> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://learn.nexudus.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Discount Codes
> How to create and manage discount codes in Nexudus — percentage or fixed-amount discounts, applicable items, validity dates, use limits, and referral discounts.
## Overview
**Discount codes** let you offer special prices to your customers when purchasing any of your services. You can create unique codes that apply percentage-based or fixed-amount discounts to plans, products, bookings, or events.
Discount codes are useful for:
* Welcome offers for new customers
* Seasonal promotions and sales
* Referral programs (rewarding both the referrer and new customer)
* Partner or community discounts
* Trial offers for specific services
Each discount code belongs to a **location** and can be configured with:
* **Discount type** — percentage (%) or fixed amount
* **Applicable items** — plans, products, bookings, or events (or any combination)
* **Validity dates** — when the code can be redeemed
* **Use limits** — total redemptions and per-customer limits
* **Audience restrictions** — members only, contacts only, or both
***
## How to access
Go to [Discount codes](https://dashboard.nexudus.com/finance/discountCodes).
Requires the **discountCodes** role.
***
## Creating a discount code
Go to **Finance → Discount codes** and click **Add discount code**.
The discount code form has five tabs: **Discount details**, **Discounted items**, **Available dates**, **Use limits**, and **Customers**.
Fill in the code, description, discount amount, and whether it's a referral discount (see the section below for details).
Choose which plans, products, bookings, or events the discount applies to.
Configure validity dates, published dates, and use limits.
Click **Save** to create the discount code. You can assign it to specific customers later from the **Customers** tab.
***
## Discount details
### Discount code
| Field | Description |
| ---------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Code** | The unique alphanumeric code customers enter to apply the discount (e.g., `WELCOME10`). Must be unique within each location. |
| **Available at** | The location this discount is available at. If you choose a **network** location, the discount will be available at all locations in that network. |
| **Description** | Text shown to customers when they enter a valid discount code. |
The code is auto-generated when you create a new discount code, but you can customize it to something memorable like `SUMMER2026` or `REFERRAL20`.
### Active status
* **This discount is active** — When unchecked, the code cannot be redeemed. Use this to pause a promotion without deleting it.
### Referral discount
* **This is a referral discount** — When enabled, this discount is automatically applied to the customer **sending** the referral link when a new customer signs up using it.
If you want **both** the referee (new customer) and the referrer (existing customer) to receive a discount, create a regular discount using the same discount code and apply it to the new customer's signup.
### Discount amount
Set the discount as either a **percentage** or a **fixed amount** — you cannot use both at the same time.
| Field | Description |
| --------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Discount percentage (%)** | A percentage off the total (e.g., `10` = 10% off). |
| **Discount amount** | A fixed monetary amount off the total (e.g., `25` = \$25 off). |
### Purchase links
When you create a discount code, Nexudus automatically generates shareable links:
| Link type | Description |
| ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Purchase link (new customers)** | Directs new visitors to the signup page with the discount code pre-filled. |
| **Invite link (existing customers)** | Directs logged-in members to the signup page with the discount code pre-filled. |
You can copy these links and share them via email, social media, or your website.
***
## Discounted items
Select which items this discount code applies to. You can enable one or more categories.
### Plans
* Toggle **This discount code can be used to pay for any plans** to apply to all plans.
* Or toggle it off and select specific plans from the list to apply the discount only to those plans.
### Products
* Toggle **This discount code can be used to pay for any products** to apply to all products.
* Or toggle it off and select specific products to apply the discount only to those products.
### Bookings
* Toggle **This discount code can be used to pay for any bookings** to apply to all booking resource types.
* Or toggle it off and select specific resource types (e.g., meeting rooms, event spaces) to restrict the discount.
### Events
* Toggle **This discount code can be used to pay for any events** to apply to all event categories.
* Or toggle it off and select specific event categories to apply the discount only to those events.
For maximum flexibility, leave all categories enabled and the discount will apply to any eligible item the customer adds to their cart.
***
## Availability
Discount codes have two sets of dates that control different aspects of availability.
### Discount validity
These dates control when the discount can be **redeemed** by customers.
| Field | Description |
| --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Valid from** | The earliest date the discount can be used. Leave empty for immediately available. |
| **Valid until** | The last date the discount can be used. Leave empty for no expiration. |
### Expiration after assignment
You can also set the discount to expire for a specific customer after they've been assigned it (useful for referral discounts or one-time codes).
| Field | Description |
| ------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **This discount never expires** | When enabled, the discount doesn't expire after assignment. |
| **This discount expires after** | Select a time period (Days, Weeks, Months, Years) and enter a number. The discount expires for a customer this long after being assigned to them. |
### Published dates
These dates control when the discount is **visible** to customers on your website or the members portal.
| Field | Description |
| ----------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Publish from** | The date the discount becomes visible on your website/app. Leave empty for immediately visible. |
| **Publish until** | The date the discount is hidden from your website/app. Leave empty for always visible. |
**Validity dates** control when a code can be redeemed. **Published dates** control when customers can see and access the code on your website. A code can be published but not yet valid (shown in advance), or valid but not yet published (working internally before going live).
