For most stores, a two-week validity period and a minimum spend close to the median value of first orders make a balanced starting point. If your products are bought on impulse, you can shorten the period to a week; for expensive products that customers think over, you can extend it to as long as 30 days. If an order placed at exactly the minimum spend loses all or most of its gross profit to the coupon, the minimum is too low.
You can set the period by looking at how quickly your own members place their first order, and the minimum spend by looking at how first-order values are spread. We use worked examples to show how the settings change for stores with very low or very high basket values, during sale weeks, and when the same person opens a new account to get the code again. The last two sections contain two WhatsApp messages you can adapt: a welcome message and a reminder sent before the code expires.
Set the period by how quickly members place their first order
The right period covers the time in which your members decide on a first order even without a code, and does not run much beyond it. Your own records show that period best. In our guide to growing e-commerce sales, we suggested matching your member list against your order records to find the share of members who have never ordered. This time, take a different figure from the same match: for every member who has placed a first order, note the number of days between sign-up and that order.
Keep members who signed up on the same day as their order separate. They most likely created the account at checkout, as part of the order, so the code’s validity does not affect their decision. For everyone else, look at the share of first orders that came within 7, 14 and 30 days. If you already run a welcome code with an expiry date, the distribution will carry its trace. Do not count a spike just before the code expired as your members’ natural decision time.
Say a cosmetics store has 600 members from the past six months who placed an order within 60 days of joining. Of these, 240 ordered on the day they signed up. Of the remaining 360, 220 placed their first order within 7 days; by day 14 the number reaches 290, and by day 30, 340. Around 61% of the first orders that came after sign-up arrived in the first week and 81% in the first two weeks. For this store, a 14-day code covers most of the time in which members decide on their own. Extending it to 30 days adds a slice of only 50 people to the window.
Sending the code at the moment of sign-up starts the clock at the same point for every member. Pushouse’s WhatsApp new member welcome message goes out automatically to customers who sign up on your site and give consent to be contacted; you can add a welcome gift voucher to it or send only the welcome text. Start the validity period on the sign-up date. If your platform cannot create a separate code with its own end date for each member, renew a shared code every two weeks and keep each code open for one more week after its period ends; someone who signs up on the last day of a period still gets at least a week.
Does a longer validity period get the code used more?
A longer period looks as if it gives members more opportunity, but a marketing study points the other way. In a study by Suzanne Shu and Ayelet Gneezy published in the Journal of Marketing Research in 2010, people who received gift certificates and gift cards with distant deadlines put off using them more than those who received ones with short deadlines, and redemption was lower for the certificates with long deadlines. The participants’ own predictions pointed the other way.
The validity period also shapes when the code is used. J. Jeffrey Inman and Leigh McAlister tested the traditional assumption that coupon redemptions peak right after the coupons are distributed and then decline steadily. They predicted a second peak just before the expiration date, and weekly coupon redemption data from consumer panels in two cities turned out to be consistent with that prediction. The study was published in 1994 and is based on coupons for a grocery product, so the size of the effect among your members may differ. Still, the fact that some people decide as the last days approach is a good reason to time the reminder for a few days ahead of the end date.
A period of only a few days has a cost too. Not every member is ready to buy that week; some may have signed up to browse products, compare prices or wait for payday. A 48-hour code expires before these people make up their minds. If you state a short period, stick to it. Leaving the code working after it has expired, or sending it straight back to the same person, shows that the deadline you wrote was not real. The list of deceptive commercial practices annexed to Türkiye’s Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices (Ticari Reklam ve Haksız Ticari Uygulamalar Yönetmeliği) also includes (Part A, item 7) falsely stating that an offer is available only for a very limited time in order to push the consumer into an immediate decision.
Two months after launch, group each redemption by how many days after sign-up it happened. If almost all redemptions come in the first few days and the second half of the period goes by empty, shortening the period will cost you little. If redemptions pile up in the last few days, the deadline is doing its job; extending the period would most likely just push that pile-up further out. Note the codes redeemed on the sign-up day separately. A customer who signs up at checkout can use the code on the order in progress, and those orders were probably coming anyway; count these discounts as part of the coupon’s cost.
Set the minimum spend from the spread of first-order values
A code sent in a cart reminder goes to a basket whose value is already known; we covered the conditions for that code in our guide to discount codes in cart reminder messages. A welcome code, by contrast, goes to a first order that has not been placed yet, and the minimum spend shapes how big that order will be. The first job of the minimum is to stop the code from wiping out your profit on the smallest orders. The second is to nudge members who are just below it into building a bigger basket.
For both jobs, look at members’ first orders; the average of all your orders can mislead. A first order may differ in size from the same customer’s later orders, and a few large orders pull the average up. Sort first orders from smallest to largest and note the values below which a quarter, half and three quarters of them fall. The value in the middle, the median, is a useful starting point for the minimum.
