How to spot customers who only buy with a discount

Some customers buy only when there is a code in the email. Knowing who they are lets you plan sales, test full-price offers and keep a win-back discount for people who need it. The difficulty is that “discount-only” has no agreed meaning. This guide gives you a working definition that comes from your own orders, then walks through the count.

Define it from your orders

We found no primary source that defines a customer who depends on discounts. So this guide uses a working term of its own, and says so: a customer’s discount share is the number of their orders that used a discount code, divided by all of their orders.

A share is simple to calculate and easy to explain to a colleague. It shows how often a code was used. The reason for the code and the size of the discount are separate questions.

Export orders and calculate the share

Shopify lets you export orders as a CSV from the Orders page, and the file includes a Discount Code column (“The discount code that was applied to the order”) and a Discount Amount column. The Discount Code column covers codes and manually applied draft-order discounts. Automatic discounts are not in it, so a store that runs automatic sales will undercount.

Here is the calculation on two customers: Customer A has 5 orders and 4 used a discount code, a discount share of 80%. Customer B has 4 orders and 1 used a code, a share of 25%. Worked example (made up)

Shopify’s customer segments show a subscription status column and let you filter customers with a query. Shopify’s page says nothing about filtering by discount use, so do this step in a spreadsheet.

Count per person, not per profile

A shopper with two profiles splits their orders, and the share changes with the split. Here is one person counted both ways: One person holds two profiles. Profile 1 has 2 orders, both with a code (100%). Profile 2 has 3 orders, 1 with a code (33%). Counted as one person: 5 orders, 3 with a code, a share of 60%. Worked example (made up)

Counted by profile, the person looks like one customer who always uses a code and one who rarely does. Counted as one person, the share is in the middle. The profiles are one person only when the evidence says so: the same phone number, or emails that differ only by a typo. A shared address alone is a reason to look and is no proof, because partners and flatmates share one. See how Shopify identifies a customer for a discount for why profiles split in the first place.

Pick and test a cut line

There is no right cut line. Our reasoning is that a high share means the customer has often seen a code before ordering, and that tells you about your offers as much as about them. Start with the question you want answered:

• To find regulars, look at customers with several orders and a high share, such as the top tenth.
• To find one-off bargain hunters, look at customers with one order that used a code.
• To check your offers, compare the share across months and see whether it rises when sales run.

Check ten customers on each side of the line by hand. If the list holds loyal customers who happened to order during a sale, move the line.

Do not call it fraud

A discount share describes a buying pattern. It does not describe intent. A customer who buys every Black Friday is a seasonal customer. Someone who joined through a welcome offer and then waited for the next sale is behaving as most price-aware shoppers do. Keep the label out of your notes and out of anything the customer sees.

If your question is about reuse of a single welcome code on several profiles, that is a different check; see welcome discount reuse.

What to do with the list

Use it to change your offers, because that treats everyone the same:

• Run a sale without a code for one group, and compare their orders with a group that got the code.
• Hold back the discount in a win-back email for customers whose share is high, and test full price first.
• Remove people who are still buying under another profile from a “come back” offer, as who should not get a win-back discount explains.

Your own email tool sends the offer. MergeGuard sends nothing, and a list you export or sync never changes anyone’s subscription.