Difference between Vouchers and Discount Codes

Eversports Manager distinguishes between vouchers and discount codes:

Vouchers are gift certificates and serve as a means of payment with prepaid monetary value. Vouchers are purchased and have a value for accounting purposes.
Discount codes are a price reduction of x % or x €. Discount codes serve, for example, as a marketing campaign to attract customers on special occasions (e.g. Christmas) or as a thank you to customers.

Overview of the differences

	Vouchers	Discount Codes
Sale	Sale by the studio to the customer	Provided free of charge by the studio to customers
Validity	Legally defined validity (depending on the country)	No legally defined validity
Remaining credit	If the value of a purchase is lower than the value of the voucher, a ‘remaining credit’ is created.	Discount is applied in full to the current purchase
Accounting	Voucher purchases or voucher redemptions (depending on the studio) generate revenue.	Discount codes are not subject to sales tax / pure price reduction that reduces turnover
Creation in Manager	Products > Vouchers	Marketing > Promotions
Name in Manager	Name is visible to customers on the invoice	Name is for internal purposes only; customers only see the promotional code.
Restrictions in Manager	None Can be purchased by all customers Redeemable on all services (block/time cards)	Restriction to specific customer groups or customers possible Restriction to specific services (block/time cards), tickets & videos possible
Limitation in Manager	None / Customers can purchase the same voucher more than once.	Limitation possible how many times the code can be redeemed in total how often customers can redeem the code
Validity in Manager	Unlimited or limited validity	Unlimited or promotional period
Value in Manager	Can be fixed and/or flexibly changed at the time of purchase	Amount or percentage is fixed
Sale in Manager	Via Voucher-Widget	To be provided by the studio (e.g. email or social media)

General differences

🛒 Distribution

Vouchers are offered for sale by the studio and can be purchased by customers for the value of the voucher.

Discount codes are provided free of charge by the studio and do not require any payment from the customer.

⏳ Validity

Depending on the country, vouchers have a fixed validity period, which the studio should adhere to.

Note: In Germany, vouchers must be valid for at least 3 years by law, in Austria for 30 years and in Switzerland for 5 or 10 years.
This information is based on current knowledge and is not legally binding. Please check the legal requirements in your country before creating a voucher.

There are no legal requirements for the validity of discount codes; the studio is free to determine their validity.

💸 Remaining credit

A voucher may have ‘remaining credit’ if the value of a purchase is lower than the value of the voucher. The ‘remaining credit’ on the voucher can be redeemed on another purchase.

A discount code is applied to the current purchase to reduce the price by x % or x € – there is no ‘remaining credit’.

📖 Accounting

Voucher purchases or voucher redemptions (depending on the studio) generate revenue. Vouchers are therefore relevant for a studio's accounting.

For accounting purposes, important information on voucher sales can be found under (1) Financials > Voucher Journal and (2) Analytics > Reports > Financials.

Discount codes are not subject to sales tax, as they are merely a price reduction that reduces sales.

Differences in the Manager

🛠️ Creation

Vouchers are created in Products > Vouchers in the Manager.

Discount codes are created in Marketing > Promotions in the Manager.

✏️ Name

The name chosen for the voucher will be visible to customers on the invoice.

The name chosen for the discount code is for internal purposes only; only the promotional code (e.g. ‘HAPPYNEWYEAR2026’) is visible to customers and will be displayed on the invoice.

⚙️ Restrictions - Customers

Vouchers can be purchased by all customers.

Note: Vouchers are sold via the voucher widget. Read more here.
Studio vouchers are not currently available for sale on the Eversports app or under profiles on eversports.com.

Discount codes can be restricted to specific customer groups or customers.

You can set this when creating/editing the discount code under Settings > Restrictions > Just for specific customers.

⚙️ Restrictions - Products

Vouchers can be redeemed on all services (block cards and time cards*).

Discount codes may be restricted to specific products (block cards and time cards*), tickets and videos, and can only be redeemed on these items.

*Vouchers and discount codes cannot be redeemed on Memberships online.
For memberships, a membership promotion can be created in the membership settings – read more about this here.

⚖️ Limitation

Customers can buy the same voucher more than once.

For discount codes limitations are possible:

how many times the code can be redeemed in total
how often customers can redeem the code

⏳ Validity

For vouchers a validity of X years (i.e. 3 years) or unlimited can be defined.
This should be adapted to the legally defined validity of the country.

This can be set at Validity when creating/editing the voucher.

For discount codes a promotional period (i.e. December 2026) can be set.

This can be set at Settings > Promotion Activation when creating/editing the discount code.

💶 Value

The value for vouchers can be fixed and/or flexibly changed at the time of purchase.

The value or percentage of the price reduction offered by the discount code is fixed and cannot be changed by customers.

🛍️ Sale

Studios can sell vouchers via the Voucher-Widget.

The Voucher-Widget can be created in Settings > Widgets. Read more here.

Studios can send discount codes free of charge or distribute them to customers at the studio.