Automatic or code: how do methods, usage limits and schedules work?

Updated November 2, 2026 · SMART Bundles App & Upsells (E-TRADE PARTNER)

Free gift, Volume discount, Order goal, Buy X get Y, Shipping discount and Advanced discount can be Automatic or Code; you choose under Application method before the first save. Bundles are always automatic. Usage limits, including Limit to one use per customer, exist only on code discounts. Each discount has one start and an optional end in Active dates.

Automatic or code

Shopify allows at most 25 active automatic discounts, including discounts from apps (Shopify Help Center). Every bundle and every automatic discount from SMART Discounts counts. Activating one more shows "Only 25 automatic discounts can be active at once."

Switch a saved discount to the other method

1. Open the discount and click Duplicate at the top, then Duplicate in the dialog.
2. On the unsaved copy, change Application method. For Code, enter a code that no other discount uses.
3. Click Create, then open the original and click Deactivate.

Discount codes

• Each code discount has one Discount code field. Type a code, or on a new discount click Generate for a random 10-character code.
• A code already used by another discount in your store shows "This discount code is already taken."
• You can change the code after saving.
• There are no bulk, prefix or wildcard codes, and no list of codes in one discount. For several codes, create one discount per code.
• Free gift codes must be on the cart to add the gift. See Free gift with a discount code.

Once per customer needs a code

The Maximum discount uses card appears only for code discounts: Limit number of times this discount can be used in total and Limit to one use per customer. Shopify tracks one use per customer by email address or phone number (Shopify Help Center). An automatic discount, including every bundle, can be used by the same customer on any number of orders.

Schedules: one start, one optional end

• In Active dates, set the Start date and Start time, in your store's time zone. A new discount starts now by default.
• Tick Set end date for an end. It defaults to 11:59 PM, 7 days after the start, and the editor asks for at least 1 hour after the start.
• There's no draft: saving a discount whose start is now makes it live. To prepare one ahead, set a future start; it shows as Scheduled.
• One window per discount. There are no recurring daily or weekly hours. For a later campaign, change the dates of the same discount, or duplicate it.
• Deactivate at the top of the editor stops a discount now; Activate turns it back on, or makes it Scheduled when its start date is still ahead. Delete can't be undone.

"Title must be unique for automatic discount"

Saving an automatic discount fails with this message when another automatic discount in your store, from any app or from Shopify, already has that name. Use a different Discount name, or rename the other discount (in Shopify admin > Discounts, or in the app that made it).

Duplicate a discount

• Click the copy icon on the home table, or Duplicate at the top of the editor.
• The copy opens unsaved, named "Copy of" plus the original name, and is created when you save it.
• A code discount's copy keeps the same code, so saving shows "This discount code is already taken." until you enter a new one.

Who can use a discount is set separately: see Customer eligibility. For combining an automatic discount with a code, see Combine with other discounts.

Frequently asked questions