Cracking the Code: How to Generate Unique Coupon Codes in 2024?

Generating unique coupon codes in bulk is not easy – brands needed not only unique but also safe (fraud-protected), trackable, and personalized promo codes. In fact, most popular ecommerce engines don't support mass bulk generation for discount codes to this very day – something we've covered in our latest comparison of ecommerce engines for promotions.

Luckily, you don't have to rely on ecommerce engines or rickety plugin to do the job – all you need is coupon software that will generate unique and fraud-proof promo codes in bulk, without hiccups.

Learn how to generate any number of coupon codes and finally start running coupon campaigns that are custom-made, safe and easy to track.

What's the problem with generating coupon codes in bulk?

Generating unique coupon codes (numeric or alphanumeric unique character strings) will help you with 1:1 tracking, marketing personalization, influencer management, affiliate sales management, and fraud prevention. 

Let’s start with the most prominent aspect, fraud protection. You do not want your promo codes to be easily forgeable. The key to generating hard-to-guess, unique coupon codes is a large set of possible codes where only a tiny fraction of them is actually valid. See the example below:

There are also other potential hurdles to consider before mass generating coupon codes, such as:

• Poor customer experience –‍ Long and complex codes can be difficult for customers to remember or type in correctly, leading to frustration and abandoned carts.
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• Specialized software – setting up a coupon system to generate and distribute a large number of unique codes can be time-consuming and require technical resources.
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• Security concerns – if unique codes are leaked or shared publicly, they can be exploited by unauthorized users, reducing the effectiveness of the promotion. In some cases, malicious actors might use automated tools to try and guess valid promo codes, undermining the exclusivity of the offer.
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• System scalability – most coupon plugins and ecommerce engines place rigid limits on the number of possible unique codes to generate, which may prevent you from running large-scale campaigns.

How to generate unique coupon codes with Voucherify’s code generator?

We provide you with a unique opportunity to generate generic coupon codes free of charge. With our code generator, you can create unique codes that can be used for coupons, gift cards, passwords, and so much more.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to use Voucherify’s code generator. 

1. Go to Voucherify’s free random codes generator page.
2. Type in the number of codes you need and the single code length. 

You can also take advantage of our Advanced settings feature and customize your codes by adding specific characters that are to appear in your code, designated code prefix, postfix, or general code pattern. 

3. After typing in all the data, our system will generate a number of random, unique codes for you.

4. You can export your codes to an Excel sheet or copy and paste them into whatever file you would like. 

With Voucherify's unique coupon code generator, you do not have to worry about the number of generated codes – it is possible to create an almost unlimited set of codes (though you may generate no more than 9999 in one batch). Just generate as much as you can, put them all in a .xls (or any other) file, and create another set – three clicks and you’ll have almost 30,000 randomly generated codes.

Start a free trial account at Voucherify to control the entire coupon lifecycle >

How to improve customer experience with coupon codes?

Once you make your codes un-guessable, you should think about customer experience. First, remember there is a trade-off between code security (particularly length) and ease of use for the end user. Ultimately, you decide how to compromise these issues in your business reality. 

Here are a few general tips that should reduce customer complaints without substantial security trade-offs or too much development effort:

1. Do not make your promo codes too long

Usually, an 8-12 character string should be un-guessable and unique enough. You do not want to make your customers type in an overly-long code and make typos during the process on the way to anticipated redemption. 

2. Cut the code into smaller parts

It is a subtle change, but it simplifies typing at the checkout view, adding up to the overall buying experience and customer satisfaction.

3. Avoid ambiguous characters

It is difficult to see the difference between O and 0 in the random string. I (upper case i) and l (lower case L) are even more tricky. We all recall the feelings when forced to try different combinations over and over again. So, you better prevent this before it hits your customer service team by removing confusing letters from the characters set. 

You can also exclude particular characters to avoid confusion in our code generator – just remove potentially ambiguous letters from the “Character set” field while setting up the generation conditions.

4. Customize your generic coupon codes 

Take advantage of the generator features and extend your unique coupon code with different prefixes (or suffixes). Why? Your team will be able to easily distinguish codes from particular campaigns, which would prove efficient in managing and analyzing data (about the number of redemptions, failed redemptions, acquired customers, etc.). For example, use such code for a Mother’s Day promotion: MOM-XXXX-23. With such practices, voucher racking and ROI monitoring will be easy. 

Learn more: How to calculate ROI of digital coupon campaigns?

On top of your marketing and analyst team knowing what campaign they are dealing with, such coupon personalization is a perfect way to inform customers what those codes are for – one quick look, and they will be sure that it is a Black Friday coupon and not a St. Patrick’s Day one.

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In-house technology vs. ready-made promotion engine for code generation

As in most marketing endeavors, code generation is also all about scalability. Coupon generating system, without a doubt, must be capable of handling an increased demand for coupons. When deploying an in-house technology or an online tool for generating coupons, this may not be the best solution for handling the workload effectively and efficiently. 

First, your coupon generator must have a quick response time and be apt to handle a large volume of requests. On top of that, the scalability should be flexible – if you have the right tool to carry out your code-generating campaign, it scales down the number of codes accordingly with the lowered demand. When the peak approaches, however, and you need many more coupon codes, the coupon platform should be able to expand its resources so the system does not lag behind. It is all about robust infrastructure. 

