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 do | What 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. |
| Provide coupons for free shipping AND a discount | Use Big Chooser - Conditional Discounts. |
| Provide a discount to people who subscribe to your newsletter | Use Newsletter Discount. |
| Provide a discount to members of the military | Use Military Discount. |
| 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, a get discount | You can use the Quantity Discounts contribution to do this, but if you expect your needs to become any more complex, you should really look at Big Spender. |
| 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 - Conditional Discounts does. |
| 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 - Conditional Discounts does. |
| Buy items A, B, C, get a your choice of a discount off D, E or F | This is what Big Chooser - Conditional Discounts 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 - Conditional Discounts does. |
| Buy items A, B, C, get a discount off the entire cart | This is what Big Chooser - Conditional Discounts does. |
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.