An interesting little thing happened last week when downloading a report from our friends at Econsultancy.

I was emailed a promo code by them, and hurried off to their site to do the necessary. However, in my haste I completely missed the prompt to enter the code in the first step of the basket.

As I went through the process I became uncertain as to whether the company card might actually get charged, so I bailed.

After some Twitter chatting, the error of my ways became apparent, but this perfectly illustrates the practical dilemma of how to deal with Promo codes in a checkout process.

Now before I continue, am I daring to suggest that Econsultancy have it wrong? I don’t actually think they get much wrong at all, but as site producers the quandary we all face here is that it needs to be very obvious when a customer has one, and not very obvious at all when they don’t.

In this current climate where a huge number of people have become conditioned to buying cut-price goods it’s quite likely that a shopper will go scurrying off to find a code at the slightest whisper of the ‘promo’ word.

To illustrate this point, there followed a Tweet from someone that went something like ‘If there's promo codes kicking about I'd fancy one...’

With margins already being squeezed, the last thing a retailer needs is to give away more unnecessarily so code hunting should be discouraged.

So then, is the Econsultancy layout a little too hidden, being just a clickable ‘I’ve got a promotion code’ in very small, blue writing? The box only becomes visible once the link is clicked (see Figures 1 & 1a below).

Figure 1. The basket as it appears:

Fig 1a. The basket after the ‘I’ve got a promotion code’ link is clicked:

At a subconscious level I was expecting to see a field in which to enter my code, and my eyes were correctly drawn to the ‘Checkout’ button, which really stands out - but at the expense of the other links.

Easily missed? Well, I did. I’d say they’re actually spot-on when someone doesn’t have a code, but possibly a little too hidden when someone does have one.

Fortunately, being the people they are, the Twitter feed was being closely monitored and all was happily sorted in an instant.

In a slightly different context, we’ve looked into different ways to approach this issue for our B2C retail clients.

The use of language is so important here: ‘promotional code’ or anything containing the word 'discount' is very emotive phrasiology and immediately implies that one might be able to ‘get it cheaper’.

Renaming this field ‘Gift Certificate’ isn’t quite so emotive in the same way, resulting in fewer codes being entered compared to the ‘Promo code’ wording.

It also allows the box to be shown, which is then evident to someone with a code who is looking for a field in which to enter it.

Figure 2. Renamed example:

Tom Cahalan of Lost Ferret says:  “The idea is that the renaming stops the majority of people going off to another website to look for a promo code. These two words don't instantly trigger the notion in their minds that they can get it cheaper, but it also is clear enough for someone looking to apply a promo/coupon. Indications thus far suggest it does just that.”

Conversely, Figure 3 below shows a very good example of how we advise it shouldn't be handled:

Figure 3: use of the emotive 'discount' word.