FAQ & troubleshooting

Quick answers to the questions merchants ask most about coupons and discount rules. If you're new, start with the Coupons guide or the Discount rules walkthrough first.

Why didn't my discount apply? (coupon or discount code not working)

Run through this checklist, which covers almost every case:

1. Status. The coupon or rule must not be Disabled or Expired. Scheduled is fine, because a scheduled coupon works from its Start Date onward; the date gates it, not the status.
2. Dates. "Now" has to fall inside the Start/End window. This is the real gate: a coupon whose Start Date is still in the future returns "Coupon is not yet active", and one past its End Date returns "Coupon has expired".
3. Minimum order. The cart subtotal must meet the coupon's Min Order.
4. Code. For a coupon, the customer must type it exactly (it's case-insensitive but must match).
5. Targeting / Filters. If you set Include Products/Categories on a coupon, or Filters on a rule, the cart has to contain a matching item. This includes a Shipping Discount rule: filters on one restrict the delivery saving to carts holding a matching item, so an unrelated cart correctly pays full delivery.
6. Usage caps. The Total Uses or Per Customer limit may already be reached.
7. Conditions (rules) must all pass (or any one, in "Any condition" mode).
8. Stacking. Another exclusive discount may be blocking this one (see below).
9. Published to that sales channel. For a coupon on a vibe-coded storefront this is the one people miss. A coupon that isn't published to the channel the shopper is on is rejected there outright with "Coupon is not available for this store", however valid it is everywhere else. Set it in the coupon's Publish to Platforms footer. If your discount stopped working around the time you added a second sales channel, check this first.

At checkout, every rejection carries a human-readable message; only three of them also carry a machine-readable error code:

• COUPON_PER_CUSTOMER_LIMIT_REACHED: "You have already used this coupon the maximum number of times."
• COUPON_REGION_RESTRICTED: "This coupon is not available in your region"
• COUPON_NO_ELIGIBLE_ITEMS: "This coupon does not apply to any items in your cart."

Every other rejection comes back as a plain BAD_REQUEST with the message as the only detail: an unknown code ("Invalid coupon code"), a coupon not started yet ("Coupon is not yet active"), an expired one ("Coupon has expired"), a total-usage cap ("Coupon usage limit reached"), a coupon not published to that sales channel ("Coupon is not available for this store"), and a minimum-order failure (a message naming the amount required). If you are building a storefront and branching on these, branch on the three codes above and fall back to displaying the message, and do not expect a code for the other cases. See What customers see at checkout.

Can a coupon and a discount rule both apply to the same order?

Yes, but not by default. The rule needs Combines with coupons switched on, which is off on every new rule, and the coupon needs Can combine with other discounts left on.

What the customer actually pays. Take a $100 item, a 10% rule and a 20% coupon:

• Default setup: $80. The coupon applies, the rule does not, because Combines with coupons is off on a new rule.
• Rule opted in: $70. Both apply. Each discount is calculated from the original $100 and the amounts are added, so $10 + $20 = $30 off. It is not $72; discounts are never applied one after the other, so the 20% is never taken off an already-reduced $90.
• No coupon: $90. Only the rule applies.

Because discounts are summed rather than compounded, two 50% discounts make an item free rather than leaving 25%, and the combined total is capped at the cart subtotal so an order can never go negative.

Each discount that applies shows as its own line in the order summary. The store-wide Stacking Mode (Stack All / Apply Best / Apply First) sits above all of it.

Can I schedule a discount to start later?

Coupons: set a Start Date (and optionally Status = Scheduled, which simply labels it as upcoming in your list). The start date is what gates redemption: before it, shoppers are told the coupon is not yet active; from that moment on it works. Discount rules: set a Start Date (and optionally an End Date) in the rule's validity period.

How many times can a coupon be used?

Two independent caps: Total Uses (across all customers) and Per Customer. Leave either blank for unlimited. Use Per Customer = 1 for one-per-shopper deals like first-order codes.

Can I limit a discount to specific products, customers, or regions?

• Products / categories: yes, on both coupons and rules, via Product Targeting (Include/Exclude). On a rule, mind the Type: a Product Discount confines the saving to the filtered items, while an Order Discount uses the filters only to decide whether it fires and then discounts the whole cart subtotal. Filters also work on a Shipping Discount, limiting it to carts holding a matching item.
• Regions: on coupons only, via Region Restriction (shown when your store has more than one region). Discount rules have no region setting; scope them with a sales-channel restriction instead.
• Customer segments (first-time buyers, VIPs by spend, logged-in only) are a Discount rule feature, via Conditions (First Order, Total Spent, Customer Tag, Is Logged In).

Do discounts apply to items already on sale?

Yes: a coupon or rule discounts the item's current price, which is the sale price when one is set, so the two compound. A $100 item on sale at $80 with a 20% coupon sells for $64. There is no toggle to prevent it; you exclude the products or categories instead. See Stopping a coupon from stacking on sale items.

Do my coupons and rules sync to Shopify / WooCommerce / TikTok?

Not to Shopify or WooCommerce. Nothing is ever pushed to either one. Neither has an app you can install, and both exist only as one-time, read-only import sources inside the Migration Tool. See Import from another platform.

There is no TikTok app in the marketplace today, so there is nothing to sync a coupon to there either. The platform app you can install today is Google.

To an installed platform app, only if you opt in. On a coupon, use Publish to platforms to pick which of your installed apps it syncs to; otherwise it stays a Brainerce-only code. The Meta catalogue does not support coupons, so it is never offered.

Discount rules do not sync anywhere. They are evaluated by Brainerce at checkout, so they apply on your Brainerce storefronts only.

What's the difference between a coupon and a discount rule?

A coupon is a code the customer types; a discount rule applies automatically when the cart qualifies. Full comparison in the Coupons guide.

Can I sell gift cards (gift vouchers) on my store?

No, not as something a shopper buys. There is no gift-card product type and no storefront page where a customer picks an amount, pays, and gets a code. Listing a product called "Gift Card" mints nothing.

Gift cards themselves do exist, and they are the real thing: a code, a balance, a movement history, and redemption at checkout. You issue every one by hand from Marketing → Gift cards, which fits goodwill, a voucher you sold over the counter, staff credit or a prize. They are still in rollout, so the sidebar entry has not appeared for stores yet. See Gift cards.

Is a gift card the same as a fixed-amount coupon?

No, and treating them the same will misstate your tax and your books. A coupon takes money off the order, so the total drops and tax is charged on the reduced amount. A gift card pays part of the order: the total does not move, tax is charged on the full amount, and anything left over stays on the card for next time. A coupon is a marketing cost; an unspent gift card is a liability, money you already took and still owe. See Gift cards.

A customer can use one of each on the same order. The coupon comes off first, then the gift card pays against what is left.

What's next?

• Coupons create and manage discount codes.
• Discount rules are automatic discounts.
• Stacking & priority controls how discounts combine.