What the box says to a shopper
A big empty "Discount code" field, with its own Apply button, says one thing to a person who has no code. Somebody else is paying less than you. Then they do the obvious thing. Open a new tab, type your shop name plus "coupon", and land on a page full of expired codes and ads.
Some come back. Some find a code from a coupon site and you lose margin. Some get distracted and never finish.
The study
The cleanest test we know is old. In 2003, researchers at Vanderbilt built a fake toy shop and had 206 people go through it. People who were given a code bought 76% of the time. People who were asked for a code they did not have bought 19% of the time, the lowest of the three groups. A control group with no code box at all landed in between.
It is one small study from 2003, so take the exact numbers lightly. The direction has held up in every checkout review we have done since: an empty code field in plain view costs some buyers.
The fix
Do not remove codes. Hide the box. Replace the open field with a small text link, "Have a promo code?", that opens the field when tapped. People holding a code will find it. People without one will not even think about it.
This is the same trick Baymard recommends for other optional fields, like company name or a second address line. Collapse them behind a link, and people read them as optional.
TRY THIS TODAYOpen your checkout. If the coupon field is open by default, collapse it behind a "Have a promo code?" link today. On Shopify, many themes and checkout settings let you do this without code.
What the reel said
ON SCREENThe empty coupon box is losing you sales.
ON SCREENThe common trap: a big open Discount code box with an Apply button.
ON SCREENShoppers tab away to find a code, get distracted, and never return.
ON SCREENThe one-line fix: + Have a promo code?
ON SCREENPrune the box. Keep them in your checkout.
Asked a lot
- Should I show a coupon code field at checkout?
- Hide it behind a small link like "Have a promo code?". An open, empty field nudges shoppers without a code to leave and search for one.
- Do coupon code fields reduce conversion?
- In a 2003 Vanderbilt study, shoppers prompted for a code they did not have bought 19% of the time, against 76% for those who had one.
Sources
- New Vanderbilt study shows shoppers abandon online purchases when prompted for discount codesVanderbilt University, Mikhael Shor and Richard L. Oliver, Owen Graduate School of Management, February 2003. 206 people on a made-up toy store. Old and small, but it is a controlled test, not a survey.
- Required and optional form fieldsBaymard Institute.