Test a promotion before advertising it
Write the offer in plain language before testing it. Record what should qualify, the intended benefit and how repeated qualifying purchases should behave.
Prepare the test
- Use your agreed test setup and identify the exact rule.
- Record type, qualifying/excluded items, code route, dates, group, method, amount, use limits, combination choice and priority.
- Choose known products and options with known prices.
- Calculate the intended result before looking at the basket total.
- Run each case and compare the discount and final amount before payment. Record any other offer applied.
Example: two items for £10
For two qualifying units normally priced at £6 each, these are useful intended comparison cases. The examples exclude tax changes, shipping and other offers; they describe the advertised outcome to check, not proof that a saved rule produces it.
| Case | Intended comparison |
|---|---|
| One qualifying unit | No completed pair: £6 |
| Two qualifying units | One pair: £10 |
| Three qualifying units | One pair plus one regular unit: £16 |
| Four units; repeat offer intended | Two pairs: £20 |
| Four units; only one pair intended | One pair plus two regular units: £22 |
Compare the two four-unit cases when reviewing Maximum uses. Test mixed prices and basket-line arrangements separately; equal-price units do not establish how mixed eligible items are chosen.
Example: a spend threshold
For an intended 10% offer from £50 of qualifying spend, test just below, exactly at and above £50. With no other adjustments, £50 would become £45 and £60 would become £54. Establish which amount actually qualifies when shipping, tax, group prices or other discounts are involved.
Worked check: minimum spend with excluded goods
Read Discount type? as well as the offer title. A quantity-based rule can also have a Min. spend condition. The following example uses Buy a quantity, get a special price, minimum quantity one, minimum spend £50, Percentage 10%, no code/date/customer-group restriction, Maximum uses 0 and Apply to all quantity set to No. The rule excludes the second product used in the mixed-basket cases.
Use known eligible and excluded products in your agreed test setup. First compare a basket containing only eligible goods:
| Eligible goods | Displayed discount | Amount due |
|---|---|---|
| £49.95 — below the threshold | £0.00 | £49.95 |
| £50.00 — exactly at the threshold | £5.00 | £45.00 |
| £50.05 — just above the threshold | £5.01 | £45.04 |
| Lower the eligible goods back to £49.95 | £0.00 | £49.95 |
Compare the displayed money amounts, including rounding, and check the result again after changing quantities. Then compare excluded goods separately:
| Eligible goods | Excluded goods | Basket subtotal | Discount | Amount due |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £49.95 | £0.05 | £50.00 | £0.00 | £50.00 |
| £50.00 | £0.05 | £50.05 | £5.00 | £45.05 |
| £0.00 | £60.00 | £60.00 | £0.00 | £60.00 |
| £50.00 | £60.00 | £110.00 | £5.00 | £105.00 |
In this example, excluded goods neither complete the qualifying spend nor receive the saving. Open Discount to check the actual named offer and amount. Record the same cases for your rule’s chosen type, products and settings; shipping, tax, group prices and overlapping offers need their own comparisons. For Spend amount, get a discount, use that type’s actual settings and repeat the boundary checks.
Check the edges
- An excluded item, including a child category where relevant.
- The wrong variant or an item assigned to several categories.
- A customer in the intended group, a different group and the relevant anonymous/default route.
- Dates before, at and after the offer boundaries.
- A typed code, a preset selection and the intended automatic route.
- Other active offers, different priority and combination choices.
- Changed quantities, removed lines, customer changes and a reopened basket.
Work through an unexpected saving
- Keep the basket unpaid while you investigate. Record the shop, selling channel, customer/group, item options and quantities.
- Open the applied-discount details and identify the actual named rule and saving. Do not diagnose from the offer title or final total alone.
- Compare the saved rule with the written offer, starting with its Discount type?. Use the checks below to narrow the question.
- Compare a simple qualifying basket with the specific case that differs. Change one condition at a time and keep both results.
- If the difference remains unexplained, retain the basket details and rule settings for support before advertising or changing the offer again.
| What you see | What to compare |
|---|---|
| The offer does not appear | Rule type, live state, code/automatic route, dates, customer group and the qualifying items or spend. |
| A child-category item behaves differently | Its actual category assignments, selected qualifying/excluded categories and both subcategory choices. Compare a parent-only item and child-only item; a checkbox label alone does not establish the result. |
| The basket reaches the threshold but no saving appears | Qualifying spend separately from excluded goods, and the exact offer type. Compare just below, at and above the boundary. |
| The saving changes unexpectedly with extra units | Method, amount, Maximum uses where offered, Apply to all quantity and the actual mix of eligible prices. |
| More than one offer affects the total | Every applied rule, combination choices and priority. Keep the original order/settings before making any deliberate change. |
| The displayed amount is unexpectedly negative | Stop before payment and review the applied code and its actual rule. Do not complete a payment or refund merely to test that result. |
For example, if £49.95 of eligible goods and 5p of excluded goods do not qualify, compare that case with £50 of eligible goods. Do not lower the threshold simply because the whole basket reaches £50; first establish what the intended rule counts.
Keep a useful result
Record the rule, customer/group, exact items/options, quantities, expected saving, actual saving and any message. If a case differs, review the rule and calculation before advertising the offer or trying a different discount route.
Related help
Quantity offers · Spend offers · Activation and combinations.
Check fixed money-off offers at different quantities
Do not use the offer’s title as its calculation rule. For a rule advertised as a fixed saving, compare one qualifying unit with several units, including low-price items where appropriate. Review Discount type?, Discount method, Discount Amount, Maximum uses and Apply to all quantity? together.
Record the displayed saving and amount due for each case. Do not assume the saving is capped at the basket subtotal or that a setting’s name alone establishes its repeated-quantity effect. If an ordinary positive sale becomes unexpectedly negative, stop before payment, identify/remove the unintended code and check the basket again. Ask support to review an unexplained result before advertising the offer. Find and remove an applied code.
