What are single-use discount codes?

Single-use discount codes stop leakage of affiliate discounts. Instead of one reusable Shopify code that anyone can share, each customer claims a unique code after clicking an affiliate's referral link. The reserved name on the affiliate is not a working Shopify code.

Availability: This requires the Pro plan. Single-use codes are not available for country or variant discounts.

Why they stop leakage

A standard discount code is reusable. Anyone who types it at checkout gets the discount and the affiliate earns commission, including shoppers who found it on a coupon site or were forwarded the code. That is leakage: the discount is no longer limited to people the affiliate actually sent.

Single-use codes are created when the customer claims them from that referral-link visit. A leaked reserved name does nothing in Shopify. A claimed code works once, so copies of it do not keep unlocking the offer.

Set them up

1. Enable discount codes for the group. Follow https://help.simple-affiliate.com/en/articles/4219542-how-to-enable-discount-codes-and-set-discount-rules-pro-plan-video if the discount code rule is not already Active.
2. Open the group, go to Discounts, and under Discount code type choose Single-use discount codes.
3. Save. If the group already used standard codes, confirm that those Shopify codes will be deactivated. The names stay reserved if you switch back.
4. Click a referral link for an affiliate in this group.
5. Click Claim on the popup at the bottom of the storefront, or Reject to dismiss it.
6. Go to checkout and confirm the unique code, such as SIMPLE-XXXX, is applied.

The article with screenshots is at https://help.simple-affiliate.com/en/articles/16652572-how-to-set-up-single-use-discount-codes-pro-plan

When to keep standard codes

Keep Standard discount codes when affiliates are supposed to publish a reusable code on purpose: print, packaging, or a public offer. Choose single-use when you want the discount only for customers who opened the affiliate's referral link.