9 Ways to Use Gleam to Give Out Shopify Discount Codes
Run a Shopify store? Learn how you can use Gleam to give out discount codes that will drive sales and incentivise powerful actions.
• See how Gleam's referral tracking and discount-code rewards compare to other Shopify giveaway apps
• Install Gleam natively from the Shopify App Store, and run it on WooCommerce through WordPress
• Use contests and giveaways to bundle discounts with high-intent actions
• Offer welcome, exit-intent and abandoned cart discounts to recover lost sales
• Reward social follows, shares and referrals with targeted coupon incentives
• Distribute QR code discounts at events to drive online conversions
• Create tiered and influencer-specific discounts to increase average order value
• Pair discounts with email capture to grow your list while driving revenue
If you're comparing Shopify giveaway apps, you're usually after three things: a native Shopify install, referral tracking that shows who's actually driving entries, and a way to reward people with a real discount code rather than just an entry number. Gleam runs from a single Shopify App Store listing and covers all three, referral link tracking is one of its strongest features, and its Coupon action is built specifically to turn giveaway and referral activity into a redeemable Shopify code.
This guide starts by comparing Gleam against two Shopify-specific giveaway apps on referral tracking, sales attribution, and discount-code rewards, then walks through nine ways to put Shopify discount codes to work once your giveaway or reward campaign is live.
We'll cover:
- Gleam vs Other Shopify Giveaway Apps
- Installing Gleam on Shopify
- Does Gleam Work With WooCommerce?
- Run a Contest or Giveaway
- Welcome Discounts for New Visitors
- Exit Intent Discounts
- Abandoned Cart Discounts
- Reward Social Media Actions
- QR Code Discounts at Events
- Offer Tiered Discounts
- Influencer and Affiliate Promotions
- Email List Growth Discounts
Two other apps come up often in Shopify giveaway roundups: Giveaway Ninja and ViralSweep. Here's how Gleam compares on the three things that matter most for a referral-driven giveaway.
| Gleam | Giveaway Ninja | ViralSweep | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Referral tracking | Automatic unique referral link per entrant, tracked in real time, filterable by referrer, and exportable (source) | Refer-a-friend entry mechanic | Refer-a-friend with waitlist-position boosts |
| Sales attribution | Issue a unique Coupon code per entrant and cross-reference it against Shopify's own discount reports for exact revenue per referrer, plus Facebook, AdRoll, and Twitter pixel tracking and GA4 event tracking | Entries scale with order value; Klaviyo automations on purchase activity | Native sales-tracking dashboard on the Business plan |
| Discount-code rewards for entrants | Dedicated Coupon action: auto-reveal or click-to-reveal, codes, downloads, or links, with a unique code per tier | General customization feature | Plan-gated customization feature |
Referral tracking and discount-code delivery are where Gleam is built deepest, and the rest of this guide shows you how to put both to work together.
Here's exactly how to add Gleam to your Shopify store, you can look at Gleam's Shopify install guide:
- Install Gleam Competitions from the Shopify App Store and authorize it for your store.
- Create or connect a Gleam account. Gleam prefills what it can from your Shopify store details.
- Choose how the campaign appears: automatic page creation (Gleam builds a Shopify page for you), manual installation (paste the widget code into a page you create), or a store tab added to
theme.liquid(this option needs the Business plan). - If you used automatic page creation, add the provided Open Graph code to
theme.liquidbefore the closing</head>tag so social shares preview correctly.
If you're on Shopify billing, you can uninstall directly from your Apps section; if you're on credit-card billing, cancel your Gleam plan first.
Yes. WooCommerce runs on WordPress, and Gleam's WordPress plugin adds campaigns to any WordPress site by shortcode, or, on self-hosted WordPress.org sites, by a direct JavaScript embed, so a WooCommerce store can run a Gleam giveaway the same way any WordPress site can. There isn't a WooCommerce-specific order-verification action yet, the kind available on Shopify, but the core giveaway, referral-tracking, and discount-code experience works the same way.
Running a contest or giveaway builds awareness and drives entries tied to a real action, especially when you require a purchase to enter. With Gleam's Competitions app, Business-plan stores can add a Custom Action that asks entrants for their order number and checks its format before granting entry, so only buyers get in:
Gleam customers drive about 24,900 page visits a day with the Visit a Page action, pointing entrants straight at a product page or store link.
Source: Gleam.io statistical data (2021/25).
Adding a Viral Share action extends reach further: entrants who share the giveaway with friends earn extra entries, and their networks land on your Competition page too.
• Add a Coupon or Visit Action to deliver discount codes to entrants
• Use Post Entry Emails or Redirects to reveal Shopify discount links
• On the Business plan, add a Custom Action that asks for and format-checks an order number, so only buyers can enter
• Add a Viral Share action to drive more traffic and participation
First-time visitors respond well to an early incentive. With Gleam's Capture app, you can build a pop-up that targets new visitors specifically, for example triggering once someone scrolls partway down your homepage using Capture's Scrolled % of Page trigger.