Whether the code should be a fixed amount or a percentage is a separate decision; the calculation below is for a fixed-amount code, and we explain how a percentage code differs right after it. First, find the order value at which the coupon wipes out the profit: divide the coupon amount by your gross margin. The minimum should not go below that, because on an order of that size the coupon takes the entire gross profit. Next, decide the largest share of the profit on an order at the minimum that you are willing to give up to the coupon. Dividing the coupon amount by your margin multiplied by that share gives you the floor for the minimum.
Take a hypothetical clothing store with a 100 TL welcome code and a 40% gross margin. 100 ÷ 0.40 = 250 TL; on a 250 TL order, the coupon takes all of the gross profit. If the store does not want the coupon to take more than half of the profit on an order at the minimum, the floor is 100 ÷ (0.40 × 0.5) = 500 TL. If the median first order is 620 TL, setting the minimum at 600 TL is a reasonable start. Slightly more than half of first orders already exceed that amount, and some of those below it may add a product to reach it. On a 600 TL order at the minimum, gross profit is 240 TL, and 140 TL remains after the coupon.
Half of the profit is the limit this example store chose for itself; a store that budgets more for winning new customers can raise that share. If you pay for shipping or your packaging costs are high, add those costs to the coupon amount in the calculation. Keep every part of the calculation on the same basis: if you work out your margin from prices excluding VAT (KDV in Türkiye), take VAT out of the basket value and the coupon as well.
A percentage code changes the picture. In a store with a 40% margin, a 10% code takes a quarter of the gross profit on every order, and the discount in TL grows with the basket. A minimum spend does not change that share; it stops costs that stay the same on every order, such as shipping and packaging, from exceeding the profit on small baskets. For a percentage code, set the minimum at the value where the profit left after the coupon comfortably covers those costs.
At the end of the same two months, also sort the orders that used the code by value. If a large share of them cluster between the minimum and 10% above it, the minimum is most likely nudging customers to add products to their basket. If most orders with the code are far above the minimum, the minimum may not be changing anyone’s decision, and the code may simply be working as a discount. In that case, raise the minimum step by step and watch how the code’s redemption rate changes.
Adjust the settings if your basket values are very low or very high
Low-priced products
Take a store selling accessories, stationery or small cosmetics, with a median first order of 280 TL and a 50% gross margin. For a 100 TL code, the profit-share calculation above puts the floor at 400 TL, which is above more than half of first orders. If you lower the code to 50 TL, the floor drops to 200 TL and most first orders can use the code without adding anything. If you keep the amount at 100 TL and set the minimum at 400 TL, the code becomes a target for turning the first order into a basket of several products; in that case, show the minimum beside the code amount in the message.
Leaving a fixed-amount code without a minimum does the most damage in these stores. A 100 TL code makes a 90 TL product free apart from shipping, and turns your store into an attractive target for anyone who wants to collect codes by opening new accounts.
Expensive products that customers think over
In a store selling furniture, large appliances or electronics with a median first order of 9,000 TL, the minimum on a 100 TL code excludes almost no orders. In these stores, the validity period matters more. Customers often compare models, take measurements and look at installment options; a period of up to 30 days fits that decision cycle, but the longer the period, the more the reminder before expiry matters. If you use a percentage code, add a cap next to the minimum, for example “up to 750 TL off”. Without a cap, even a 5% code comes to 2,000 TL on a 40,000 TL order; in a low-margin category, that is most of the profit.
Recalculate when the code combines with sale discounts or other codes
Other discounts applied to the same order also change what the welcome code costs. If your new members come for discounted products during big sale weeks and your code stacks with the sale discount, redo the calculation at the minimum using the discounted prices.
For example, when a 25% sale discount is applied to a basket with a list-price total of 800 TL, the basket drops to 600 TL. If the 100 TL welcome code also applies on top, the customer pays 500 TL and the total discount rises to 37.5%. In a store with a 40% margin on list prices, those products cost 480 TL, so the order leaves 20 TL of gross profit. Before the sale starts, choose one of these three options and write your choice into the code’s terms:
- Make the code invalid on sale products. During the sale, the code then works only on products outside the sale; for members who sign up during the sale, the code should last long enough to stay usable for at least a few days after the sale ends.
- Let the code combine with the sale discount, but reset the coupon amount and the minimum based on a calculation with the discounted prices.
- During sale weeks, send the welcome message without a coupon and point new members to the sale page; go back to the welcome message with a code when the sale ends.
The welcome message may not be the only channel handing out codes. If a spin-to-win gift wheel or a pop-up also gives out codes, the same person can end up with two separate codes, first from the wheel and then from signing up. If your platform accepts only one code per order, the customer will most likely choose the larger one, and your cost is the cost of that code. If it accepts both codes together, run the calculation at the minimum with the total of both codes, or add the line “cannot be combined with other codes” to the terms of one of them.
