Abandoned Cart Coupon automatically being offered to non-abandoned carts

[BlossomStamps]

I've noticed an up huge up-tick in the use of my "Abandoned Cart" coupon code. Last year it was used 16 times. This year already 92 times! I asked a frequent customer of mine that used it on a custom order listing I made for her and asked her how long it took to receive it. I KNOW it was only about 16 hours between the time I sent her the link for her listing and her paying for it. She said:

"It was there automatically I think, I only saw it when I went to pay (nothing came up the first time I viewed the listing, or added to my cart, only when I viewed my cart), but I don't think it was 24 hours"

I am deactivating this coupon until it can be fixed. I have potentially lost a lot of money unnecessarily by the code being automatically added to checkouts where customers had every intention of purchasing anyway!

[OmasFabricStash]

Sounds like people are sharing the code. As long as they have a correct code they will get the discount, it doesn’t matter how they got it or if it’s not even meant to get the discount. 

[BlossomStamps]

May be that does happen, but I quoted a long time custom customer that had the code applied automatically in less than 24 hours. 

[OmasFabricStash]

People telling friends about the codes have been in the forums for years. Someone gets a code for 20% off her next order and tells her sister about it when the sister orders something from the same shop. 
A few years ago Etsy gave a coupon to some sellers, I think it was about free listings, but had to backtrack when shops were using them when they weren’t supposed to. The code was freely passed around and everyone took advantage of it. 

[Adorabilities]

I just put some things in my cart yesterday, and a coupon was automatically applied. I didn't check out, and was given the same coupon (this time, from the seller) today. So I suspect that was their abandoned cart coupon, added to my cart the first time I visited their store. 

[AllsFairyVintage]

I’m seeing a huge uptick in mine, too, and have been wondering about that. It seems unlikely people are sharing the code. I wonder if it activates as soon as they click away from the cart?

[RueDeLouvain]

@AllsFairyVintage Exactly this. 

[Pyramidappareldesign]

As long as you have an "abandoned cart" coupon it can be applied immediately to cause a sale. Etsy uses AI to monitor user cursor movement and it might b a way to make a buyer complete the transaction now. rather than later. Unfortunately, many buyers abandon the shopping cart to see if a coupon code will be sent.

[Adorabilities]

In my case, I hadn't actually abandoned anything. It was there a few minutes after putting something in my cart. They're really jumping the gun. 

[OneEyeCatStudio]

"Unfortunately, many buyers abandon the shopping cart to see if a coupon code will be sent."

Unfortunately?

Wouldn't it be stupid not to wait to purchase to see if the seller gives other people who don't buy immediately a lower price?

[BeJeweledByDEBORAH]

Some credit cards (and even browsers) will scan the internet for coupon codes, and if they're valid codes, they'll be applied to an order. I had this happen twice more than a year ago. As a result, all of my coupon codes have been cancelled, and are no longer used. I do offer repeat customers a 20% refund on non sale and non free shipping items, but this refund is given by me after the order is processed. Coupon codes getting into cyberspace created too much of a headache.

[DaysofYoreTreasures]

Here is a thread from May indicating that coupons are being sent within hours of someone carting an item.
https://community.etsy.com/t5/Technical-Issues/Important-surprising-info-on-abandoned-cart-coupon-fr...

Yet Etsy help still says this:
 If a shopper has an item from your shop in their cart for more than 24 hours, they’ll get an email offering them a discount for that item 24 hours after they abandoned it in their cart.

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014260108-How-to-Set-Up-Sales-and-Discounts-for-Your-Shop...

[LittleGemsJewells]

@DaysofYoreTreasures thanks for posting this link to the thread back in May.

In summary abandoned cart = discount applicable to every item in your shop as soon as you set it up.

[OneEyeCatStudio]

Yes, Etsy did it for a while and then stopped.

I guess they've started again.

