When you apply a coupon code to an order, Rhythm uses the coupon’s rules to calculate the discount and add it to the order. This article explains which application calculates the discount, what prevents a code from being reused too many times, and where a whole-order discount appears.
Each Code Is Priced by the Application That Owns Its Coupon
Each coupon code belongs to a coupon, and each coupon belongs to one Rhythm application: Orders & Inventory, Membership, Events, Certifications, or Awards. When you apply a code, the application that owns the coupon calculates the discount because each application prices its own purchases. See How Coupons Are Applied to an Order for how membership, event, certification, and award-fee coupons calculate their discounts.
A coupon created in Orders & Inventory can apply broadly to purchases from other applications. You cannot limit that coupon to selected application areas or packages. When you set it up in Orders & Inventory, you can choose only products from your online store, so those product choices do not limit the coupon to specific non-store items.
A Code Can Apply Only Once, and Only One Code per Coupon
An order cannot use the same coupon code more than once. It also cannot use two different codes from the same coupon, so one order can use only one code from that coupon. You can still combine codes from different coupons on one order because this rule only blocks multiple codes from the same coupon.
Coupon setup does not include a setting that limits how many different coupons can apply to one order. You can set the discount for each individual code, such as its amount, percentage, or maximum discount, but you cannot cap the number of coupons an order uses.
The Discount Is Capped
A coupon discount cannot reduce a line below zero, so Rhythm limits the discount to the total it applies to. The coupon can also have its own maximum discount. If the coupon has no maximum, the discount is limited only by the total of the line or order it applies to.
A multi-use coupon is not a single declining balance shared across separate registrations. Each time someone applies the code, Rhythm calculates and applies that use’s full discount again, up to the coupon’s own maximum, instead of drawing down a shared starting amount. The coupon’s usage limit controls how many times the code can be used, not how much of a pooled amount remains. If you want a starting amount that decreases as different affiliated users spend from it, use organization credit instead of a coupon.
A Whole-Order Discount Becomes Its Own Line
Some coupons take a fixed amount off the whole order instead of discounting individual lines. When that type of coupon applies, Rhythm adds the discount as its own line on the order and uses the discount product configured on the coupon. Like any other coupon discount, this line is capped so the order is not discounted below its own total. Applying a coupon set up this way does not prevent the order from completing and moving to its normal completed status after it is otherwise paid and processed.
This whole-order discount line is how Orders & Inventory represents its own coupons. When an order placed through the universal shopping cart uses a coupon that belongs to another application, storefront coupon setup does not let you choose how that discount appears on the order. Its appearance depends on how the owning application handles discounts, not on a setting you control here.
To discount a sponsorship order with a coupon, use a whole-order discount set up this way. A per-item percentage or amount-off coupon does not work for sponsorship orders. Create a discount product for sponsorships, create a coupon code generation process for sponsorships, then create a coupon configured as a fixed amount off the order total and choose the sponsorship discount product. Once that coupon exists, generate coupon codes from it with whatever usage limits, restrictions, or ownership settings the promotion needs.
Related
For the checks that decide whether a code is accepted, including use limits and contact restrictions, see How Coupons Are Applied to an Order.