Scheduled Sales & Automatic Discounts for WooCommerce – Smart Cycle Discounts

FAQ

How do I schedule WooCommerce sales automatically?

Install Smart Cycle Discounts, create a campaign using the 5-step wizard, and set your start and end dates in the Schedule step. The plugin automatically activates your sale prices at the scheduled time and removes them when the campaign ends. No manual work required – your WooCommerce sale prices update themselves on schedule.

What WooCommerce discount types are supported?

The free version supports percentage discounts, fixed amount discounts, and BOGO deals (Buy One Get One) on any WooCommerce product. The Pro version adds tiered quantity discounts (volume-based dynamic pricing), spend threshold discounts (minimum cart value offers), and bundle discounts (buy a set of products together for a deal). All discount types work with the automated scheduling system.

Is this a WooCommerce dynamic pricing plugin?

Yes. Smart Cycle Discounts supports dynamic pricing through multiple discount types. The free version includes percentage discounts, fixed amount discounts, and BOGO deals. The Pro version adds tiered quantity pricing (buy more, save more), spend threshold discounts, and bundle deals – all the dynamic pricing options you need for a WooCommerce store.

Can I set up BOGO deals in WooCommerce with this plugin?

Yes. BOGO (Buy One Get One) deals are included free. You can create Buy 1 Get 1 Free, Buy 2 Get 1 at 50% off, or any custom buy/get combination with your chosen discount percentage. BOGO campaigns run on the same automated schedule as all other discount types.

How do I create bulk discounts for WooCommerce?

Use the Tiered Quantity Discounts feature (Pro). Set quantity breaks like: Buy 5+ get 10% off, Buy 10+ get 20% off, Buy 25+ get 30% off. The discount applies automatically at checkout based on the quantity in the cart. Perfect for wholesale, B2B, and volume-based WooCommerce pricing.

How do I automate Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales?

Create a campaign with your desired discount, select your products, and schedule it for your Black Friday dates (e.g., November 29 12:00 AM to December 2 11:59 PM). You can set this up weeks in advance using Draft mode. The campaign activates and deactivates automatically – no midnight price editing required.

Can I use this alongside another discount plugin?

We recommend against running two discount plugins simultaneously — they both modify WooCommerce pricing and can conflict, leading to incorrect prices or double discounts. When you install Smart Cycle Discounts, the setup wizard automatically detects 19 known discount plugins and warns you if any are active. It can deactivate conflicting plugins for you directly from the wizard, so you don’t have to hunt through your plugins list.

Is Smart Cycle Discounts compatible with my theme?

Yes. Smart Cycle Discounts is a backend plugin that works with any properly coded WordPress theme. It integrates with WooCommerce’s native sale price system, so your theme’s existing sale price styling applies automatically. No theme modifications needed.

Can I schedule campaigns in advance?

Yes. Use the Schedule step in the wizard to set specific start and end dates/times. Campaigns activate and deactivate automatically based on your schedule. You can create campaigns weeks or months in advance using Draft status, then set them to Scheduled when ready.

How many campaigns can I create?

There are no campaign limits – you can create and run unlimited campaigns in both the free and Pro versions. Run as many simultaneous promotions as your store needs.

What’s the difference between the discount types?

Free Version:
– Percentage: Reduce price by a percentage (e.g., 25% off = $100 product becomes $75)
– Fixed Amount: Reduce price by fixed amount (e.g., $10 off = $100 product becomes $90)
– BOGO: Buy One Get One offers with flexible configurations (e.g., Buy 2 Get 1 Free)

Pro Version:
– Tiered: Quantity-based dynamic pricing (e.g., Buy 5 get 10% off, Buy 10 get 20% off)
– Spend Threshold: Discount based on cart total (e.g., Spend $100 get 15% off)
– Bundle: Product bundle deals (e.g., Buy shampoo + conditioner + mask for 20% off)

Will this slow down my site?

No. Unlike discount plugins that calculate prices on-the-fly for every product on every page load, Smart Cycle Discounts writes to WooCommerce’s native sale price fields. This means your product pages load at normal speed — the discount is already stored, not recalculated each time.

The plugin also caches active campaign data, batch-loads product terms in a single query, and only loads admin scripts on plugin pages. On a shop page with 20+ products, most competing plugins add dozens of database queries. Smart Cycle Discounts adds near zero because the prices are already computed when the campaign activates.

Do discounted products show up in “On Sale” filters?

Yes. Smart Cycle Discounts writes discounts to WooCommerce’s native _sale_price field, so your discounted products automatically appear in “On Sale” filters from YITH, FacetWP, JetSmartFilters, and any other filtering plugin that reads WooCommerce sale data. This is a significant difference from discount plugins that apply prices “on the fly” — those plugins often leave sale filter results empty because the sale price only exists at display time, not in the database.

Can I run multiple discount campaigns at the same time?

Yes. You can run unlimited campaigns simultaneously. Use the Priority field (1-5, where 5 is highest priority) to control which campaign takes precedence when multiple campaigns affect the same product. This prevents discount stacking and gives you full control.

What’s the difference between “All Products”, “Specific Products”, and “Random Products”?

• All Products – Applies discount to your entire product catalog. Best for store-wide sales.
• Specific Products – You manually select which products to discount using the AJAX-powered product search. Best for targeted promotions.
• Random Products – Plugin automatically selects X random products from your catalog each day. Best for “deal of the day” promotions that drive repeat visits.

Does it work with WooCommerce HPOS (High-Performance Order Storage)?

Yes. Smart Cycle Discounts is fully compatible with WooCommerce HPOS and has been tested with custom order tables. It works with both the legacy post-based storage and the new High-Performance Order Storage system.

