Promotions are the offers venues run most often: free delivery from €200, −10% on orders from €100, −15% on pickup, 2+1 free, second pizza −50%, a free cola with every pizza, a free dessert from €120. You set them up without codes and without a developer, and WP InPlate applies them in the cart by itself – after every cart change and once more when the order is placed.
Promotions don't change product prices in WooCommerce. A price reduction on a product for everyone at chosen times (e.g. −20% on burgers 15:00–17:00) is happy hours.
Turning promotions on
Turn the feature on in Settings → Sales → Promotions → Enable the Promotions feature (off by default). After saving, you set up promotions in two places, with the same options:
- in the manager panel in the KDS: See more → Promotions,
- in the WordPress dashboard: InPlate → Promotions.
Turning the feature off hides the tab and the page and stops every promotion – their settings stay saved and come back when you turn it on again.
Types of promotions
| Type | Examples | What you set |
|---|---|---|
| Order discount | −10% from €100, −€20 from €150, −15% on pickup | The discount in % or as an amount and the minimum order value (0 = no threshold) |
| Free or cheaper delivery | Free delivery from €200, delivery −€5 from €80 | Free or “Cheaper by an amount”, the minimum order value and the delivery zones (none selected = every zone) |
| Buy X, the next ones cheaper | 2+1 free, 1+1, second pizza −50%, third for €1, a free cola with every pizza, fries −50% with a burger | How many items of what the customer buys, how many items they get cheaper – of the same or of other products – for how much (free, discount %, price per item) and how many times per order (0 = no limit) |
| Free item from an amount | A free dessert with orders from €120 | The minimum order value, the products or category of the free item and for how much |
Several thresholds of the same discount (e.g. −10% from €100 and −15% from €150) are several promotions – the cart always uses the best one, discounts don't add up.
Settings of every promotion
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name for customers (optional) | Shown in the menu, the cart and the order. Empty = a name made from the settings, e.g. “Free delivery from €200”, “2+1 free”. You can translate a name you type on the Translations screen |
| Days of the week | The days the promotion runs |
| Hours (optional) | From–to. Empty = the whole day. A window past midnight belongs to the day it starts. The time the order is placed counts |
| Valid dates (optional) | Dates from–to |
| Sales channels | QR table, Dine-in, Pickup, Delivery. Free delivery always applies to delivery |
| Include add-ons in the discount | For “Buy X…” and “Free item from an amount”: the discount also covers add-on surcharges. Off by default – the customer pays for the add-ons of a free pizza |
| Combine with discount codes | Off by default, see Discount codes |
| Active | Turns the promotion off without deleting it |
Use the arrows on the list to change the order. It matters for product promotions: the promotion higher on the list takes items from the cart first.
How promotions are calculated
- The cheapest items are always the ones discounted. With “2+1 free” and pizzas at €50, €45, €40, €20, €15 and €10, the €10 and €15 pizzas are free.
- One item – one promotion. A pizza that gave the customer a free cola no longer counts towards “2+1”.
- Happy hours and product promotions don't combine. A product at its happy hours price takes no part in “Buy X…” or “Free item from an amount”. Order discounts and free delivery work as usual.
- The order value threshold is the value of the products the customer pays for: after product discounts (happy hours, “Buy X…”, free items), before the order discount, without delivery and packaging. A free item never counts towards its own threshold – adding a dessert can't “unlock” the free dessert.
- WP InPlate doesn't add free items by itself. The customer adds the product to the cart, and the summary suggests it (see below). A product may have sizes and add-ons to choose, and a line added without asking would be a surprise.
- The order minimum and the delivery zone minimum are counted after the discounts, as with discount codes.
Discount codes
By default a promotion does not combine with discount codes – most venues work that way. When the customer adds a code, such a promotion pauses, and the summary says: “The promotion “Free delivery from €200” cannot be combined with a discount code – remove the code to use it.” The customer chooses what pays off more. A promotion never blocks adding a code.
With Combine with discount codes on, the promotion and the code add up.
What the customer sees
- A bar above the menu with the promotions running now: the name, the channel if the promotion applies e.g. only to pickup, and the end time if the promotion has hours. The bar updates itself when a promotion starts and ends. The (i) icon next to a promotion opens the full explanation: what the customer gets (the discount always goes to the cheapest items), from what amount, on which days and hours and until when (if set), for which order types (or “all order types”), whether add-ons are discounted and whether it combines with codes. Switch the bar off in the Menu block with Show promotions (shortcode:
show_promotions="0"). - In the cart and the order summary – a line with the name of each promotion and the discount. With free delivery: the delivery fee struck through and “Free”.
- Suggestions under the total, e.g. “€23.00 more for: Free delivery from €200”, “Free cola with pizza – you can add 1 more: Cola 0.5 l” or “2+1 free – add 1 more: Pizzas”. When the free item is one specific product without sizes and add-ons, there is an Add button next to it.
Promotions don't show a reduced product price in the menu – they describe the offer. They are conditional offers (the customer has to buy certain products or reach an amount), so the lowest price in 30 days line doesn't apply to them. If you are unsure how the law applies to your offer, consult a lawyer.
No tricks
WP InPlate calculates promotions on the server, from the contents of the cart – nothing the browser sends sets a price or a discount. When the order is placed, it compares the discounts and the delivery fee the customer saw with what the cart gives at that moment. If they differ – because the customer changed the cart in another tab, the promotion ended or you changed it – the order is not placed silently at a different price: the customer sees the message “The promotions in your cart have changed. Check the new total and place the order again.” and the new total.
Promotions can't be typed in as a code or removed from the cart. Free delivery checks the zone of the address again when the order is placed. Once the order is placed, the price doesn't change, also with a later online payment.
Promotions in the order
- The WooCommerce order has regular discount lines – you see them in the order screen, in emails and on invoices. When you edit the order in the WordPress dashboard, the discount has a code like
promo-12. - Free delivery is a €0 delivery line with the promotion's name – the email to the customer shows e.g. “Shipping: Free delivery from €200”.
- The email and the thank-you page show the names of the promotions next to the discount, in the customer's language.
- The KDS (the order card and details) and the label show the promotion's name, and with free delivery its name and the delivery fee before the promotion.
- The order keeps a copy of the promotion from the moment it was placed, so a later change or deletion of the promotion doesn't change it.