WooCommerce: How Store Credits Can Benefit Store Owners and Customers

Running an online store often means coming up with smart ideas that can help you sell your products faster. Some of those ideas might succeed and some may fail.

There are no strategies that work all the time, for all WooCommerce websites. But there is one that is often very effective: offering store credits. The reason for its popularity can be attributed to the awesome flexibility it provides to both store owners and customers. 

So, let’s find out more about store credits through this article and how you can enable them in your WooCommerce online store. But first – what are store credits?

Well, with this functionality, customers can purchase store credits (as opposed to buying products) and then they can use their credits to buy products from the store. Buyers can either use it for themselves or gift it to others. It’s an easy and effective way to convert your store visitors into buyers. 

Now it’s time to figure it all out. And thankfully, there’s a plugin for that.

Step 1 – Install the Smart Coupons Plugin

After purchasing the Smart Coupon Plugin For WooCommerce, the plugin will be available as a zip file in the API Downloads section of your My Account page.

1. Download the zip file from API Downloads by logging into your WebToffee My Accounts page.
2. Log in as the WordPress Admin of your online store.
3. Navigate to Plugins > Add New to Upload the downloaded plugin.
4. Choose the plugin file to upload.
5. Finally, activate the plugin.

Step 2 – Create a New WooCommerce Product

In later steps, you will associate this product to Store credit. For creating a product, navigate to Products > Add New from your WordPress dashboard. Add the necessary details like description, category, etc.

This product is what will be considered as store credit so we do not associate a regular price here. Hit Publish.

Step 3 – Configure Store Credit

To configure the store credit in your store, go to WooCommerce > Coupons > Store credit.

Let’s explore how to configure store credit by learning what each of the above fields is for.

Extended store credit – You need to enable this checkbox to sell store credits in your store.

Apply store credit before calculating tax – When you enable this checkbox the tax will be applied only on the remaining value after deducting the store credit. E.g. if you made an order of $100 from a store and apply store credit of $80, the tax will be applicable only on the remaining $20.

Associate a product – Here you have to choose the product you have created in step 2.

Credit purchase options – You have three options available:

1. Custom, in which customers will be able to decide and set the store credit amount to purchase. You can set the maximum and minimum limits for it.
2. Predefined, using this option you will be able to decide what denominations of store credit will be available in your store.
3. Finally the third option Custom & Predefined will display both custom and predefined options in your store.

Set amount – Here you can set the amount for predefined credit purchase. Amounts can be separated by a comma.

Minimum credit – Set minimum credit amount for custom credit purchase.

Maximum credit – Set maximum credit amount for custom credit purchase.

Email store credit for order status – Here you can choose the appropriate order status to email store credit.

Store Credit Coupon Format – Here you can choose what the store credit coupon generated in your store looks like by adding a custom prefix, suffix, and coupon code length.

By finishing the above three steps, you have successfully enabled store credit in your store.

Here is how the above-configured store credit looks on the front-end to your customers.

Now the customer can either choose a predefined amount or enter a custom amount in the box. Customers can either use it for themselves or gift it to someone else. Here is what a birthday gift preview looks like.

Email Store Credit – Should you prefer to manually assign store credit to a specific customers you can do so by configuring the below email settings:

By clicking the Send email button the store credit coupon will reach your customer’s inbox. You can even look at the preview of the email to see if it needs any change before sending it.

Different Types of Store Credit

Rather than sticking to one type of store credit, you should offer varieties at your store. This will act like a magnet that can pull more customers towards your store. The following are the commonly observed store credit types.

• Store credits that offer necessary finance to customers who make payment at a later date or on increments.
• For return or exchange of the product sold, especially when the item sold is non-refundable.
• To use storecredit as gift cards/coupons.

Benefits of Store Credit to Customers and Store Owners

Store credit has been dearest to people ever since it was first introduced into online stores. Customers get to enjoy a lot of benefits with store credit. For example, they can:

• Share store credit with friends and family
• Use store credit as a gift

On the other end, shop managers can also benefit from enabling store credit. For example:

• You can offer store credit to compensate for any issue customers had to face in your store.
• You can encourage sales during certain periods
• You can increase trust towards your store thus retaining customers

Perks of Adding Smart Coupon for WooCommerce Plugin to Your Store

Here is how you can make the best use of store credits in your store with the help of the plugin:

• You can create store credit of predefined denomination, custom denomination or both – With this awesome feature, you can allow your customers to purchase a store credit of the value of their choice. It’s a great flexibility you can offer to your customers.
• You can apply store credit before or after calculating tax – If you chose to apply store credit before calculating tax, the tax will be calculated only on the discounted value instead of actual value.
• You can email store credit automatically at a scheduled time – This feature is largely used for gifting purposes. By scheduling the date and time you can ensure that your gift reaches the right person at the right time.
• You can create store credit coupons in your store – Store credits can be used as coupons as well.
• You can customize the look of store credit coupon, coupon code and email template along with their live preview.
• You can exclude store credit from specific products or categories.
• You can decide if store credit can be applied either individually or in combination with other coupons.

To Wrap It Up

The search for the best strategy that can keep your store growing never ends. Offering store credits is one the top strategies. It offers a lot of flexibility and convenience to customers in terms of making a purchase from your store. If you haven’t enabled it in your store yet, do it soon and watch your store grow.