Giving a discount code for a review
A small thank-you is one of the few things that reliably raises how many customers actually write something. Kudo lets you offer one, and it is on every plan.
It also puts two limits on how you offer it, and both exist because the alternative is illegal in most markets and self-defeating everywhere.
Setting one up
On the Collection screen you can define two rewards:
- For a review. Everyone who leaves one gets this.
- For a review with a photo. A larger code for the customer who did the harder thing.
Each has its own pool of codes, which you paste in — one per line, as many as you want to give away. They are separate pools rather than a bigger label on the same one, because a larger reward means different codes.
A customer who attaches a photo always gets the photo reward, whichever order the two are in. Handing the smaller code to the person who did more would be the wrong way round.
If your store is on Shopify, a reward can mint a fresh single-use code on demand instead of drawing from a pasted pool. A pool is still the default — it works on Wix, on a plain website, and on an afternoon when Shopify is having problems — but a pool runs out silently, which is the one thing minting fixes.
The rule that shapes the whole feature
The reward cannot depend on the rating, and Kudo will not let it. The star count is not an input to the decision anywhere in this feature.
That is not caution. Rewarding good reviews and not bad ones is the practice regulators call review gating; the FTC rule on fake and incentivised reviews prohibits it outright, and at least one major reviews platform has had to remove exactly this feature. It is also pointless: a wall of paid-for five stars converts worse than an honest one, because buyers can tell.
The same reasoning rules out one more thing that looks harmless. The reward does not wait for your approval either — because with an automatic publishing threshold switched on, "you get the code once I approve it" is the same sentence as "you get the code if I liked your review". The code is shown on the thank-you screen, immediately after the review is sent.
What the customer is told, and when
The offer is stated on the form before they write anything, and it is stated unconditionally: leave a review, get the code. Not "you may receive", not "for a great review".
The condition you are allowed to attach is a photograph, and that is named up front too.
The disclosure
Every review that earned a reward carries a note saying so, wherever it appears — your page, your widget, and any feed Kudo produces. You cannot switch that off.
That is a legal requirement rather than a Kudo preference, and it is also the thing that keeps the reviews worth having: a disclosed incentive is a normal, permitted practice, and an undisclosed one is what gets a business fined.
Running out
Each pool has a cap you set, and the codes are handed out one at a time so two customers can never receive the same one. When a pool is empty the reward is simply not offered — the form does not promise a code it cannot hand over.
Frequently asked questions
Can I offer a code only for five-star reviews?
No, and nothing in Kudo will do it. That is review gating, it is prohibited under the FTC rule on reviews, and a filtered wall converts worse anyway.
When does the customer get the code?
On the thank-you screen, right after they send the review — never after your approval, because tying it to approval is tying it to whether you liked it.
Does the reward show on the review?
Yes, always, everywhere the review appears. It cannot be turned off.
Can I give a bigger reward for a photo?
Yes. That is the second tier, and it is the one condition the rules allow — a photo is work, not an opinion.
What if I run out of codes?
The offer stops being shown. Nobody is promised a code that does not exist.
Is this on the Free plan?
Yes, the reward for a review is, the same as the review form itself. The larger reward for a review with a photo needs Pro, because customers attaching photos is a Pro feature; on Free that tier is simply not offered.
Still stuck? Write to support@getkudo.co before launching a large campaign and we will look at the wording with you.