Pricing Strategies: #4 Counting on Discounts

Pricing Strategies: #4 Counting on Discounts

"Is there any chance I can get a little discount on this month's service?"

Maya hears this almost every time at her fitness studio. She offers monthly subscription plans for various services, including yoga, strength training, wellness sessions, and personal training. Customers loved the classes, but they also loved looking for small savings whenever they could.

Alert
Some were first-timers hoping for a welcome deal.
Some were long-time clients asking for a loyalty benefit.
Others were referred by friends and were hoping for a referral discount.

 

At first, Maya tried to handle discounts manually by editing the invoice, creating a custom price and applying ad-hoc reductions. But as her studio grew, with multiple centres and more clients requesting discounts, she clearly understood that discounts weren't just giveaways; they were a strategic way to drive signups, retain customers, reward loyalty, and promote sales.


Unlike Maya, there are several thousand businesses and service providers who have considered offering discounts, but they end up creating a mess or stop midway due to an inappropriate configuration.

In this article, we are going to cover how Coupons in Zoho Billing offer convenience for giving discounts, setting up logic, and being transparent in their offerings.

Coupons in Zoho Billing 

Coupons allow you to apply controlled, rule-based discounts to subscriptions, invoices and addons. They help businesses attract customers, increase conversions and maintain long-term loyalty without losing control over revenue.


Zoho Billing's coupon system includes a wide range of powerful capabilities. Let's explore each of them in detail.

Discount Type 

Zoho Billing lets you design coupons with the discount calculation you want. It is done in two ways,

  • Percentage-based discount. (Example 10% off)

  • Flat rate discount. (Example $10 off)

Idea

Strategic Advantage:

Percentage discounts attract attention. It can be used for promotional sales and new customer incentives. At the same time, flat rate discounts maintain margin clarity, which can be used for targeted reductions or compensation credits. Align your discount type with your revenue model.


How are Discounts Deducted? 

The discount application affects how the subscriber actually experiences savings. Zoho Billing supports,

  • Plan-level discount: Applied only for subscription plan pricing.

  • Addon level discount: Applied only to selected addons.

  • Invoice level discount: Applied to the total invoice amount.

  • Recurring or one-time discounts: Apply either repeatedly or once, depending on how they are defined.

Idea

Strategic Advantage:

Control precisely where the discount applies so that promotions don't unintentionally reduce assured revenue.


Setting Up Expiry 

Coupons can be time-bound, ensuring urgency and promotional control. You can choose between,

  • No expiry

  • Specific calendar date for a limited promotional period.

Idea

Strategic Advantage:

Use expiries to create urgency ("Offer ends this Sunday!"), regulate campaign periods and avoid long-tern unintentional discounts.


Maximum Redemption 

Not all discounts are meant to be universal. Zoho Billing lets you limit how many times a coupon can be redeemed across all customers. You can set the redemption times as the number of times the discount gets applied to a subscription.

This is done to

  • Prevent discount misuse.

  • Keep promotions budget-friendly

  • Make time-based campaigns more straightforward to manage.

Idea

Strategic Advantage:

Scarcity increases desire. Limited redemption coupons can rapidly boost signups.   


 Advanced Coupon  Management

Advanced Coupon Management addresses key challenges, including coupon duplication, eligibility control, and improved discount management. By enabling advanced coupons, the following configurations can be set up:


Customer Eligibility:

Advanced Coupon lets you define who can redeem the coupon. This is ideal for targeting specific groups, such as elite customers, new sign-ups, or high-value subscribers.

Example: Providing a 20% first-time discount for New signups.


Product Eligibility:

By creating separate coupons for different products, Advance coupons let you specify which product, plan, or addon is eligible for a discount. This way, you can configure coupons globally for all products.

Example: A coupon can be valid for "Plan A" and "Addon A" from "Product A", but restricted from use on "Product B".


Maximum Redemption Per Customer:

Businesses can now limit a coupon for a customer for a specific number of times, preventing excessive redemptions.

Example: A customer can redeem a 10% discount coupon for only two cycles, after which it becomes invalid.  

Idea

Strategic Advantage:

Advanced coupons help design lifecycle-based discounts (onboarding, reactivation, upsell nudges, etc) that increase retention.


Additional Coupon Codes 

Zoho Billing lets businesses generate multiple coupon codes linked to the same discount rule. You can create this in bulk or import it into the system, and it can be used.

