Drive Sales & Guest Loyalty: Complete Guide to Promo Codes in NX Portal 🎟️✨

Promotional codes are a powerful way to boost sales, bring back lapsed guests, and track the success of your marketing campaigns! With Promo Codes in NX Portal, you can easily turn existing discounts or loyalty points into shareable alphanumeric codes, scannable QR codes, or printed receipt vouchers.

Whether you're running a seasonal campaign, issuing one-off "we're sorry" recovery vouchers, or letting our AI assistant Nexy draft your promotion, this guide covers everything you need to know to create and manage promo codes!

What is a Promo Code? 🤔

The most important concept to remember is: A promo code does not contain a discount—it points to one!

You create the underlying discount rule first (under Discounts). The promo code simply adds access rules: who can use it, where it can be redeemed, when it expires, and how many times it can be claimed.

For Example:

The promo code SUMMER20 isn't "20% off" by itself. It tells the POS to apply the Summer 20% discount rule for eligible guests through August 31st! If you update the discount rule later, the promo code updates automatically with it.

Pre-Setup Checklist 📋

Before creating a promo code, ensure you have:

🏷️ An Existing Discount or Points Plan: Have a discount rule ready (e.g., percentage off, dollar off, BOGO, or single item comp). If creating a points code, have an active loyalty plan set up.
🔑 User Permissions: Creating, editing, or deleting codes requires the Discounts — Create permission assigned to your user profile in NX Portal.
🏪 Cross-Venue Scope: Promo codes belong to your overall organization account, meaning a single code works seamlessly across all your venue locations!

How to Create a Promo Code ⚙️

Option A: Manual Setup

Start New Code: Open creation form.
Log into NX Portal, open Promo Codes, and click New promo code.
Enter the Code: Define code text.
Type your custom code (4–20 alphanumeric characters, no spaces, case-insensitive) or click Generate to have NX create a random code for you.
Choose Discount or Points :Select offer.
Link the promo code to an existing discount rule or choose Loyalty points to reward points to signed-in guests.
Define Schedule & Where It Works: Set validity & channels.
Choose valid dates or expiration rules, and check off allowed ordering channels (Online ordering, Mobile app, POS, Guest display/handheld, or Kiosk).
Set Usage Caps & Eligibility: Set limits & eligibility.
Set per-guest limits, total usage caps, and eligibility rules (e.g., Anyone, New guests, or Loyalty members).
Create Promo Code: Go live.
Click Create promo code. The code is active immediately!

Code Text Lock:

Once created, the text of a promo code cannot be edited because guests may already have it saved or printed. If you need a different code text, create a new code and disable the old one.

Option B: Let Nexy AI Draft It for You! 🤖

Short on time? Click Create with Nexy AI and describe your promotion in plain language:

"Welcome offer for new guests, one use each, valid for 30 days."
"Loyalty members get 10% off, up to 500 uses this December."
"Ongoing 15% off online orders."

Nexy analyzes your existing discounts, suggests code text, and fills out all form fields! Nexy only drafts the code—nothing goes live until you review the choices and click Create promo code.

Detailed Setting Definitions 🛠️

Setting Section	What You Can Configure 💡
Discount Type	All items / Whole check (discounts balance); One item (applies to highest-priced eligible item); Selected items (discounts all qualifying items); BOGO (awarded once per check when buy items are present).
Valid For	Choose Days after issue, a specific Date range, or No expiry. (Evaluated using each restaurant's local time zone).
Where	Check off allowed channels: Online ordering, Mobile app, POS (staff), Guest display / handheld, or Kiosk.
Eligible Guests	Choose Anyone, New guests (account created today), Loyalty members, or First order on a channel. (Restricted choices require guest sign-in).
Caps & Limits	Set Per-guest limit (uses allowed per person) and Total cap (total uses across all guests before code becomes Depleted).
Allow Stacking	Toggle On to allow this code to share a check with other stackable promo codes.
Expiry Reminder	Sets how many days before expiration NX sends an automated text/email reminder (defaults to 7 days; enter `0` to turn off).

Sharing Codes & Issuing Guest Vouchers 📲

1. Barcodes & QR Codes 📷

Open any saved promo code in NX Portal and scroll to Scannable code. Download high-resolution Barcode or QR code image graphics to add to marketing flyers, email footers, or table tents. Scanning the code at a POS, kiosk, or guest display works instantly!

2. Issuing Batch Personal Vouchers 👥

Need unique single-use codes for a campaign or customer survey?

Create a promo code to act as your template (most managers disable the template so the main code can't be guessed).
On the Codes tab, click Issue to guests.
Select your template, choose the issue category (Promo, Survey / recovery, or Referral), and select up to 1,000 target guests.
Click Issue. Each guest receives a unique code in their account Rewards list. Click Download CSV to export the list!

3. One-Off "We're Sorry" Guest Recovery Vouchers 💌

On the Guests tab, locate a specific guest profile and click Issue recovery code. Pick your template (e.g., Free Dessert) to issue a recovery code directly to that guest's profile!

Performance Tracking & Insights 📈

Open the Insights tab or view individual code pages to track return on investment:

📊 Redemption Counts & Net Sales: View total uses, total discount dollars given, unique guests reached, average check size, and net sales driven.
💰 ROI Calculation: Displays (Net Sales − Discount Given) ÷ Discount Given. A +300% ROI means every $1 of discount brought in $4 of sales!
🔍 Influenced Sales: Tracks subsequent visits made by a guest within 14 days of receiving a code, even if they didn't use the code on those extra visits!
🚨 Unusual Activity Alerts: NX automatically flags potential fraud—such as rapid guest redemptions within minutes or repeated failed attempts.

Troubleshooting Refused Promo Codes 🔍

If a guest experiences an issue entering a promo code, open the Activity tab to view refusal reasons:

Refusal Reason 💡	Why It Happened 🔍	How to Fix It 🛠️
Code does not exist	Mistyped code or deleted record.	Check code spelling or verify it exists on your active list.
Code is disabled	Manually turned off or underlying discount was archived.	Enable the code or un-archive the discount rule in Portal.
Expired / Not valid yet	Attempted outside allowed date range.	Edit valid date windows or create a new active code.
Total cap / Guest limit reached	Max redemptions reached.	Increase caps in code settings if you wish to extend the offer.
Not valid on this channel	Channel not checked under Where.	Edit code settings and check off the active channel.
Guest was not signed in	Restricted code requires guest identity.	Prompt the guest to log in or enter their phone number.
Discount does not apply	Cart items do not meet minimums or item rules.	Verify cart contains qualifying menu items for that discount rule.

Frequently Asked Questions ❓

Can I restrict a promo code to a single venue location?
Not currently—promo codes apply across your entire organization account so guests can redeem them at any of your locations.
What happens if I delete a promo code?
Deleting a code permanently removes its historical analytics and redemption records. If you simply want a code to stop working, click Disable instead to preserve your reporting history!
Do promo codes earn loyalty points?
Loyalty points are calculated on the net check total after discounts are applied.
Need Technical Support?
Right-click any promo code row in Portal and select Copy ID. Send the record ID and code text to NX Restaurant Support for quick assistance! 🌟