the lowered price, not the original. POS-lowered lines are treated as "on sale", so any coupon with Exclude sale items enabled will skip them.

This is intentional — it prevents customers being double-discounted by stacking a cashier discount and a coupon against the original price. See How POS Price Changes Interact with Coupons for the full mechanics.

Offline behaviour

• Applying coupons works offline — validation runs against locally-synced coupon data.
• Completing the sale still needs a connection when the order is submitted (the server re-validates and writes the usage count).
• A coupon you just created in WP Admin won't apply at the till until the next sync. From the Coupons screen footer, tap the sync icon () — long-press for Clear and refresh if you need a fresh fetch.