A primary coupon is created by defining the discount structure (percentage or fixed amount), the maximum number of redemptions, and the expiry date. You can generate multiple coupons that link back to the Default Coupon in the following ways:

​
Manually Entering Codes: If you want to assign specific codes for tracking or personalisation. This will be helpful for small promotional campaigns.
​
Auto-Generate Codes: If you are running a large-scale campaign, you can let the system generate a batch of unique codes in bulk by defining the prefix, suffix, and the number of characters it takes.


This helps in,

  • Tracking which marketing channel performs best.

  • Personalising codes by customer segment.

  • Running simultaneous campaigns using different code names.

  • Avoiding manual discount creation to prevent duplication.

Idea

Strategic Advantage:

Multi-code campaigns let you measure Return on Investment across social media, email, influencers, events, referral sources and so on, all with the sample discount logic.


 What Coupons Do for Your Business 

Coupons are more than just discounts; they are a customer behaviour tool that drives more than just monetary advantage for a business. Different coupon configurations provide different outcomes.

They help you,

  • Increase signups with welcome offers.

  • Reactivate old customers with comeback incentives.

  • Encourage plan upgrades with timed discounts.

  • Drive referral and viral sharing.

  • Introduce urgency that pushes customers to act.

 Coupons help businesses attract, retain, and re-engage customers while maintaining complete control over the revenue. Not all discounts are equal, but with the right system, they become a competitive advantage.


Notes
Up Next: Stay local & sell global.

 

    • Sticky Posts

    • Community Learning Series | Digest #5 — September 2020

      Dear customers, We're happy to bring you the September edition of our #CommunityDigest! Keep track of your subscription KPIs right from your smartphone: Last month, we enhanced our Android mobile app to help our customers get daily updates on their business health. We got to know from a lot of customers that this has made their job much more easier because they no longer have to keep a reminder to manually check on the previous day's revenue or activations. If you have not downloaded it yet, here's

    • Community Learning Series | Digest #4 - August 2020

      Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. I'm happy to bring you the fourth edition of our #CommunityDigest with some brand-new updates from us. 1. Daily Business Updates (for Android users) The Zoho Subscriptions Android app has got a cool new update: You can now get a push notification to your smartphone that lets you know how many activations and cancellations have taken place, and what's the net revenue for the previous day. The best part is, you can tell the app when exactly you

    • Community Learning Series | Digest #3 - July 2020

      Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. We're glad to bring you the July edition of our #CommunityDigest. New community members can view our previous newsletters here. This time, we have two major updates and three interesting topics for you: 1. Zoho Subscriptions Developer Community Since the inception of Zoho Subscriptions, our team believed that the recurring billing platform we provide should be able to offer an extensive API library that empowers businesses to automate most

    • Introducing: Community Learning Series | Digest #1 - May 2020

      Dear customers, We hope you are staying safe and healthy. Helping businesses manage their customer subscriptions more efficiently has always been, and always will be, our goal at Zoho Subscriptions. We strongly believe this is possible if we grow together as a community and share what we know with each other. To nurture this shared learning experience, here is our brand-new Community Learning Series! ​ Welcome to the first edition of our digest! Each edition of our community digest includes guides

    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


      • Recent Topics

      • Reusable Custom Functions Across Department Workflows

        Dear Zoho Desk Team, We appreciate the powerful workflow automation capabilities in Zoho Desk, particularly the ability to create and use custom functions within workflows. However, we have encountered a limitation that impacts efficiency and maintainability.

      • Feature Request - Gift Cards or Gift Voucher Capability in Zoho Commerce

        Hi Zoho Commerce team, I'm comming accross more and more retail businesses who sell gift cards. As there is currently no way to manage this in Zoho Commerce, it is a blocker to addoption. This is particularly popular in Europe and North America. I recently

      • Don't Allow Customer to Edit Values After Submitting Ticket

        After a customer submits a ticket through the customer portal, they can go into the ticket and see some of the values from the questions they answered in the sidebar. Currently, a customer can edit these values even after they submitted them. This makes no sense. We ask very specific questions that we don't want customers to later change! Please disable the ability for customers to edit the values to their submission questions in the portal. Screenshot attached.

      • Analytics <-> Invoice Connection DELETED by Zoho

        Hi All, I am reaching out today because of a big issue we have at the moment with Zoho Analytics and Zoho Invoice. Our organization relies on Zoho Analytics for most of our reporting (operationnal teams). A few days ago we observed a sync issue with the

      • text length in list report mobile/tablet

        Is there a way to make the full text of a text field appear in the list report on mobile and tablet? With custom layouts, the text is always truncated after a certain number of characters.

