How to send coupons by email in WooCommerce
WooCommerce lets you create coupon codes, but it does not automatically email them as a marketing campaign. For a one-off promotion, create the coupon and paste its code into your email. For automatic, personalised or scheduled delivery, use an extension or custom code.
- 01Enable WooCommerce coupons
- 02Create the coupon code
- 03Publish and test the offer
- 04Send the code manually
- 05Set up automatic sending
- 06Check delivery before launch
What you need
- A WooCommerce store with coupons enabled
- Admin access to WordPress
- An email service or SMTP setup
- A discount offer and recipient list
Enable WooCommerce coupons
Go to WooCommerce > Settings > General and enable coupons if the option is not already active. Save the settings before creating the offer.
WooCommerce can create percentage, fixed-cart and fixed-product coupons, but coupon creation and coupon emailing are separate jobs.
Create the coupon code
Go to Marketing > Coupons and select Add coupon. Enter a code yourself or generate a random code, then choose the discount type and amount.
Set an expiry date, minimum spend, included or excluded products, sale-item behaviour and usage limits. Use Allowed emails when only particular billing email addresses should be able to redeem it.
Publish and test the offer
Publish the coupon, then place a test product in the cart and apply the code at checkout. Check the discount amount, expiry date, product restrictions and usage limit.
If you used an email restriction, test with the same address in the checkout billing email field. WooCommerce checks that address when the coupon is used, so a recipient using a different email can see a valid-looking code rejected.
Send the code manually
For a small or one-off campaign, copy the coupon code into your normal email newsletter or send an individual message. Explain the discount, expiry date, minimum spend and any product restrictions, then include the checkout link.
This is the manual route and is often all you need. WooCommerce core creates and validates coupons, but it does not provide a built-in feature for automatically sending coupon codes as a marketing email.
Set up automatic sending
For a welcome coupon, post-purchase reward, birthday offer or customer win-back email, use a coupon or marketing extension that can create or select a coupon and trigger an email. Alternatively, a developer can connect the trigger, coupon creation and email delivery with custom code.
Configure the trigger, email subject, message, recipient and coupon rules, then send a test message. Do not assume that the standard WooCommerce order emails will insert a coupon code automatically; those emails are mainly for store and order notifications.
Check delivery before launch
Send a real test to an address outside your store domain and check the inbox, spam folder and the coupon itself. If the message is not received, go to WooCommerce > Status > Logs and inspect the transactional email log.
WooCommerce normally hands mail to WordPress wp_mail(); hosting mail settings and deliverability can fail even when the coupon and email trigger are correct. Use a properly configured SMTP provider and a sender address on your own domain for important campaigns.
If you need scheduled, personalised PDF coupons or editable coupon email templates, Flexible PDF Coupons PRO is the faster route. It is not necessary for a simple code pasted into a newsletter, but it fits date-based gift and coupon sending.
Let Flexible PDF Coupons PRO do it
Scheduled, personalized PDF coupon delivery with editable email templates; choose it for date-based gift and coupon sending.
Sources
- woocommerce.com /document/coupon-management/?utm_source=openai
- woocommerce.com /document/coupon-email-system-for-woocommerce/?utm_source=op…
- woocommerce.com /document/email-faq/?utm_source=openai
Questions
- Can WooCommerce send a coupon email by itself?
- No, WooCommerce core can create and validate coupon codes but does not automatically send them as promotional emails. You can copy a code into your regular email platform for a manual campaign, or add an extension or custom automation for triggers such as registration, first purchase or a scheduled date.
- How do I send a unique coupon to each customer?
- Use an extension or custom automation that generates a separate coupon for each recipient, sets its usage and expiry limits, and emails the generated code. A shared coupon created in Marketing > Coupons is simpler, but it can be forwarded unless you add restrictions such as Allowed emails or a one-use limit.
- Why does a coupon in the email say it is invalid?
- The usual causes are an expired coupon, a usage limit that has been reached, a cart that fails the minimum spend or product rules, or an email restriction that does not match the checkout billing email. Test the code with the exact conditions stated in the email, including the recipient’s billing address.
- Why did the WooCommerce coupon email not arrive?
- First check whether the sending process ran by opening the transactional email log at WooCommerce > Status > Logs. A failed entry usually points to WordPress, hosting or SMTP delivery; a sent entry means you should check spam filtering and the recipient mailbox. Use a domain-based sender address and SMTP for better delivery.