The free shipping coupon that was added in as a feature in ShopSite Pro 9.0 requires a multi-step process in order to enable it. The steps below are not required to be performed in this order, but all 3 steps must be done in order to use the feature.
1. Create the coupon in the backoffice as you would create any other coupon (Merchandising -> Coupons -> Add a Coupon) – be sure to select free shipping as the discount type.
2. Enable at least the United States as a valid free shipping country in the backoffice under: Commerce Setup -> State and Country.
3. Configure shipping to allow it under: Commerce Setup -> Shipping near the bottom of the page, and choose an existing shipping option* to be used for free shipping when the coupon is applied.
* custom shipping API options are currently not able to be selected as the default existing option.