The schedule defines when the discount is active. It is the Schedule step of the wizard and it has four modes.
Step by step
- In the side menu, go to Catalog → Discounts and open the discount.
- Go to the Schedule step.
- Pick the mode: Always, Date range, Recurring or Calendar slots.
- Fill in the dates, days or times the mode asks for.
- Continue to Review and click Save.
Always
No date limit. The discount is active as long as Active is on. This is the normal choice for permanent rules such as volume ladders.
Date range
Between a From date and a To date, picked in the calendar.
The "To" date does not include that day. The calendar stores midnight of the chosen day, and the discount stops applying at that instant. A range of "1 to 30 April" dies on the 30th at 00:00, not at 23:59: the 30th has no discount.
If you want the last day to count, set To as the following day. For "through 30 April inclusive", pick 1 May.
Repeat every year
Inside Date range there is a checkbox: Repeat these dates every year. With it, the range is evaluated by day and month, ignoring the year, and it reactivates on its own each season. It supports ranges that cross the year (20 December to 5 January, for example).
This is the right way to build a recurring season, instead of recreating the rule every year.
Recurring
Repeats on a pattern. You can combine several criteria, and all of them have to be met at once:
- Days of the week: e.g. Saturdays only, or Monday to Friday.
- Days of the month: e.g. the 1st to the 5th.
- Months: e.g. December only.
- Start time / End time: e.g. 13:00 to 15:00.
The End time is also exclusive: "13 to 15" applies through 14:59, it does not include 15:00.
Examples: "Saturdays all day", "Monday to Friday from 9 to 12", "the first 5 days of each month".
Calendar slots
Specific dates, each with its own From / To window and an optional name. Designed for Black Friday, Cyber Monday or dates specific to your business. You can load several windows in the same rule with Add date.
Just like in the range, each window ends at the instant of its To, without including it.
Timezone
The schedule is evaluated in your business's timezone, so "Saturdays" or "13 to 15" are calculated by your local time.
Scheduled discounts
When a rule has not started yet, the store can announce it as an upcoming opportunity. But only in a narrow case:
- It works with Date range (with a future start) and with Calendar slots.
- It does not work with Recurring or Always. An "every Saturday" promotion is never announced in advance.
- The notice appears only within the 72 hours before the start. A promotion scheduled for two weeks out is not announced yet.
Coupons do not expire on their own
Coupon codes generated from Discounts have no expiry date of their own. The only thing that retires them is the discount's schedule, so if you want them to expire, give the discount a Date range schedule. See Coupon codes.
If you cannot find it
- The discount switched off a day earlier than expected. It is the "To" date, which does not include that day. Push the To one day forward.
- The store does not announce the upcoming promotion. Only date-range and calendar schedules are announced in advance, and only within the previous 72 hours. Recurring ones are never announced.
- You cannot find where to repeat a season every year. The Repeat these dates every year checkbox lives inside the Date range mode, below the calendar.
- The rule is inside its schedule and still does not apply. Check Active, the audience, the scope and the condition. The Simulator lets you pin a specific date and time and tells you which of the four failed.
- You do not see "Discounts" in the menu. Sellers do not manage discounts. See Introduction.
Tips
- For Black Friday use Calendar slots with the exact date: you do not have to remember to switch it off.
- For urgent promotions, a range ending soon creates urgency; the store shows how long it lasts.
- Combine the schedule with the audience for targeted promotions: "Saturdays, new customers only".
- Check in the Simulator that the rule applies on the date and time you expect. You can simulate a future moment.