      • Automation #4 - Auto Delete Tickets based on Rules

        This is a monthly series in which we pick some common use cases that have been either discussed or most asked about in our community and explain how they can be achieved using one of the automation capabilities in Zoho Desk. Unwanted tickets spamming

      • Zoho Community Digest — Enero 2026

        ¡Hola, comunidad! 🌟 Aquí os traemos las novedades más interesantes de Zoho durante este mes de enero, incluyendo actualizaciones de productos, integraciones y un recordatorio sobre los workshops certificados que vuelven a España. 🎓 Eventos y Comunidad

      • Automation #3 - Auto-sync email attachments to tickets

        This is a monthly series where we pick some common use cases that have been either discussed or most asked about in our community and explain how they can be achieved using one of the automation capabilities in Zoho Desk. Most of our customers use email

      • Automation #11 - Auto Update Custom Fields with Values from Emails

        This is a monthly series designed to help you get the best out of Desk. We take our cue from what's being discussed or asked about the most in our community. Then we find the right use cases that specifically highlight solutions, ideas and tips to optimize

      • Automation #13 - Auto assign tickets based on agent shift time

        This is a monthly series designed to help you get the best out of Desk. We take our cue from what's being discussed or asked about the most in our community. Then we find the right use cases that specifically highlight solutions, ideas and tips to optimize

      • Automation #14: Capture Jira Issue Key/ID in a Ticket Custom Field

        Hello Everyone! This month's edition brings you a custom function to consolidate your records associated with Jira integration. Jira integration enables support engineers and R&D units to collaborate seamlessly on feature development, product improvement,

      • Automation #16: Automate Ticket Reopening on Scheduled Timestamp

        Hello Everyone! This edition uncovers the option to schedule reopening a ticket automatically. Zylker Finance tracks insurance policyholder activities through Zoho Desk. For policyholders who pay monthly premiums, tickets are closed upon payment completion.

      • Automation#19:Auto-Close Tickets Upon Task Completion

        Hello Everyone! We’re excited to bring you another custom function this week. In this edition, we’ll show you how to automatically close tickets when all associated tasks are marked as completed. Let’s see how ZylkaPure, a leading water filter company,

      • Automation #15: Automatically Adding Static Secondary Contacts

        Rockel is a top-tier client of Zylker traders. Marcus handles communications with Rockel and would like to add Terence, the CTO of Zylker traders to the email conversations. In this case, the emails coming from user address rockel.com should have Terence

      • Improved UX design for Projects CRM integration

        The current integration embeds the entier projects inteface into the CRM this is confusing and allows users to get lost. For example as a user i navigate to an account and go down to the related projects list and want to get information about a specific

      • Link Purchase Order to Deal

        Zoho Books directly syncs with contacts, vendors and products in Zoho CRM including field mapping. Is there any way to associate vendor purchase orders with deals, so that we can calculate our profit margin for each deal with connected sales invoices

      • Transformer vos stocks en décisions intelligentes avec Zoho Inventory et Zoho Analytics

        Zoho Inventory permet de suivre facilement les niveaux de stock et d’anticiper les restockages. Pour de nombreuses entreprises, cela suffit à gérer les opérations au quotidien. Mais à mesure que l’activité se développe, cette clarté peut commencer à montrer

      • Zoho Commerce - Poor Features Set for Blogging

        Hi Zoho Commerce team, I'm sure you will have noticed that I have been asking many questions about the Blogs feature in Commerce. I thought that it would be useful if I share my feedback in a constructive way, to highlight the areas which I feel need

      • Security Enhancements | Migrate to the Updated Policies

        Hello everyone, Zoho Directory's security policies have been updated and reorganized into three new policies with features that enhance the overall organization security. These policies provide a stronger and more secure sign-in methods and improve the

      • Bring Zoho Shifts Capabilities into Zoho People Shift Module

        Hello Zoho People Product Team, After a deep review of the Zoho People Shift module and a direct comparison with Zoho Shifts, we would like to raise a feature request and serious concern regarding the current state of shift management in Zoho People.

