Zen Cart Discounting


Discounting 101

If are not familiar with the basic discounting mechanisms that are available in Zen Cart, please read my overview article.

The Manual

If you haven't done so already, please purchase the manual e-Start your Web Store with Zen Cart. This will give you a strong foundation in the native (built-in) discounting mechanisms in Zen Cart.

Matrix-o-discounts

Don't worry - you can enter the matrix without having to take the blue pill.

What you want to doWhat to use
Discount one item No extra software required; this is what Specials do. See p. 229-230 in the manual.
Discount a category of items No extra software required; this is what Sales do. See p. 233-235 in the manual.
Discount the total order price to specific customers No extra software required; this is what Group Discounts do. See p. 235-237 in the manual.
Provide coupons for free shipping OR a discount No extra software required; a coupon mechanism exists in the cart. See p. 311-321 in the manual.
Automatically create coupons based on purchase total Use Spender AutoCoupon.
Automatically create coupons when specific items are purchased Use Chooser AutoCoupon.
Provide coupons for free shipping AND a discount Use Big Chooser.
Provide a discount to people who subscribe to your newsletter Use Newsletter Discount.
Provide a discount to members of the military Use Military Discount.
Provide a discount for items made by one particular manufacturer Use Big Spender or Big Chooser.
Provide a discount for items made by one particular manufacturer, which requires a coupon to use Use Big Spender or Big Chooser.
Save if you buy in bulk If you're only doing this on one or two products, you can use the native Quantity Discounting mechanism (p. 231-233 in the manual). If you're doing it across the board, or grouping dissimilar items (so that quantities two different items count towards a discount), you should use my Quantity Discounts contribution. To see a breakdown of the differences between the native Quantity Discounts module and my code, click here.
Buy one, get one free This is what Better Together does.
Buy A, get B at a discount This is what Better Together does. does.
Buy 2 of A, get B at a discount
Buy 3 of A, get B at a discount
Buy 2 of A, get a third A at a discount
This is what Combination Discounts does.
Buy A and B, get C at a discount This is what Combination Discounts does.
Buy A, B, C, D ... get Z at a discount This is what Combination Discounts does.
Buy 1 of A, 2 of B, 3 of C, ... get unlimited Z at a discount This is what Combination Discounts does.
Spend over $100, get a gift This is what Big Spender does.
Spend over $100, get a discount off A This is what Big Spender does.
Spend over $100, get a discount off some combination of A, B and C This is what Big Spender does.
Spend over $100 from category X, get a discount on A This is what Big Spender does.
Spend over $100, get a your choice of two items from category 1 and 2 items from category 2 This is what Big Spender does.
Spend over $100 from category X, get a discount off the entire cart This is what Big Spender does.
Buy items A, B, C, get a discount off some combination of D, E and F This is what Big Chooser does.
Buy items A, B, C, get a your choice of a discount off D, E or F This is what Big Chooser does.
Buy items A, B, C, get a your choice of two items from category 1 and 2 items from category 2 This is what Big Chooser does.
Buy items A, B, C, get a discount off the entire cart This is what Big Chooser does.
Discount based on past purchase volume This is what Frequency Discounts does.


A more detailed comparison of Combination Discounts and Big Chooser is available to assist you.


Category Handling in Discount Mods

Determining a product's category in Zen Cart can be confusing. Products are initially created in one category, but can be "linked" to other categories. In my mods, the "linked" categories are ignored; products are considered to be in the the parent category in which they were initially created. This value is reflected in a field called "master_categories_id" in the products table, with one such setting per product.

More details on category handling in my mods are provided in this page.

ToolCategory Definition
Quantity Discounts The parent category id, as determined by the master_categories_id field in the products table. Linked Categories are not used.
Better Together Same
Military Discount Same
Newsletter Discounts Same
Frequency Discounts Same
Combination Discounts The parent category id, as determined by the master_categories_id field in the products table, and all parents of that category. Linked Categories are not used.
Big Spender The parent category id, as determined by the master_categories_id field in the products table, and all parents of that category. Linked Categories are not used.
Big Chooser The parent category id, as determined by the master_categories_id field in the products table, and all parents of that category. Linked Categories are not used.


Add-Ons and Interoperability

ToolAdd-Ons
Quantity Discounts Discount Preview
Quantity Discounts Promotional Page
Better Together Discount Preview
Better Together Admin panel
Checkout Candy
Buy Both Now
Better Together Offers on Listing Pages
Better Together Promotional Page
Add both to Cart
Images are displayed on the Promotional Page.
Combination Discounts Discount Preview
Checkout Candy for Combination Discounts
Buy The Set
Combination Discounts Admin Panel
Combination Discounts Offers on Listing Pages
Combination Discounts Promotional Page
Big Spender Discount Preview
Big Upsell
Big Spender Promotional Page
Big Chooser Discount Preview
Big Upsell
Big Chooser Promotional Page
Frequency Discounts Discount Preview
Frequency Discounts Promotional Page


All my discounting modules each have their own Promotional Pages. There is also an integrated promotional page if you wish to display all discounts on one page.

Trying to decide between Big Chooser and Combination Discounts? They have a lot in common; here's a comparison.

Do you have a discounting plan you need implemented? Describe it to me and I'll give you a quote.

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