***
## Use limits
Control how many times a discount code can be used to prevent overuse or create urgency.
### Who can use this discount?
| Option | Description |
| ----------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Everyone** | Both members (customers with active contracts) and contacts (customers without contracts) can use the discount. |
| **Contacts only** | Only customers without an active contract can use this discount. Useful for acquisition campaigns. |
| **Members only** | Only customers with an active contract can use this discount. Useful for retention or upsell campaigns. |
### Overall use limit
| Option | Description |
| ------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Enable overall use limit** | Set a maximum number of total redemptions across all customers. Once reached, the discount is automatically disabled. |
| **Disable discount once it has been used *N* time(s)** | The total number of times this code can be redeemed by anyone. |
| **This discount can be used any number of times** | No overall limit. |
### Per-customer use limit
| Option | Description |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Enable per-customer use limit** | Set how many times a single customer can redeem this discount. |
| **Prevent customers from using this discount more than *N* time(s)** | Maximum redemptions per individual customer. |
| **This discount can be used any number of times by the same customer** | No per-customer limit. |
For referral discounts, set **Per-customer use limit** to `1` so each customer can only use the referral code once.
***
## Assigning discounts to customers
The **Customers** tab shows all customers who have been assigned this discount code. You can assign discount codes to specific customers in two ways:
### Automatic assignment
* **Referral discounts** are automatically assigned when a customer shares their referral link and someone signs up.
* Discounts can be automatically applied during checkout if the customer enters a valid code.
### Manual assignment
You can assign discount codes to specific customers from their customer record:
1. Navigate to **Operations → Customers** and open a customer's record.
2. Go to the **Benefits** tab.
3. Find the **Discount codes** section.
4. Add the discount code(s) you want to assign.
Once assigned, the customer can use the discount code when making purchases according to the discount's configuration (validity dates, use limits, etc.).
***
## Discount code statuses
Discount codes can have the following statuses, shown as badges in the discount codes list:
| Status | Description |
| --------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Active** (green) | The code is active and currently available for use. |
| **Inactive** (red) | The code is deactivated and cannot be redeemed. |
| **Referral** (blue) | This code is used as part of the referral program. |
| **Not yet available** (red) | The code is active but the **Valid from** date is in the future. |
| **Expired** (red) | The code's **Valid to** date has passed. |
| **Not yet published** (red) | The code is active but the **Publish from** date is in the future. |
| **Retired** (red) | The code's **Publish to** date has passed — no longer visible on the website. |
***
## Best practices
### Creating effective discount codes
1. **Keep codes memorable** — Use meaningful codes like `WELCOME10`, `SUMMER2026`, or `PARTNER15` that customers can easily remember and share.
2. **Set clear use limits** — Even if you want unlimited redemptions, explicitly setting a high limit or "no limit" makes your intent clear to your team.
3. **Use published dates for campaigns** — Set **Publish from** and **Publish to** dates to align with marketing campaigns, so the code automatically appears and disappears from your website.
4. **Track performance** — Monitor how many times each code is used from the **Customers** tab to see which promotions are most effective.
### Referral discount strategies
1. **Create separate codes for referrer and referee** — If you want both parties to receive a discount, create two codes with the same code string:
* One marked as a **Referral discount** (applies to the referrer)
* One as a regular discount (applies to the new customer)
2. **Set per-customer limits** — For referrals, set **Per-customer use limit** to `1` so each customer can only refer one new customer with that code.
3. **Use audience restrictions** — Set referral codes to **Contacts only** so they only apply to new customers signing up for the first time.
### Common use cases
| Use case | Recommended configuration |
| ------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **New customer welcome** | Percentage discount, Contacts only, No per-customer limit, Set published dates for campaign |
| **Seasonal sale** | Fixed amount or percentage, Everyone, Overall use limit for urgency, Set published dates |
| **Partner discount** | Percentage discount, Everyone or Members only, No limits, Share code directly with partner |
| **Referral program** | Referral discount enabled, Contacts only for referee, Per-customer limit of 1, No overall limit |
| **Employee discount** | Percentage discount, Members only, No limits, Assign manually to employee accounts |
***
## Related features
* [Plans](/platform/billing/plans) — Create and manage membership plans that discount codes can apply to
* [Products](/platform/billing/products) — Manage products that discount codes can apply to
* [Resource rates](/platform/billing/resource-rates) — Set booking rates that discount codes can apply to
* [Time passes](/platform/billing/time-passes) — Manage passes that discount codes can apply to
* [Discount Codes REST API](/rest-api/billing/discount-codes) — Automate discount code management via API