Stack your savings: Combine Kohl's Cash, Rewards, coupons, and clearance deals to cut your bill by 40% to 70%.
Use Kohl's Cash wisely: Treat it like a rebate and spend it on clearance items to stretch its value even further.
Shop seasonal clearance: Holiday and seasonal merchandise often drops 70% to 90% off, creating some of Kohl's best deals.
Kohl's is one of the few stores where stacking discounts isn't just allowed, it's practically encouraged. That's the primary reason why savvy Kohl's shoppers rarely pay full price.
Between Kohl's Cash, percentage-off coupons, rewards points, and special promotions, it's often possible to cut your final bill in half or more if you know how the system works.
Despite what some shoppers think, couponing at Kohl's isn't nearly as complicated as it looks from the outside. Here's how to do it.
Start with a Kohl's Rewards account
Before buying anything, sign up for Kohl's Rewards. The program is free and gives shoppers 5% Kohl's Rewards on every purchase you make.
Those rewards eventually convert into Kohl's Cash certificates that can be spent on future purchases. The rewards aren't huge by themselves, but they become much more valuable when combined with the other discounts that Kohl's offers.
Your earned Kohl’s Cash will be issued to you in $5 increments on the first of every month.
Pro tip: Get in the habit of always entering your phone number at the checkout register, even on small purchases. Many shoppers forget to do this and miss out on the rewards they already earned.
Understand Kohl's Cash (it's basically free money)
If Kohl's has a secret weapon, it's definitely Kohl's Cash.
Throughout the year, Kohl's regularly runs promotions that help you earn additional Cash.
These often include the following:
- Earn $10 Kohl's Cash for every $50 spent
- Earn $20 Kohl's Cash for every $100 spent
The biggest mistake shoppers make is treating Kohl's Cash like a bonus. Smart shoppers instead treat it more like a rebate.
For example: Spend $100 during a promotion and receive $20 Kohl's Cash. Your effective purchase price isn't really $100 anymore. It's closer to $80 if you know you'll use the Kohl's Cash later.
Also, it’s worth noting that Kohl’s Cash does have an expiration date on it, but I was told by several employees that they’ll still accept it (in-store) for up to 10 days after the expiration date. Unfortunately, you can’t use expired Kohl’s Cash when shopping online.
Pro tip: Try to hit the Kohl's Cash threshold exactly when possible. If you're spending $47, find a small clearance item and get over the $50 mark. Leaving $10 in Kohl's Cash on the table is one of the most common mistakes shoppers make.
How Kohl's stacks your discounts
One thing many shoppers don't realize is that Kohl's applies discounts in a specific order, regardless of how you enter coupon codes online or hand over coupons at checkout.
Here's how the math typically works:
- First, any department-specific coupons are applied, such as $5 off a fragrance purchase or a similar category-specific promotion.
- Next, percentage-off coupons are deducted from eligible items. For example, a 15% off beauty coupon would be applied to qualifying beauty products.
- Then, Kohl's subtracts dollar-off rewards, including Kohl's Cash, Rewards Cash, and qualifying storewide dollar-off coupons.
- Finally, if you have a storewide percentage-off coupon, such as 15%, 20%, or 30% off your entire purchase, Kohl's will apply the single highest-value coupon you're eligible to use.
Also, when shopping online, if your order still meets the $49 free shipping threshold after all discounts are applied, the free shipping promotion will kick in automatically.
Pro tip: Before spending your Kohl's Cash, be sure to do a quick calculation. Sometimes using a percentage-off coupon first and saving your Kohl's Cash for a future clearance purchase can lead to bigger overall savings.
The best places to find these coupons
Kohl’s coupons can be found in a wide variety of places.
Specifically, they can be found on the Kohl’s app, Kohl’s website, in the emails they send you, and they even still mail you coupons the old-fashioned way.
Also, get in the habit of doing a Google search for “Kohl’s coupon codes” and you’ll find a plethora of coupon websites that have verified coupons that you can either use online or print out and use in-store.
Download the Kohl's app
The Kohl's app is the easiest ways to manage your savings and keep track of your balances.
Inside the app you'll find the following:
- Digital coupons
- Kohl's Cash balances
- Rewards tracking
- Sale notifications
The app also helps you prevents the classic mistake of forgetting a coupon at home as they are all stored within the app.
You can also take a picture of a paper Kohl's coupon with the app, and it will save the coupon to your account so it's ready to use at checkout.
Pro tip: Make it a habit to open the app before you head to checkout. Kohl's will often load surprise coupons and bonus offers into the app that many shoppers never notice.
Use Kohl's Cash on clearance items
Did you know that you can use Kohl’s Cash on items on clearance? This is where experienced Kohl’s shoppers really separate themselves.
It’s not uncommon for a $10 Kohl's Cash certificate to completely wipe out the cost of a clearance shirt, toy, kitchen gadget, or seasonal item completely.
Remember that Kohl’s Cash works just like store credit, which means it can be used on clearance merchandise, even when percentage-off coupons no longer apply. Consider saving your Kohl’s Cash specifically for clearance racks because the value stretches much further.
Pro tip: Consider making your Amazon return at your local Kohl’s, as many locations will hand you a 15% off Kohl’s coupon or $5 Kohl’s Cash when you make the return.
Shop seasonal clearance at the right time
Kohl's aggressively clears out their seasonal inventory, perhaps more than any other department store.
For this reason, the biggest opportunities often happen right after:
- Christmas
- Valentine's Day
- Easter
- Halloween
- Back-to-school season
In particular, items like holiday décor, gift wrap, seasonal clothing, and themed merchandise can become ridiculously cheap.
Markdowns often start around 50% off and eventually climb to 70%, 80%, and even 90% off.
Pro tip: It’s not unusual to find items marked down 70%, then you can use your Kohl’s Cash to bring your total to nearly zero. Many shoppers walk out with clearance merchandise while paying only the sales tax.
Pay attention to excluded brands
This is where many shoppers get frustrated as not every Kohl's coupon works on every product.
Popular brands frequently excluded from percentage-off discounts include Nike, Levi's, Under Armour, Adidas, and certain premium beauty brands.
Before getting super excited about a coupon, be sure to take a close look at the exclusions list.
That doesn't mean these brands are never discounted. It simply means you'll often need to rely on sales, Kohl's Cash, or Rewards instead of percentage-off coupons.