• Target the popup at new visitors rather than returning ones
• Display the discount after email signup to grow your list
• Use a scroll or exit trigger instead of showing the popup immediately
• Automatically sync captured emails to your email marketing tool
Gleam customers have delivered more than 13,000 discount codes through the Coupon action, unlocking a code the moment an entrant finishes your actions.
Source: Gleam.io statistical data (2021/25).
Stop a sale from slipping away by offering a discount to visitors who are about to leave your store. Gleam's Exit Intent Capture uses an on-exit trigger that detects when someone moves their cursor to close the tab or navigate away, then shows a pop-up offering a discount code in exchange for an email signup. It turns an exit into a signup, and a discount code you can follow up on.
• Trigger a popup when users move to close the tab, using an On Exit trigger
• Offer a discount in exchange for an email signup
• Recover abandoning visitors before they leave
• Automatically deliver the discount code after signup
Don't let an abandoned cart go to waste. With Gleam's Capture app, you can use an On Exit trigger to show a pop-up when shoppers navigate away with products still in their cart, offering a timed discount as a reason to come back and complete the purchase.
• Detect when shoppers navigate away with items still in their cart
• Trigger a popup offering a timed discount
• Add urgency messaging to encourage checkout before the timer ends
• Deliver the code instantly on-screen or by email
Encourage social engagement by rewarding followers with a discount code. With Gleam's Rewards campaign, you can set up a system where users unlock a discount code by following, liking, or sharing your store on platforms like Instagram or X. It rewards social actions directly, so followers get value immediately and your accounts gain genuine engagement.
• Create a Rewards campaign to unlock coupons after actions
• Require users to follow, like or share your posts
• Deliver Shopify discount codes instantly
• Combine multiple actions for higher-value rewards
One approach is creating a custom post entry email containing your Shopify discount code, sent automatically to everyone who enters your Competition.
You can give out your discount code to entrants with a custom post entry email like this:
Custom Post Entry Emails are available to users on Business plan and above.
Another way to give out Shopify discount codes to Competition entrants is a Post Entry Redirect, which sends users who complete every action straight to your store with a discount already applied.
Using Shopify's discount promotion tools, you can generate a shareable link that directs customers to your store's home page or a specific product page and automatically applies the discount code at checkout. To get that link, click Promote, then select Get a Shareable Discount Code.
Once you have the shareable link, apply it to your Competition. Activate Post Entry Redirect under the Post Entry tab of your campaign and paste the link in.
You can also use your contest or giveaway to distribute discount codes with Gleam's Coupon and Visit actions.
• Use the Coupon action to reveal Shopify discount codes instantly
• Use Visit actions to drive traffic to product pages before redemption
• Reward users who complete all actions with bonus discounts
• Combine coupons with viral share for broader reach
Make an event more engaging by distributing discount codes through QR codes. Generate a QR code linked to a Rewards campaign and display it on signage at your booth or around the venue. Attendees scan the code, complete a quick action, and get an auto-unlocking discount code, no manual entry required.
• Create a Rewards campaign with an auto-unlocking coupon
• Generate a QR code linking directly to the campaign
• Display QR codes on event signage for easy scanning
• Capture an email before revealing the discount, if you want to build your list
Encourage deeper engagement by unlocking bigger discounts as customers complete more actions. With Gleam's Rewards campaign, you can build Tiered Rewards where customers unlock a bigger discount at each stage, for example, sign up for your list to unlock 10% off, then follow your accounts and leave a review to unlock 20% off and free shipping.
• Create multiple reward tiers inside one campaign using Actions Required
• Unlock bigger discounts as customers complete more actions, not based on order value
• Give each tier its own Coupon action and code, so you can track redemptions per tier
• Encourage deeper engagement with visible tier progression
Extend your reach by partnering with influencers who share a unique discount code with their audience. With Gleam's Rewards app, you can enter or upload a unique code for each partner and track redemptions and conversions in your Gleam dashboard, so you can see which partnership is driving sales. See Gleam's guide on partnering with influencers for campaign ideas, and the Rewards campaign guide for setup steps.
• Set up a Rewards campaign and enter a unique code for each influencer
• Track redemptions and conversions per code inside Gleam
• Deliver the code directly to the influencer to share with their audience
• Add bonus actions, like a follow or share, to extend reach further
Grow your email list by offering a discount code as the incentive for signing up. With Gleam's Capture app, you can build an opt-in form that automatically sends a discount code to new subscribers, so you convert list growth into a purchase opportunity in the same step.
• Build an opt-in form that unlocks a discount code on signup
• Deliver the code on-screen and by email as a backup
• Sync new subscribers to your existing marketing tools
• Pair with a welcome or exit intent capture for full-funnel coverage
Use giveaways, lead capture forms, email marketing, and social media promotions to grow your Shopify store and convert more traffic.
Promote your e-commerce store with lead generation tools, product-focused giveaways, flash sales, and referral campaigns. Click to learn how to create campaigns that boost engagement and drive traffic.
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