Those things can only be guaranteed by a ready-made promotion engine that ensures effective unique code generation for your brand. If you are still pondering upon whether you should use an online or in-house source for generating coupon codes or a ready-made solution, here are a few more advantages of using a promotion engine:

1. Time and effort

Ready-made promotion engines are pre-built solutions that are readily available for use. They can save you significant time and effort since you do not need to invest in developing the tool from scratch. You can quickly implement the promotion engine and start generating codes for your marketing campaigns, allowing you to expedite your time-to-market.

2. Expertise and support

Promotion engines provided by specialized vendors come with dedicated technical support and expertise. These vendors have experience in code generation and can offer assistance, guidance, and troubleshooting when needed. In addition, they are often equipped to handle complex scenarios and can provide valuable insights and best practices to optimize your code generation process.

3. Feature set and integration

Ready-made promotion engines often come with comprehensive features tailored explicitly for marketing purposes. These features can include advanced code validation, expiration rules, dynamic discounts, campaign management, analytics, and integrations with popular marketing platforms and CMS. By leveraging these features, you can enhance your marketing campaigns and streamline the code generation process.

4. Security and data safety

Established promotion engine vendors have dedicated resources and expertise in security and compliance. They employ stringent measures to protect sensitive data and ensure data privacy. They often adhere to industry standards and regulations, reducing the risk of security breaches and ensuring compliance with relevant laws.

5. Cost-effectiveness

While there may be initial costs associated with using a ready-made promotion engine, it can be cost-effective in the long run. Developing and maintaining an in-house tool requires ongoing investment in resources, expertise, infrastructure, and maintenance. Ready-made promotion engines, on the other hand, typically operate on a subscription or usage-based pricing model, allowing you to manage costs more predictably.

Use Voucherify to create your unique coupon campaigns

If you want to generate your codes quickly and effectively without duplicates while ensuring the safety of your campaign, you should deploy a promotional engine for this task. Voucherify, with our API-first approach, can ensure the success of your campaign while simultaneously saving you time and effort in creating an in-house solution. 

Because of the flexible and developer-friendly API-driven architecture, Voucherify can be seamlessly integrated with various platforms, applications, and programming languages, allowing businesses to generate codes and manage coupon campaigns programmatically at scale.

Our platform is so much more than the code generator – the generator is an excellent addition to our portfolio, but having a batch of unique coupon codes alone is not the end. To make them work, you need to create a campaign around them to take care of proper distribution and validation, which we can provide you with. Here are other critical features that Voucherify offers:

• Advanced redemption limits & personalization capabilities.
• Multi-effect and dynamic discounts.
• Granular time limits.
• Strong market isolation for per-brand or per-location coupon campaigns.
• And much more.

How leading brands use Voucherify to generate unique coupon codes?

According to the research carried out by Inmar Intelligence, as much as 83% of consumers state that coupon codes were the reason for a difference in their shopping behavior, with 39% reporting that a coupon code convinced them to buy a particular product sooner than they anticipated. Without a doubt, in today’s world, unique coupon codes matter much as they both excite customers and increase revenue for business owners. 

Let’s see how Baemin and Breville run effective coupon campaigns with the help of Voucherify.

Baemin – coupon scalability at its best

Baemin (short for Baedal Minjok) is a South Korean food delivery unicorn startup created by the Woowa Brothers Corp. By using Voucherify, Baemin was able to handle over 60 million generic coupon redemptions in a market hungry for both – food that they deliver and coupons that guarantee discounts. 

The food delivery market is highly competitive. That is why Baemin opted for time-limited unique coupon codes (fraud-proof due to their un-guessable combinations), which could easily grab customer attention, create FOMO, and, consequently, drive sales and increase customer acquisition. 

Thanks to Voucherify's flexible API-first coupon system, the integration with Baemin was quick and easy with little IT development. Thanks to our system’s scalability Baemin was able to handle a large number of requests, with their daily redemption rates averaging about 100.000. Overall, the company has already launched over 800 smaller campaigns with Voucherify and handled more than 60 million redemptions.

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Breville – physical coupons for brick-and-mortar retailers

Breville is an Australian brand of small home appliances founded in Sydney in 1932, which mainly focuses on selling blenders, toasters, and coffee machines. Besides purely digital campaigns, Breville also uses Voucherify for offline to online campaigns where generic coupon codes are printed and added to products sold through retailers. Upon unpacking, customers find promo codes that can be used on Breville’s ecommerce site.

Importantly, Breville takes advantage of coupon code personalization and uses code prefixes to recognize various campaigns easily. With our integration, the company’s non-technical teams are free to create and manage generated coupon codes throughout the UI without bothering the development team.

Just because coupons are created digitally, it does not exclude the possibility of customers receiving them offline, for example, in packages or in the form of a leaflet. Those coupon codes that got into customers’ hands offline can still be redeemed during online shopping. The possibilities are endless, starting with generating a simple coupon code. 

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Now, launch your own disgustingly effective coupon campaign with Voucherify

Start now

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