Using Groupon vouchers for use with items (Classic Items)

Groupon offers great opportunities to reach new Customers with bulk voucher deals. With Checkfront, you can import and manage Groupon voucher codes, allowing Customers to redeem them on your website just as if they had paid by credit card. This guide shows you how to set this up in Classic Items, how to manage inventory and expiration, and what to watch out for.

Learn how to set up Groupon vouchers for use with items in Checkfront.

New to discount and voucher codes? Read the first article in this series for an introduction to discounts.

Accessing the features mentioned in this article

Where can I find this feature using the top menu?

• Inventory > Discounts
   

What more do I need to use this feature?

• Admin permissions to manage inventory or restricted permissions to View discounts and Manage discounts.
   

Which Checkfront version supports this feature - classic items, classic products, or both?

• This feature is available in both our classic item version, using classic items (Inventory > Items), and our classic products version, using classic products (Inventory > Products). 
  → Learn more about products

• NOTE: Some features, including the Active Discounts report, discount rules, open discounts, edit columns, and the option to export your list of discounts, are not yet available with classic products.

Learn more about discounts for products For a detailed look at discounts and voucher codes for classic products instead, check out the following article: Introduction to discount and voucher codes (Classic Products)

Groupon and similar websites can be great ways to attract new Customers and quickly drive revenue for your business.

If you're willing to offer a significant discount to attract a large group of bookings, Groupon and similar solutions can help you generate the number of Customers necessary to make it worthwhile.

Principles remain the same regardless of service While the following article uses Groupon as an example, the principles remain the same regardless of what service you use, as long as you can receive or generate a list of voucher codes.

Groupon is an experiences marketplace that brings people more ways to get the most out of their city or wherever they may be. By enabling real-time mobile commerce across local businesses, live events, and travel destinations, Groupon helps people find and discover experiences––big and small, new and familiar––that make for a full, fun, and rewarding life. Groupon helps local businesses grow and strengthen Customer relationships, resulting in strong, vibrant communities.

Groupon works well for retail products, but it becomes challenging when the offering is time-specific. The complication with a schedule-based product is that although the Customer has already paid through Groupon, they haven't scheduled it with you, and those sales exist outside your booking system. If you aren't prepared for a surge in bookings, you could end up with an administrative nightmare and a host of unhappy Customers. 

Our partnership with Checkfront and Groupon can help you avoid this issue.

With Groupon, when a Customer completes a deal, Customers receive a voucher (paid for at https://www.groupon.com/) to redeem your service. They also provide you, as the merchant, with a list of matching voucher codes to verify the sales.

With Checkfront, we offer merchants the ability to import voucher codes into the system, allowing Customers to schedule and book online as if they were paying with a credit card. 

Once you upload your vouchers, you can direct your Customers to your website to make a booking and enter their voucher code. This feature significantly reduces call volumes and starts the Customer experience on the right foot.

To upload your Groupon vouchers for use with items, follow these steps:

1. Go to Inventory → Discounts.
2. Click + New Discount button.
3. Enter a Name for the discount — use something descriptive (e.g., “Groupon July 2025 Deal”).
4. In the Discount Code field, click Upload Vouchers and supply the file in Comma-Separated Value (CSV) or Text (TXT) format of voucher codes. Make sure the voucher codes are in Column A.
5. Specify the Discount Amount, for example, 25% per booking, after tax.
6. Set any additional parameters for the discount, recurrence, and rules.
7. Select which item(s) and category(ies) this voucher applies to.
8. Click the Create button to save your discount.

Checkfront schedules bookings for each voucher and closes the deal once Customers have used all vouchers or when you have set the deal to expire.

• Can I still process group bookings over the phone?

  Yes! Just log in to Checkfront and process the booking internally. This option ensures the proper tracking of bookings, inventory, and Customers.
  
   

• Can I add an optional up-sell to a promotion that isn't free?

  Yes! Adding optional up-sells to a promotion is an excellent opportunity to recoup some of the revenue lost to Groupon. You can add optional items from your inventory to the item (for example, a t-shirt).

  If a balance is due after the voucher code is applied, the Customer continues through the checkout process.
  
   

Next Steps

You can learn how to filter and sort your discounts list with the following article in this series.

< Uploading voucher codes for use with items (Classic Items)  |     Filtering and sorting your discounts list (Classic Items) >