      • Facturation électronique 2026 - obligation dès le 1er septembre 2026

        Bonjour, Je me permets de réagir à divers posts publiés ici et là concernant le projet de E-Invoicing, dans le cadre de la facturation électronique prévue très prochainement. Dans le cadre du passage à la facturation électronique pour les entreprises,

      • Quick Create needs Client Script support

        As per the title. We need client scripts to apply at a Quick Create level. We enforce logic on the form to ensure data quality, automate field values, etc. However, all this is lost when a user attempts a "Quick Create". It is disappointing because, from

      • How to block a WhatsApp user for sending spam

        Is there a way to block those whatsapp users that just come to play and annoy our service, they also spam us. We have a waba service with sales iq

      • Inquiry regarding auto-save behavior for Zoho Sign Embedded Sending

        Dear Zoho Support Team, I am currently integrating Zoho Sign's Embedded Sending functionality using iframes on my website. I would like to know if there is a way to ensure that the document state (including any added fields) is automatically saved as

      • Introducing Connected Records to bring business context to every aspect of your work in Zoho CRM for Everyone

        Hello Everyone, We are excited to unveil phase one of a powerful enhancement to CRM for Everyone - Connected Records, available only in CRM's Nextgen UI. With CRM for Everyone, businesses can onboard all customer-facing teams onto the CRM platform to

      • Automation#17: Auto-Create Tasks in Zoho Projects Upon Ticket Creation in Zoho Desk

        Hello Everyone, This edition delivers the solution to automatically create a task in Zoho Projects when a ticket is created in Zoho Desk. Zylker Resorts uses Zoho Desk for bookings and handling guest requests. Zylker resorts outsources cab bookings to

      • Automation#20 : Auto-Add Ticket Tags based on Keywords

        Hello Everyone! Welcome to unveiling custom functions on our Community series. This week's post lets you add tags to your tickets automatically based on the keywords in the ticket subject and the ticket thread. Discover how this custom function helps

      • Automation#21: Track Ticket Transfers Across Departments

        Hello Everyone! With Halloween just around the corner, we'd like to let you know the Zoho Desk team is always there to sweep away your customer service troubles! This week, we’re excited to introduce a custom function that tracks tickets moved between

      • Email Integration - Zoho CRM - OAuth and IMAP

        Hello, We are attempting to integrate our Microsoft 365 email with Zoho CRM. We are using the documentation at Email Configuration for IMAP and POP3 (zoho.com) We use Microsoft 365 and per their recommendations (and requirements) for secure email we have

      • Homepage not assignable to group

      • MS Teams for daily call operations

        Hello all, Our most anticipated and crucial update is finally here! Organizations using Microsoft Teams phone system can now integrate it effectively with Zoho CRM for tasks like dialling numbers and logging calls. We are enhancing our MS Teams functionality

      • Automation#22 Track Ticket Duration at Specific Status

        Hello Everyone! Welcome back to the Community Learning Series! Today, we explore how Zylker Techfix, a gadget servicing firm, boosted productivity by tracking the time spent at a particular ticket status in Zoho Desk. Zylker Techfix customized Zoho Desk’s

      • Automation#23: Automate Guided Conversations in Zoho Desk with Business Hours

        Hello Everyone, This week's edition introduces a custom function designed to automate Guided Conversations in Zoho Desk, based on your business hours. With this feature, you can align the bot's behavior with your business schedule, ensuring a smooth and

      • Address changes in quote form

        When entering a quote, the first piece of information required is the Account, which properly populates the billing and shipping address fields. Then I use the lookup function to select a contact, and when I do, the billing and shipping addresses are

      • Automation#24: Auto-Update custom field from Accounts to Tickets

        Hello Everyone! Welcome back to the Community Learning Series! This episode dives into how Zylker Techfix streamlines account-related ticket references. Previously, employees had to manually check account details to retrieve specific customer information,

      • Kaizen #227 : Client Script Support for List Page (Canvas)

        Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. In today's post lets see how Client Script can be used in Canvas List Page to mask sensitive information from specific roles and add colors to Canvas List Page records based on custom criteria.This use

      • Implement Date-Time-Based Triggers in Zoho Desk

        Dear Zoho Desk Support Team, We are writing to request a new feature that would allow for the creation of workflows triggered by specific date-time conditions. Currently, Zoho Desk does not provide native support for date-time-based triggers, limiting

      • Automation#25: Move Tickets to Unassigned When the Owner Is Offline

        Hello Everyone, Welcome to this week's Community Series! 'Tis the holiday season—a time when work often takes a brief pause. The holiday spirit is in full swing at Zylker Techfix too, with employees taking some well-deserved time off. During this period,

      • Automation#27: Retain Ticket Owner on Moved Tickets

        Hello Everyone! This week, we present to you a custom function that retains the ticket owner when a ticket is moved from one department to another. Here’s more to help you understand the custom function: At Zylker Techfix, Alex, the Support Engineer manages

      • Automation#28 Notify Agents on Article Expiry

        Hello Everyone! This week, we’re bringing you a feature that notifies your team when articles in the Knowledge Base are set to expire to keep your content relevant and helpful for customers. The Zoho Desk's Knowledge Base is an asset for customers to

      • Next Page