XpertPromotions™

Chapter Topics
Promotions Catalog
Promotion Requirements
Promotion Benefits
Sample Promotions
Promotion Tracking
Promotion Cuopons at the Point of Sale
Logic Behind Promotions Module


One of the most important tools of the retail trade is promotions. XpertMart™ allows you to create all kinds of promotions to be automatically applied at Point of Sale with the XpertPromotions™ module. By having promotions defined in the Promotions Catalog you avoid having to permit manual discounts at the point of sale. All sales made as part of a promotion are linked to the promotion they were sold under so you can also run reports to see how effective each promotion has been. Each promotions is also tied to a Promotion Manager, Promotion Distribution Method and Promotion Target Market so you can also run reports to see the results obtained for each of these dimensions.


Promotions Catalog
Promotions are defined in the Promotions Catalog. To access the Promotions Catalog you select the option under the Catalogs menu, as seen in this screen shot:



Once you select the Promotions Catalog you will see the following catalog window:



You can insert a photo of the coupon in the center of the Promotions Catalog. Every promotion can consist of two parts. The first part is the requirements needed to qualify for the promotion. The requirements section starts at the top of the window and goes all the way down to the coupon photo. The second part of the promotion is the benefit of the promotion. The benefits section starts below the coupon photo and continues down to the distribution field.

Each promotion can have a name entered in the "Promotion" field. Promotions need to have the "Active" check box checked in order to be applied at the Point of Sale.


Promotion Requirements
OK to combine: The "Ok to combine" check box determines whether the promotion can be combined on the same sale with any other promotion. If this check box is not checked then this promotion will not be applied to a sale which already has some promotion applied to it, even if the sale meets all the requirements of the promotion. On the other hand, if a sale already has a promotion applied to it that does not have the "Ok to combine" checked then no other promotion will be applied even if the all the additional promotion requirements are met.

Limited Dates: If you want a promotion to only be valid for certain days, then you should check the "Limited Dates" check box and enter the beginning and ending dates for the promotion. The promotion would only be applied during these dates if you select this option.

Required Quantity: You may want to require the purchase of a certain quantity of items in order to qualify for this promotion. If you check the "Require Quantity" box then you should enter the quantity you wish to require in the "Quantity Required" field. The promotion will only be applied if the customer purchases the specified quantity of items.

Required Amount: You may want to require the purchase of a certain dollar amount in order to qualify for this promotion. If you check the "Require Amount" box then you should enter the amount you wish to require in the "Amount $ Required" field. The promotion will only be applied if the customer purchases the specified dollar amount.

The next set of check boxes and fields lets you select whether you require the purchase of a certain Brand, Department, Style or Brand and Department combination to get the benefits of the promotion.

Certain Brand: To require the purchase of a certain Brand to get the benefit of the promotion you should check the "Certain Brand" check box and then select which brand is required in the "Brand" menu field. If you require the purchase of a certain brand to qualify for the promotion then either the Quantity Required or the dollar Amount Required would refer to the quantity of this brand or the dollar amount of purchase of this brand.

Certain Department: To require the purchase of a certain Department to get the benefit of the promotion you should check the "Certain Department" check box and then select which department is required in the "Department" menu field. If you require the purchase of a certain department to qualify for the promotion then either the Quantity Required or the dollar Amount Required would refer to the quantity of this department or the dollar amount of purchase of this department.

Certain Style: To require the purchase of a certain Style to get the benefit of the promotion you should check the "Certain Style" check box and then select which style is required in the "Style" menu field. If you require the purchase of a certain style to qualify for the promotion then either the Quantity Required or the dollar Amount Required would refer to the quantity of this style or the dollar amount of purchase of this style. If you choose to require a certain style, then you will not be able to also require either a certain brand or a certain department as the style already belongs to a specific brand and department.

You can require that the purchase be of both a certain brand and a certain department. This would permit you to require the purchase of  "Christian Dior" "Men's Shirts Formal" for example. Only items that belong both to the selected brand and the selected department would count as fulfilling the requirements of the promotion.

Limit per Customer: If you check the "Limit per Customer" check box then in the "Limit" field you should put the number of promotions that can be given to one customer. (In reality this refers to promotions per single Invoice. The system will not check if the customer has another invoice with the same promotion on it). If you have a promotion that requires that the customer buy two pairs of a certain style pants and they get a third one free, then normally they could buy four pairs of the style of pants and get two free. If you only want them to be able to use the promotion once, then you use the limit per customer field. It would be the sales clerk's responsibility to ensure that the customer does not buy on two separate invoices to get around this limitation.

Require Coupon: If the customer needs to present a coupon to get the benefits of the promotion then you need to check the "Require Coupon" check box. You should also then enter a code for the coupon in the "Coupon Code" field. If you wish, you may put a photo of the coupon in the space below the "Coupon Code" field. If you require a coupon for the promotion then the promotion will not be applied unless the coupon is entered at point of sale, irregardless of the fact that they may meet the other requirements for the promotion.

