PayPal Express Coupon Discount Promo Code Box

[jasmel]

Greetings,

I don't know if any of you have experienced this issue.

Customer selects PayPal Express Checkout option. Customer gets redirected to PayPal to fill in user name password, then to a summary page with a discount coupon code box (provided by PayPal.com) they then lookup a coupon code for your company(site) of if they already had one... they enter it in while still on PayPal's page and get an error.

They then call you and ask why your coupon code doesn't work. You then after checking your coupon code settings realize they aren't on your site but on PayPal's site trying to enter in your coupon code.

I wonder how many customers gave up at that point and found coupon codes for my competitors and then bought the product of their site instead.

I question here.. is how to I disable or hide the PayPal.com Discount Coupon Promo Code box? I can't see where to do this in PayPal.com... I have disabled Express Checkout until I can find a way to hide this box.

Thanks!

[eVelt]

WOW!
You made me aware of this problem
thanks jasmel

but disabling is wrong, or so i think
you loos more than you gain..

how about as a temporary fix till we get around this issue
add in the Login and shopping cart tpl some info, as well as in the coupon itself make a note. (that's what I'm doing writ now)

[jasmel]

I told PayPal.com of this issue and this is their response:

Hi jasmel1,

I apologize for the frustration and inconvenience. For now, I will suggest putting a note on your site for the buyers explaining how to redeem the coupon. As mentioned above, this option is currently not available. You can submit a feature request about this functionality being added by opening a ticket at www.paypal.com/mts

Thanks.

I see two things PayPal.com can do for us.

1. Allow us to toggle coupon code box on or off.
2. Place a note below the coupon code box stating PayPal coupon codes only. (or something of that sort)

I went ahead and turned Express Checkout back on... I just wonder how many customers I lost due to that coupon code box in PayPal's inbetween page.

[eVelt]

thanks jasmel
I appreciate your time
Joel

[BlessIsaacola]

It would be nice to get the Zen Cart development team's input on this issue as well since they are partnered with PayPal. This is a serious issue.

[TAOL]

Yep, I'm suffering from this issue also with some customers getting confused and giving up on the order.

Is there a way to configure Zen Cart so the discount code can be entered and deducted before the customer clicks the PayPal button.

[DrByte]

I see two things PayPal.com can do for us.

1. Allow us to toggle coupon code box on or off.
2. Place a note below the coupon code box stating PayPal coupon codes only. (or something of that sort)

Good news:
Response from PayPal:

I wanted to follow up regarding some additional updates related to the merchant coupon issues on EC. To help minimize buyer confusion, our EC product team has planned to implement messaging when the user is redirected to PayPal.com to differentiate between the PayPal discount vs merchant-issued coupon. The messaging will state “PayPal gift card, certificate, reward, or other discount.” This messaging is targeted for February 23rd, 2011.
...
As for a long-term solution, they are looking to consider the possibility of using callback functionality to validate merchant redemption codes. At this point, a date has not been determined for this implementation.

So, if things go according to their current schedule, the wording will be clarified on-screen by the end of February.

[tulanch]

Worked great in Zen Cart 1.5.0 using paypal express - I used the free shipping feature - the ability to provide the coupon/code during the purchase process occurs on its own page after filling out the initial paypal form.

At first I thought I may have mucked up the cart with my hacks cause I could not get it to work, but after trial and error In Zen Cart Admin, to get Coupon Codes to display I learned I needed to add a restriction to "allow" the coupon to be associated with a product... weird but thats how it works - add a restriction to allow. In the restrictions dialog I was able to choose an entire category and then apply "allow" to all products, but in the end it seems to be a per product thing. Until I added the restriction, it appears coupon codes do not apply.

[timbreman]

Yep, I'm suffering from this issue also with some customers getting confused and giving up on the order.

Is there a way to configure Zen Cart so the discount code can be entered and deducted before the customer clicks the PayPal button.

Amen to that suggestion!

[DrByte]

If you're finding it that confusing, then go into your EC module settings in your store admin, and turn off the EC Shortcut Button setting. That will force customers to login and choose shipping and enter coupons before ever getting to the PayPal site. You'll need to be using the current version of Zen Cart to do that.