[RueDeLouvain]

I stopped abandoned cart coupons. They ARE  sometimes being used within a few hours of a buyer carting an item. There are a few other threads in the forum about this.
But even…I don’t want to give discounts after just 24 hours, that’s imo not long enough to be an “abandoned” cart. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

They might e-mail it after 24 hours, and they limit e-mails for fear of breaching spam rules,

but it appears in "updates" , in the bell symbol, before that

and I currently have something in Microsoft edge, when I log into etsy from there, that there are 64 coupons known for the site, - apply now!

[BlossomStamps]

So, I was on Etsy Chat support last evening about this. They are "looking into it" and are supposed to email me back. I deactivated my abandoned cart coupon. They even acknowledged that they no longer see it as an active coupon.

This morning, I don't have a chat box AND the coupon is back as an ACTIVE COUPON!! What?????!!!

[CraftyCornishMaids]

My chat box just popped up, it works east coast USA time, it's just after 1.00pm here, and when we normally get the box

I never use chat anymore, they get things wrong, someone probably put you had a problem with the coupon, so they reactivated it for you.

I always use e-mail now, so the issue is written down correctly

[SupplyEmporium]

@BlossomStamps  I had a conversation with Etsy.  Customers with emails that were sent when you applied for the code will NOT be deactivated once you deactivate the code.  They can still use it. Only future abandoned cart customers...and I question that.

AND I just had someone place TWO separate order with the same code which means they can use it indefinitely! Oh Yay Etsy! I can lose even more money.

[TastefulArtisan]

Out of curiosity I turned back on the "abandoned cart" coupon code on the 1st of this month. I've had more uses in the past 10 days than I had the entire 3 years it was active previously. It's for a measly 10% off, hardly a bargain unless it's a big order! lol

Stats are: (11 days)
19 emails sent
7 times used

Previously I don't think it was used 7 times in 3 years!
The average sale and total sales are doable so I'm leaving it for now but it's obvious something has changed.

That something being an instant discount rather than "abandoned"

I do not have the favorites code on or the thank you code. Just the "abandoned" cart one. It's hard to tell if it was the code that got the sale or if they already planned on buying and scored a whopping 10% off. I'd love to ask a client but that seems...tacky.

So...mr whoever, did you plan on buying that doohicky or was it the enticing % off that dragged out your wallet?

: )

[OneEyeCatStudio]

"It's for a measly 10% off, hardly a bargain unless it's a big order! lol"

See this is why I don't use these as a seller.

As a buyer, they're never enough of a discount to make me change my mind and buy.  They're usually 10% to 15%.
But of course now I wait to buy, because otherwise I'm possibly going to be made to pay more than someone else.

[BootifulLabels]

I never offer a discount sale, code or coupon that I wouldn't be happy for every customer to use.  In this day and age, sites like Honey harvest codes from everywhere.  If one member uses it, they send to all their members.  I build capacity for discounts into my pricing formula, so I know they won't hurt my bottom line, and the sales where no code is used are a happy bonus.

[BagmakerSupply]

This "impatience" seems to be a growing trend - we were assembling an order (not on Etsy) for shipping and packaging supplies and put it aside to do some other things and we were being flooded with the "did you forget that you have things in your cart?" eMails within an hour. Within a few hours a discount coupon was sent to us.

[TastefulArtisan]

I just made a few purchases a little while ago and was immediately offered a coupon code. I was getting ready to check out when it applied, I had never left my cart, I added what I wanted and went to check out when I saw the shop code.

Since I was already getting "free" shipping, it felt super dodgy to grab an extra 4.45 as a discount. I removed it from my cart and finished the purchase.

Free shipping plus a discount seems a harsh thing to do to a fellow shop. I would have happily paid for shipping and then I would have used the code : )

[CuddleSleepDream]

We did a test.   First we changed it to free shipping instead of 10% off.   Held that for a month and use of the coupon crashed.   Then we did 5% for a month and it came up a bit.  Then back to 10% and use bounced back.  Our conclusion was that however it was being generated it did result in more sales.