Does it work with WooCommerce Subscriptions?

Yes. Subscription products are fully supported. On the free tier, discount campaigns apply to the recurring subscription price automatically – no special setup needed. Your subscription product pages show strikethrough pricing just like regular products (e.g., ~~$29/month~~ $23.20/month). The Pro version adds advanced subscription controls: choose whether to discount the recurring price, the sign-up fee, or both. You can also limit discounts to the first X renewal payments – for example, “20% off for the first 3 months, then full price.” If WooCommerce Subscriptions is not installed, the subscription settings simply don’t appear in the wizard.

Does it work with WooCommerce block-based cart and checkout?

Yes. Smart Cycle Discounts fully supports WooCommerce block cart and checkout pages (WooCommerce 8.3+). Discounted prices display correctly with strikethrough formatting in both classic templates and the new block-based cart/checkout. The plugin automatically detects which template you’re using and applies the appropriate discount display logic. No configuration needed – it just works.

Can I duplicate an existing campaign?

Yes. On the Campaigns list page, hover over any campaign and click the “Duplicate” action. This creates a copy of the campaign with all settings intact, which you can then modify as needed. Great for creating seasonal promotions based on previous campaigns.

How does the priority system work?

When multiple campaigns affect the same product, the campaign with the highest priority (5 = highest, 1 = lowest) takes precedence. This lets you run multiple campaigns without conflicts – for example, a high-priority flash sale can override a lower-priority seasonal discount.

Can I export campaign data?

Campaign analytics and export features are available in the Pro version. Pro users can export campaign performance data in CSV or JSON format, and schedule automated reports.

What happens when a campaign ends?

When a campaign reaches its end date/time, it automatically deactivates and removes the sale prices from affected products. The campaign remains in your list as “Expired” and can be duplicated or reactivated with new dates. Your original product prices are restored automatically.

Is there a way to test campaigns before activating them?

Yes. Use the Draft status to create and configure campaigns without activating them. You can review the campaign settings, check the health score, and preview which products will be affected. When ready, change the status to Active or Scheduled.

Does it work with WooCommerce variable products?

Yes. Smart Cycle Discounts fully supports WooCommerce variable products. When you apply a discount to a variable product, all variations receive the discount automatically. The sale price displays correctly on both the main product page and individual variation selections.

Can I exclude products that are already on sale?

Yes. The plugin respects existing sale prices. If a product already has a manual sale price set in WooCommerce, you can configure your campaign to skip those products or override them based on your preference.

Can I offer free shipping with discount campaigns?

Yes. Enable free shipping for any campaign with a single toggle in the Discounts step. When enabled, customers receive free shipping on qualifying orders. You can apply free shipping to all shipping methods or select specific methods like flat rate or local pickup. This is included in the free version.

Can I create wholesale or member-only discounts?

Yes. Use the User Role Targeting feature to restrict discounts to specific WordPress user roles. Choose “Include” mode to give discounts only to selected roles (e.g., “Wholesale Customer” or “Premium Member”), or “Exclude” mode to give discounts to everyone except certain roles. This makes it easy to create B2B pricing, membership discounts, or role-based promotions – all from the same WooCommerce store.

Does it work alongside WooCommerce coupons?

Yes. Campaign discounts and WooCommerce coupons work independently. Campaign discounts apply to product prices (shown as sale prices), while coupons apply at checkout. Customers can use both together unless you configure specific restrictions.

What happens if two campaigns affect the same product?

The campaign with the higher priority wins — no double discounts, no surprises. Each campaign has a priority setting from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest). When multiple active campaigns include the same product, only the highest-priority discount applies. Campaign Intelligence also warns you before launch if a new campaign overlaps with an existing one, so you can adjust priorities or schedules before any customer sees an unintended price.

How is this different from WooCommerce’s built-in sale price feature?

WooCommerce’s built-in sale prices are set per product – you need to edit each product individually. Smart Cycle Discounts lets you manage discounts at the campaign level: select hundreds of products at once, set a schedule, and the plugin handles everything automatically. You also get features like priority management, health monitoring, random product rotation, and campaign intelligence that WooCommerce doesn’t offer natively.

Can I create recurring weekly or monthly promotions?

Yes. Recurring campaigns are available in the free version with two modes. Continuous mode toggles your campaign active/inactive based on time windows – perfect for daily happy hours or weekend specials without creating hundreds of database entries. Instances mode creates separate campaign copies for each occurrence with individual analytics. Set up a “Weekend Flash Sale” once and schedule it to repeat every weekend, or create monthly promotions that run automatically.

Is there a limit on how many products I can discount?

No. You can apply discounts to your entire product catalog or select specific products. The plugin is optimized with efficient database queries and caching to handle stores with thousands of products without performance issues.

Can I set minimum order requirements for discounts?

Yes (Pro). Application rules let you fine-tune when discounts apply. Set minimum quantity requirements (e.g., “discount only applies when buying 3+ items”), minimum order value thresholds, and choose whether to exclude products already on sale. These rules give you precise control over discount eligibility.

What happens if I uninstall the plugin?

Your store goes back to normal. Deactivating the plugin automatically restores your original product prices — no leftover sale tags, no phantom discounts. If you fully delete the plugin, all campaign data, settings, and database tables are removed cleanly. You can also choose to keep your data (in Settings) if you plan to reinstall later.

How do I control discount stacking with coupons?

Pro users can configure combination policies for each campaign. Choose whether your campaign discount can be combined with WooCommerce coupon codes or if it should be mutually exclusive. This prevents over-discounting and protects your margins when running multiple promotions.