Store Credits In WooCommerce: A Comprehensive Guide

This blog post explains how to create store credits in a WooCommerce online store using a WooCommerce store credit plugin. It covers the benefits of issuing store credit, their features, applications, and how to redeem store credits. This article also includes a step-by-step guide to setting up store credits in WooCommerce using third-party plugins.

Store credits are simply credits that customers receive for their participation in your store. Store credits can improve customer loyalty and make your store more customer-friendly.

Keep reading this article to learn how to set up a store credits system in your WooCommerce store. But first, let’s take a look at the key takeaways from this WooCommerce store credit setup guide.

The WooCommerce store credit system lets store owners give customers credits to use for future purchases. This helps encourage repeat purchases and offers an option instead of giving refunds. Using store credits makes customers more likely to shop again, helping the store maintain a steady income.

Store credits are applied in the following 3 scenarios:

• Store credits as a substitute for returns or refunds which helps ensure customer retention.
• As WooCommerce gift cards that can be gifted to friends and family.
• Award store credits as loyalty rewards for continued association with the store.

Let’s look at a step-by-step guide to WooCommerce store credits. We will explore different methods to offer store credits to customers using two plugins: Smart Coupons and Gift Cards by WebToffee.

Store credits aren’t a default WooCommerce feature; third-party plugins are needed to add this capability.

Smart Coupons Plugin For Store Credits

The Smart Coupons for WooCommerce plugin from WebToffee is a comprehensive coupon plugin that enables you to add store credit functionalities to your store. Additionally, it facilitates other coupon features such as cart abandonment coupons, sign-up coupons, volume discount coupons, coupon bulk generation, and more.

With this store credit coupon plugin, you can configure WooCommerce store credits in three different ways.

• Create store credits that your users can purchase as a product.
• Create store credit coupons.
• Manually email the store credits to the required users. You can use this method as an alternative to refunds.

The first step in creating store credits is to install and activate the WooCommerce coupons plugin. Note that you will need the premium version of the plugin to avail the store credits functionality.

I. Create Store Credits as Product

To enable your users to purchase credits, you should offer them as products that can be procured from the store catalog. To create purchasable store credits:

1. Go to Products > Add New from your WordPress dashboard.
2. Give a product name. Mind that the customers will have to identify that the product is store credit meant to be a store credit while purchasing it. So, provide a suitable name for the product.
3. Now scroll down to the Product data widget and choose the product type as Simple product.
4. From the General tab set the Regular price as 0.
5. Now you can choose the rest of the product required configuration as you please.
6. Once done, publish the product.

7. Now go to Smart Coupons > Store credit > General Settings.
8. Choose the product that you have previously created under Associate a product.
9. Choose the Credit purchase options and configure the corresponding settings.
10. Save the configured settings.

The image below shows how a customer will see a store credit in your store. Customers can purchase the store credit (gift card) in the same way they purchase any other products from the store.

ll. Create Store Credit Coupons

The primary difference between a store credit voucher and a standard coupon is that store credit vouchers can be used repeatedly until the balance is exhausted, whereas a standard coupon can be used only once. To create store credit vouchers:

1. From your WooCommerce dashboard, go to Smart Coupons > Add Coupon to start creating a new store credit coupon.
2. Enter a coupon code and write a brief description to help identify the coupon.
3. Choose Store Credits from the discount type options.
4. Enter the amount of store credit to be issued with this coupon.
5. Enable the option to display coupons on the My Account page. This feature allows customers to view their coupon balance and track usage.
6. Click on Publish.

Customers can apply the coupon code during checkout, and the specified amount will be deducted from their store credit. They can view the remaining balance on the My Coupons section under My Account, and use any balance credits for future purchases.

lll. Offer Store Credits Instead Of Refunds

Product returns and refund requests can dig a hole in profit margin. The only way by which you can prevent this is by offering your customers credits instead of refunds.

The store credits received this way can be redeemed during the next purchase.

To offer store credit coupons when a customer requests refunds:

1. Go to Smart Coupons > Store credits > Email store credit from your WordPress dashboard.
2. Provide the email address of the customer to whom you want to offer the store credit.
3. Fill in the store credit amount, and provide a caption and a description.
4. Choose whether you want the store credit voucher to be used along with other coupons or not.
5. Once selected, click on Sent email.

This will create a store credit voucher in your store and will automatically sent it to the specified customer.

Customers can use the voucher to purchase products from your store.

WooCommerce Gift Card Plugin to Create and Manage Store Credits

We have already explored setting up a store credit system using the Smart Coupons plugin. However, Smart Coupons offers limited features, particularly when it comes to tracking the usage of individual store credit coupons or customization. For more advanced functionality, consider the WooCommerce Gift Cards plugin from WebToffee.

This plugin provides advanced store credit settings and includes a dedicated dashboard for managing user credit balances.

l. Create Gift Card Product

Gift cards are a popular form of store credit that customers can give to their loved ones. To create gift cards in WooCommerce using WebToffee’s premium gift card plugin, follow these steps:

1. Begin by installing and activating the premium version of WebToffee’s WooCommerce Gift Cards plugin.
2. Go to the Gift Cards section within the WooCommerce settings. This area allows you to manage and create gift card products.
3. In the Gift Card Product tab, click on Add New to create a new gift card.
4. Under the General Settings section, set up the purchase options for the gift card. This includes defining the gift card value, customizing the design, and setting any usage restrictions.
5. After configuring all necessary settings, click on Publish.

The newly created gift card product will now appear in your store catalog, where customers can purchase it and share it with their loved ones.

ll. Issue Refunds to Store Credits

To issue a refund using the gift card plugin,

1. Go to your WooCommerce dashboard and select WooCommerce > Orders.
2. Find and click on the order for which you want to issue a refund.
3. Scroll down to the order details section and click the Refund button.

4. Enter the amount you wish to refund in the appropriate field.
5. Below the refund amount, you will see two options: Refund to Store Credit and Refunded Manually. Click on Refund to Store Credit. If you do not see this option, please refer to our documentation guide here.

6. After confirming your selection, the refund amount will be processed and applied as store credit. You can view the updated balance and refund details in the Manage Store Credits tab within the Gift Cards menu. Click on View details.

lll. Reward Loyal Customers with Credits

WooCommerce store credits can be used to reward your customers for their continued loyalty. With the gift card plugin, you have a dedicated dashboard to manage these credits. Follow these steps to add or remove store credits:

1. Navigate to Gift Card > Manage Store Credits
2. To add credits to a customer’s account, click the + symbol. This allows you to increase the store credit balance for a specific customer.
3. After making the adjustments, you can preview the new balance directly on the same page.
4. Click Save changes.

Customers can redeem store credit vouchers in the same way they use a normal discount coupon.

They can use the voucher code to associate store credits with their purchases. To do this, input the store credit voucher code in the coupon code text box on the cart page.

The recipients of the store credits vouchers can either avail of their coupons from the email or can view them from My Account > My Store Credits.

When they are purchasing a product they can provide the coupon code in the voucher to avail of the store credit.

Note that the customers can claim the full voucher amount in a single purchase or during multiple purchases. That is, if you have a store credit of $100 and you purchased for $55 using the credit voucher, you will have $45 remaining in the store credit voucher. It can be used for later purchases.

Implementing store credits in your WooCommerce store can be a game-changer for boosting customer loyalty and managing returns. Whether you’re using the Smart Coupons plugin or the WooCommerce Gift Cards plugin, setting up a store credit system offers flexibility and encourages repeat purchases.

If you found this guide helpful, drop a comment below and let us know your thoughts. Stay tuned for more tips and insights to optimize your online store.