When creating a coupon offer for free shipping, the alternate shipping credit allows merchants to extend a dollar-amount discount on shipping costs that can be applied to an order should free shipping not be available for the location the customer wishes to ship their order to (for example, an international location, or a location outside of the contiguous United States), or the customer selects a shipping method that is not eligible for free shipping.

For example:

Your coupon offer is for free ground shipping (5-7 days), and includes an alternate shipping credit of $5.00 for shipping methods that are not ground shipping. During checkout, the customer selects 2-day shipping. In this case, $5.00 would be discounted from the order's subtotal.

Since the alternate shipping credit is deducted from an order's subtotal, it's important to include all free shipping methods set up for your store in this coupon offer, to prevent the alternate shipping credit from being applied as an additional order discount. For example, if you have a special "holiday free shipping" rate set up for your store that you've created specifically for the holiday season, this shipping method should also be included in your coupon offer. If it is not, a customer could select "holiday free shipping" during checkout, enter the coupon code, and then receive the alternate shipping credit as an order discount.

The alternate shipping credit option is only available when a coupon for free shipping is created. This option will not be available when creating a coupon for other types of discounts.

To create a free shipping coupon offer with an alternate shipping credit included:

1. In Coupon Manager, select the type of coupon you wish to create (a standard coupon, or a single-use coupon series), and enter the coupon code or coupon code prefix.
2. Select "Free Shipping for" as the offer type, and make one or more selections from the shipping methods listed.
3. Enter a dollar amount in the Alternate Shipping Credit field. This amount will be deducted from an order's subtotal should free shipping not be available for the order.
4. Set your minimum purchase options (if you wish to require a minimum purchase), and the coupon's expiration date (optional for standard coupons).
5. Click the "Update" button to save your coupon or single-use coupon series.