Skip to main content
How-to

Runbook: Set Up a Sale

Account: VITAG (Vitagen Labs)
Navigation: Items → Coupons, or Items → [product] → Pricing, or StoreFronts → Communication → Campaigns

When to Use This Runbook​

Use when running a promotional discount — a sitewide sale, a single-product promo, a flash sale, or a holiday discount. Covers three approaches depending on what you want to do: coupon code, sale pricing on individual items, or a combination.

Who handles this: Owner or Marketing with Items — Edit and Coupons access.

Choosing Your Sale Approach​

FieldCommon Values
Coupon CodeAll caps, no spaces: SUMMER20, VL15OFF, JULY4TH
DescriptionInternal note: "Summer 2026 — 20% off all products — email campaign"
Discount TypePercentage off order, Fixed $ off order, Free shipping, or % off specific item
Discount Amounte.g., 20 for 20% off
Applies ToAll items, specific items, or specific item categories
Minimum Order AmountOptional: e.g., $40 minimum to use the code
Maximum UsesOptional: limit total redemptions (e.g., first 100 customers)
One Use Per Customer✅ Recommended for promotional codes to prevent abuse
Start DateWhen the coupon becomes active
Expiration DateWhen it stops working; always set an expiration for promotional codes
Exclude Sale Items✅ Yes — prevents double-discounting items already on sale
Exclude Auto Order Items⚠️ Decision: do you want subscribers to use this on their next rebill? Usually No for promotional codes.

Step 2: Save and Test​

  1. Save the coupon

  2. Go to your storefront in an incognito browser

  3. Add a product to cart and apply the coupon code

  4. Verify the discount applies correctly

  5. Confirm the discount appears in the order summary before payment

Option B: Set a Sale Price on a Product​

Navigation: Items → [select item] → Pricing

Use when you want the sale price shown publicly on the product page — "Was $49.99, Now $39.99."

Step 1: Update the Item Price​

  1. Open the item

  2. Go to the Pricing tab

  3. Find the Sale Price or Compare At Price fields (naming may vary):

    • Regular Price / Compare At: The original/crossed-out price shown to customers

    • Sale Price / Current Price: The discounted price customers actually pay

  4. Enter the sale price

  5. Set a Sale Start and Sale End date if you want it to automatically revert after the sale

Step 2: Mark the Item as "On Sale" (If Applicable)​

Some StoreFront themes display a "SALE" badge on items with a sale price. Verify your theme shows it:

  1. Save the item

  2. Check the product page on your storefront — does the badge appear?

  3. If not, you may need to add the sale badge in the Visual Builder (it's a conditional display element)

Step 3: Update All Variants (If Applicable)​

If the product has multiple variants (sizes, quantities), update the sale price on each variant individually — or use the bulk price update tool if available.

Option C: Sitewide Sale (Combined Approach)​

For major sales events (Black Friday, New Year, Anniversary), use both a sale price on items AND a coupon code:

  1. Set sale prices on all participating items (Option B above) — visible to all site visitors

  2. Create an email-exclusive coupon for additional savings for email subscribers (e.g., site says 20% off; email subscribers get 25% off with code VIP25)

  3. Exclude auto order items from the additional coupon code to protect subscription margin

Step 3: Update the StoreFront to Promote the Sale​

The sale only works if customers know about it:

Homepage banner:

  1. Open the StoreFront Visual Builder

  2. Navigate to the homepage

  3. Find the hero banner element

  4. Update the headline and CTA:

    • Headline: "Summer Sale — 20% Off Everything"

    • CTA Button: "Shop the Sale" → links to the shop/catalog page

  5. Save and publish

Announcement bar (if your theme has one):

  1. Find the announcement bar element (usually in the header template)

  2. Update text: "SUMMER SALE — 20% OFF SITEWIDE — Use code SUMMER20"

  3. Save and publish

Step 4: Promote the Sale​

A sale without promotion is just a price cut. Drive traffic:

Email campaign (primary driver):

  • Send a campaign to all customers announcing the sale (see launch-first-email-campaign.md)

  • Send a reminder email 24–48 hours before the sale ends: "Last chance — sale ends tonight"

Paid ads (if running):

  • Update ad creative to mention the discount

  • Increase budget during the sale window to capture higher-intent traffic

Social media:

  • Post the sale on VITAG's active social channels

Step 5: Monitor During the Sale​

Check the AI Report Builder during the sale:

"Show me hourly revenue for today compared to the same day last week."

"How many times has coupon code [SUMMER20] been used today?"

"What is today's conversion rate compared to last week's average?"

Watch for:

  • Coupon being used more than expected (may indicate leakage to deal sites)

  • Conversion rate not improving despite the promotion (may indicate landing page issues or insufficient promotion)

  • Specific products selling out (remove from sale or update inventory messaging immediately)

Step 6: End the Sale Cleanly​

When the sale is over:

  1. Deactivate or expire the coupon: The expiration date handles this automatically if you set one. Or manually deactivate the coupon in Items → Coupons.

  2. Revert item sale prices: If you changed item prices (Option B), update them back to regular price. Or let the Sale End Date revert them automatically.

  3. Update the storefront: Change the homepage banner back to the standard creative.

  4. Update ads: Revert ad creative to non-sale messaging.

Common mistake: Forgetting to revert the homepage banner after the sale. Customers who see "SALE — 20% OFF" messaging but the discount doesn't apply at checkout get frustrated. Add a calendar reminder for sale end date.

Post-Sale Review​

48 hours after the sale ends, run:

"Show me total revenue and orders from [sale start date] to [sale end date] compared to the same period last month."

"How many coupon code uses did [SALE CODE] have in total?"

"What was the average order value during the sale vs. the week before?"

This data informs future sale strategy: Was the discount too deep (AOV dropped significantly)? Did the promotion drive meaningful incremental revenue or just pull forward purchases that would have happened anyway?

Was this page helpful?