Using the Shopify Script Editor to discount and promote your Shopify products

This week we'll discuss the most powerful way you can discount your Shopify products — the Shopify Script Editor.

This post is the final post in a series about the different ways you can discount your products in Shopify.

In case you missed any or want to review, here are the links to the other posts in this series:

• Shopify Discounts - A Complete Guide
• Discounting your Shopify products by price and compare at price

In today's post, we'll discuss using the Shopify Script Editor to run sales and promotions within your Shopify Store.

We'll discuss:

• Is the Shopify Script Editor right for you?
• How does the Shopify Script Editor differ from using Shopify discount codes?
• What types of discounts can you run with the Shopify Script Editor?
• Limiting Script Editor discounts to specific customers
• Need help creating Script Editor scripts? — try these resources

Is the Shopify Script Editor right for you?

Before we get started, is the Shopify Script Editor right for you and your store?

If you are not familiar the Shopify Script Editor, you can read my introduction to the Shopify Script Editor post over here.

For starters, the Shopify Script Editor is only available for Shopify Plus stores. If your store is not a Shopify Plus store, you won't be able to use it.

If that's the case, you may still find it interesting to read through the remainder of this post just to see what is possible. Perhaps that will be the motivation you need to upgrade to Shopify Plus.

In addition to being a Shopify Plus store, using the Script Editor requires someone with some programming skills.

The Shopify Script Editor uses the Ruby programming language behind the scenes. I'll mention some resources down below that make this a bit easier. I'd still recommend you are comfortable with basic programming or have access to someone who is.

How does the Shopify Script Editor differ from using Shopify discount codes?

First off, the Shopify Script Editor does not require a discount code to be entered at checkout. This means Shopify Scripts will automatically apply discounts to your customer's cart as soon as they qualify.

The other major difference with the Script Editor is around the types of scripts you can run.

The Script Editor lets you run much more complex (and powerful) types of sales than you can do with just discount codes.

Shopify discount codes only let you run the following types of discounts:

• Percentage discount
• Fixed amount
• Free shipping

The Script Editor supports all of the above as well as the ability to selectively apply one or more discounts based on what is in the shopping cart. This means you can offer incentives to your customers based on specific combinations of products and quantities within your store.

For example, with the Script Editor you can easily run promotions such as Buy One Get One Free (BOGO) which is just not possible using Shopify discount codes.

The additional flexibility and power provided by the Script Editor gives you many more options to help make your Shopify sales and promotions more successful.

What types of discounts can you run with the Shopify Script Editor?

The Script Editor lets you interact directly with the items in a shopper's cart to apply custom discounts.

This means you can see everything in your shopper's cart and then apply discounts based on the cart contents.

You can apply any discount you like to the items in the cart. Just keep in mind you can only decrease the price of items in the cart.

Also, the Script Editor can't add additional items to the cart. So you can't add a free bonus item for example. You can however still add items into your customer's cart in other ways such as by using Javascript.

As for what types of discounts you can apply — the options are nearly endless.

Here are a few of the more popular types of Shopify Script Editor discounts you can run.

• Buy X Get Y Free — buy 2 get 1 free
• Bundled discounts — buy a hat and t-shirt and save 20%
• Spend $X get a free gift — spend $50 and get a free gift
• Tiered discounts — buy 5 for 10% off, 10 for 20% off
• Spend $X get Y% off — spend $100 and get 20% off
• Spend $X get free shipping — spend $75 get free shipping

Limiting Script Editor discounts to specific customers

You can also limit your Script Editor discounts to specific customers within your shop.

For example, you can limit discounts based on:

• Customer email
• Customer tags
• Customer total order count
• Customer total spent
• Customer accepts marketing

This means you can offer custom promotions to specific groups of customers using the Shopify Script Editor.

Perhaps you want to reward your repeat customers with a 20% off discount. You can also tag your wholesale or VIP customers and then offer them specific pricing or promotions.

The Script Editor gives you lots of options for customizing your promotions based on the different types of customers within your store.

Need help creating Script Editor scripts? — try these resources

If you need help creating Shopify Scripts checkout:

• Shopify Script Creator — A free tool to generate Shopify Script Editor campaigns

If you have specific Script Editor questions, you can also contact me here.

Summary

The Shopify Script Editor is the most powerful and flexible way to run sales and promotions within your Shopify store.

However, since the Shopify Script Editor requires a Shopify Plus subscription, and also access to a programmer, it may not be an option for most Shopify stores.

If you are able to take advantage of the Shopify Script Editor you can run discounts and promotions in ways that were previously not possible.

The Script Editor can also give you better control over which customers can qualify for your promotions.

Using the power of the Script Editor should help you convert more sales within your Shopify store through more compelling promotions and offers.