When a promo code works for someone else and not for you, the usual explanation is that it was single-use — issued to one shopper, burned on one order. This study measures how often that is actually the case, category by category.
As of August 11, 2026, 0.31% of promo codes on SimplyCodes are single-use — roughly 1 in 323. The overwhelming majority of promo codes can be used by any shopper.
- Apparel has the highest single-use share of any category at 0.60%, followed by Beauty at 0.35%.
- Even in the most single-use-heavy category, more than 99.4% of codes are reusable — single-use codes are a rounding error, not the norm.
- Across all 19 categories ranked, 15,285 of 4,912,449 codes are single-use.
Single-use share = the percentage of that category's promo codes that are good for one shopper, one time · Single-use codes = the count behind that percentage · Codes tracked = all promo codes SimplyCodes records in the category.
| # | Category | Single-use share | Single-use codes | Codes tracked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apparel | 0.60% | 7,620 | 1,261,482 |
| 2 | Beauty | 0.35% | 1,570 | 454,992 |
| 3 | Home & Garden | 0.29% | 1,826 | 622,085 |
| 4 | Travel | 0.28% | 270 | 97,401 |
| 5 | Sports & Outdoors | 0.27% | 894 | 329,689 |
| 6 | Hobbies & Toys | 0.24% | 714 | 298,404 |
| 7 | Money | 0.18% | 29 | 16,212 |
| 8 | Food & Restaurants | 0.15% | 407 | 265,242 |
| 9 | Business | 0.15% | 100 | 65,244 |
| 10 | Health | 0.14% | 771 | 569,108 |
| 11 | Shopping | 0.14% | 168 | 118,138 |
| 12 | Entertainment | 0.11% | 132 | 119,528 |
| 13 | Pets | 0.10% | 97 | 94,135 |
| 14 | Automotive | 0.10% | 97 | 97,160 |
| 15 | Electronics | 0.09% | 220 | 237,992 |
| 16 | Software | 0.08% | 89 | 105,839 |
| 17 | Education | 0.01% | 3 | 41,083 |
| 18 | Artificial Intelligence | 0.00% | 0 | 8,529 |
| 19 | Blockchain & Web3 | 0.00% | 0 | 5,050 |
19 retail categories by single-use share · categories with fewer than 1,000 tracked codes are excluded · an all-store average, no individual store named · each row links to its SimplyCodes category page · checked August 11, 2026 · numbers last changed Aug 11, 2026; refreshed daily.
Methodology
How SimplyCodes verifies codes. Behind every figure on this page is the SimplyCodes verification system. Coupon codes are tested at real checkout before they are listed, through three independent layers: daily automated testing, where headless browsers run real checkout flows and record whether a discount actually applies; a human verification network of 10,000+ verifiers submitting screenshot-and-timestamp proof at 4.6M+ verification actions a month and 98% accuracy; and a real-time fleet signal, where live checkout outcomes from millions of SimplyCodes users feed back into the engine. Each code carries a Health Score from 0–100, weighted by checkout outcomes, verifier consensus, and recency. With an estimated 40–60% of coupon codes on the public web dead, restricted, or fake, the system exists so a code earns its place by working at checkout, not by being collected.
How this study is built. A single-use code is one that works for a single shopper a single time — the opposite of a public code any shopper can reuse. We count, for every retail category, how many of the promo codes SimplyCodes tracks are marked single-use, and express that as a share of the category's tracked codes. Categories need 1,000 or more tracked codes to be ranked, so a small category cannot produce a misleading percentage. This is an average across every store we track, describing what kind of codes exist — never a claim about a specific code, and never a grade on an individual store. Figures refresh with the data snapshot shown above.
Cite this data
As of August 11, 2026, 0.31% of the 4,912,449 promo codes tracked by SimplyCodes are single-use — roughly 1 in 323.
According to SimplyCodes warehouse data (Single-Use Code Share Study, August 11, 2026), just 0.31% of promo codes are single-use; Apparel leads all categories at 0.60%.
