“The news comes at a time when online coupon use is experiencing unprecedented growth, as a new generation of bargain hunters — those who do not subscribe to newspapers or clip physical coupons — turn to the Internet for the convenience and vast selection realized by the digital format.”

This should not be surprising as more and more shoppers are looking to save money. Coupons have long been used to introduce new customers to products or a new store. As more shoppers turn to the Internet, it seems logical that coupon use would continue to grow.

Coupons are actually easy to integrate into an existing payment structure. Business week gives some very good example of how to integrate coupons with your existing marketing and payment programs. Some of my favorites are:

• Customer loyalty - Giving frequent shoppers a discount on future purchases
• Incentives - Giving an instant coupon to encourage a sale
• Increasing add-on sales – Using a coupon to sell related items

If you would like to use coupons on your site, we provide helpful “how to” articles on Creating a Coupon as well as Changing Existing Coupons . Share any thoughts you have on coupons with the Community.

• percentage off individual items or off entire sales
• a set amount discount off an individual item or of entire sale
• free shipping

And if you’re feeling ambitious (or generous!), you can also set up multiple coupons.

What does the customer do to redeem the coupon? When you create a coupon, you will provide the coupon code that you can distribute to your customers in whatever manner you like. The customer will enter this code when making a purchase and the discount will be calculated automatically into the sale. It is important to note that if a coupon is being applied to a recurring product the discount will only apply to the first installment.

How does the Create Coupon option work? In order to create coupons, suppliers will need to access the new Vendors Administration panel.

To access the create coupon page in our new vendor administration panel please login at the following url: https://www.2checkout.com/va/ Once you have logged in click on the ‘Products’ tab and then select the ‘Coupons’ sub category.

To create a coupon make sure to fill all of the fields provided.

• Coupon Code- The code your customers will be using to receive the discount. Please note: If you don’t enter a coupon code, one will be automatically assigned when the coupon is created.
• Expiration Date- The date your coupon will expire in the following format. (YYYY-MM-DD)
• Savings- Use the drop down menu to select the savings type as fixed amount, percentage off or free shipping. The amount can be entered in the savings field as follows:
• Fixed Amount-1 = 1.00
• Percentage Off- 10 = 10%
• Free Shipping- Customer will receive free shipping if the plug and play parameter set is used.
• Minimum Purchase- The minimum order total required to use the coupon. Please note: In order for a fixed amount coupon to be created, you will need to ensure the minimum purchase amount is set lower than the cost of your least expensive product.

You may either select the check box to apply this coupon to all products created in your 2Checkout account or you may click on the ‘Show Products’ link to select which product/products the coupon is applied to. If you leave the checkbox blank the savings will apply to the sale total rather than an individual product price.