Bulk discount products on Shopify

There are two ways to discount on Shopify. A discount code applies at the cart, which is right for newsletter offers and coupons. A price change applies on the product page, which is right when browsing customers should see the sale price and the sale badge before they add anything.

This page is about the second kind, and about doing it to hundreds of products at once.

The two-field pattern

• Compare-at price → set the same as the price. This preserves the original price as the reference before you touch anything.
• Price → decrease by percentage or by amount.
• Round to the ending your catalog uses, so a 17% cut does not produce 41.4917.
• Optionally add a tag so the theme or an app can badge the products.
• At the end of the promotion, price → set the same as the compare-at price, then compare-at → set to blank.

Choosing the range

• By collection — the simplest and most reviewable.
• By vendor or product type — for a supplier or category promotion.
• By tag — when merchandising has already marked the products.
• By price band — “everything over 100”.
• By inventory — never promote what you cannot ship.
• Excluding protected products via a “no-discount” tag.

A worked example: 15% off one vendor

1. Filter: vendor is “Northwind”, inventory quantity more than 0, tag does not contain “no-discount”.
2. Editor: compare-at price → set the same as the price.
3. Editor: price → decrease by 15%, round to .99.
4. Preview and check the product count.
5. Schedule the revert for the end date, so the promotion closes itself.

Percentage or amount?

A percentage keeps the discount proportional across a range with mixed price points; a fixed amount is clearer to communicate but can be brutal on cheap items. For catalogs spanning a wide range, run two tasks with a price-band filter rather than one blunt rule.

Whichever you choose, rounding is what stops the storefront looking careless.

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