If you have a free-shipping threshold, test how the code and the threshold interact in your own cart. If your platform checks the threshold against the total after the coupon is deducted, applying a 100 TL code to an 800 TL basket brings the total down to 700 TL, below a 750 TL threshold. A customer who runs into a shipping fee at checkout may think the code did not work. State which total the threshold uses alongside the code’s terms.
Make it harder for one person to claim a second coupon with a new account
The risk specific to a welcome code is the same person signing up again with a different email address and getting the code a second time. The validity period does nothing to reduce that risk. A minimum spend makes abuse more laborious: every new account has to spend at least the minimum to use the code.
Tie the coupon to details that identify a person better than an email address does. With Pushouse, the welcome message does not go to the same phone number twice; even if the customer opens a new account, they do not receive a second welcome. Where your platform supports it, make the code valid only on the first order and only once per person in your coupon settings. Giving each member a separate single-use code, instead of one code for everyone, also stops the code from being passed on.
Do not publish a welcome code openly on your site. If you show a code like “WELCOME100” in a pop-up or at the edge of the page, non-members can copy and use it too, and the membership condition exists only on paper. Show the offer, its terms and the sign-up link on the site, and let the code reach the member by message.
Once a month, compare the orders that used the welcome code with your earlier orders by delivery address and phone number. If several orders with the code go to the same address under different new members, tighten the rules. People who live in one household or work in one office also share an address, so do not treat a single match as abuse.
State the period and the minimum in the message as a date and an amount
Customers should learn the minimum spend and the end date when they receive the code; a condition they first meet at checkout makes the code look broken. Under Article 5 of Law No. 6563 on the Regulation of Electronic Commerce (Elektronik Ticaretin Düzenlenmesi Hakkında Kanun), Türkiye’s e-commerce law, the terms for joining and using promotional offers like discounts and gifts must be easy to find and so clear that they leave no doubt. Under Article 13 of the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices, an advertisement must also state clearly any time limit on the validity of a price.
Article 14 of the same regulation requires advertisements that contain a discount to show clearly and understandably, alongside details such as the pre-discount price, the dates on which the discount starts and ends. A seventh paragraph, added to the article by the amendment in Türkiye’s Official Gazette (Resmî Gazete) of July 1, 2026, and in force since August 1, 2026, applies the article’s provisions, except the rule on showing quantities, to conditional sale advertisements as well: advertisements in which the discount depends on spending a certain amount or carrying out a certain action. We covered how the change affects sale announcements in our article on where to announce a sale on your website. A welcome code tied to signing up and to a minimum spend may fall under this definition. How to word a membership offer that stays on your site permanently under this rule is a question for your legal adviser.
A welcome message that carries a coupon is an electronic message sent for commercial purposes, and under Article 6 of the Law it may be sent only to someone who has given prior consent. Write a calendar date and time in the message instead of a number of days; “valid for 14 days” does not tell someone who opens the message a few days later which day the code expires. In the welcome message, give the code amount, the minimum spend, the end date and the products the code does not apply to, all together:
Hello {{customer name}}, welcome to {{store name}}. Your account is open, and your {{coupon amount}} TL gift voucher for your first order is ready.
Code: {{coupon code}}
Valid until 23:59 on {{end date}} for baskets of {{minimum spend}} TL and above. Not valid on discounted products or with other codes.
Start shopping here: {{store link}}
To stop promotional messages, tap the button below to leave the list.
Change the scope line to match your own rule; if the code also applies to discounted products, delete that sentence.
Send one reminder before the code expires
Send the reminder two or three days before the end date. A message on the last day leaves customers who put the decision off until the last moment no time to shop. Repeating the code in the reminder also saves the customer from searching for the old message:
Hello {{customer name}}, the {{coupon amount}} TL gift voucher that came with your {{store name}} membership runs out at 23:59 on {{end date}}.
Code: {{coupon code}} (for baskets of {{minimum spend}} TL and above)
Just added: {{category link}}
To stop promotional messages, tap the button below to leave the list.
If you send the reminder as a WhatsApp first-purchase incentive message, you decide how long to wait, and the message goes only to members who have never ordered; choose the waiting time so that the message arrives two or three days before the code expires. When and what to send to a member who still has not ordered after the code has expired is a separate decision.
On the day you change the period or the minimum, update the welcome message, the reminder and the announcement on your site together; if the three show different amounts or dates, customers cannot tell which one applies. If you keep the membership offer visible on your site with Pushouse’s discount tab, its text should show the new terms as well. Because the discount tab can link to a page instead of showing a code, you can take visitors straight to the sign-up page without them seeing the code.