Price List: If the promotion is only to be applied to a particular Price List then you need to select the price list in the "Price List" menu field. If you select a price list then both the items required for the promotion as well as the items to receive the benefit of the promotion must be entered at the Point of Sale with the price from the specified price list. If you do not select a price list then the promotion will be applied to all sales irregardless of the price list used to price the items.


Promotion Benefits
After the photo of the coupon you specify the benefit a customer is to obtain from the promotion.

Free Freight: The first benefit is free freight. This benefit would apply mainly to catalog or internet sales. If you check the "Free Freight" then the invoice will be marked for free shipping.

Discount $: If the benefit is to be a specific amount off, then you need to check the "$ Discount" check box. Then in the "Discount $" field you put the dollar amount to be discounted as a benefit for this promotion.

Discount %: If the benefit is to be a percent discount off, then you need to check the "Benefit % Discount" check box. Then in the "Discount %" field you put the percentage to be discounted as a benefit for this promotion.

The next set of check boxes and fields lets you select whether the benefit applies to the purchase of a certain Brand, Department, Style or Brand and Department combination.

Brand: The benefit may be specified as only for a certain brand. To do this you would check the "Brand Benefit" check box and in the "Brand" menu field you would select the Brand the benefit is for. This means that the customer would receive the benefit on one or more items of a certain brand if they also purchase the item(s) of that brand. The item(s) purchased to which the benefit would apply would be in addition to any items required to get the benefit. (Examples follow).

Department: The benefit may be specified as only for a certain Department. To do this you would check the "Department Benefit" check box and in the "Department" menu field you would select the Department the benefit is for. This means that the customer would receive the benefit on one or more items of a certain department if they also purchase the item(s) of that department. The item(s) purchased to which the benefit would apply would be in addition to any items required to get the benefit.

Style: The benefit may be specified as only for a certain Style. To do this you would check the "Style Benefit" check box and in the "Style" menu field you would select the Style the benefit is for. This means that the customer would receive the benefit on one or more items of a certain style if they also purchase the item(s) of that style. The item(s) purchased to which the benefit would apply would be in addition to any items required to get the benefit. If you choose to benefit a certain style, then you will not be able to also benefit either a certain brand or a certain department as the style already belongs to a specific brand and department.

The benefit may be specified as only for a certain brand and department combination. To do this you would check the both the "Brand Benefit" check box and the "Department Benefit" and in the brand and department menu fields you would select the Brand and Department combination the benefit is for. This means that the customer would receive the benefit on one of more items of a certain brand and department combination if they also purchase the item(s) of that brand and department combination. The item(s) purchased to which the benefit would apply would be in addition to any items required to get the benefit.

Benefit Certain Qty: If the benefit is to be limited to a certain quantity of items then you need to check the "Benefit Certain Qty" check box. Then in addition you enter the maximum quantity of items that can receive the benefit in the "Quantity" field.

If you do not specify that the benefit is for a Brand, Department, Style of Brand and Department combination, then the discount amount or discount percent will be applied to the invoice itself. If you specify that the benefit is for a Brand, Department, Style of Brand and Department combination, then the discount amount or discount percent will be applied to the item line on the invoice.


Sample Promotions
While the Promotion Catalog entry seems rather simple this design allows a great flexibility in regards to the promotions you can offer. The following are some sample promotion (though they are by no means are these all the types of promotions you can make).

Note: On all the examples you may select that they may be combined (or not) and may select that they are for a specific date range (or not), so we will not mention those variants for each example.

1) $5.00 off next purchase with a coupon - You just check "Require Coupon" and enter the "Coupon Code". In the Benefits section you check "$ Discount" and in the "Discount $" amount field you put $5.00.

2) 15% Discount on purchases over $600 - You check "Require Amount $" and in the "Amount $ Required" field put $600. In the Benefits section you check "Benefit % Discount" and in "Discount %" field you put 15%.

3) 20% off all Levis brand Women's Pants Dress Jeans - In the Benefits section check the "Benefit % Discount" box, in the "Discount %" field enter 20%. In the Benefits section you check "Brand Benefit" and in the "Brand" menu field select "Levis". Check the "Department Benefit" and in the "Department" menu field select "Women's Pants Dress Jeans".

4)  Two for 1 and 1/2 on Men's Shoes Boots Dress - In the Requirements section check "Require Quantity" and in the "Quantity Required" filed enter 1.  In the Requirements section check "Certain Department" and in the "Department" menu field select "Men's Shoes Boots Dress".

In the Benefits section check the "Benefit % Discount" box, in the "Discount %" field enter 50%. In the Benefits section check "Department Benefit" and in the "Department" menu field select "Men's Shoes Boots Dress". Check the "Benefit Certain Qty" box and in Quantity enter 1.

5) Free "Missy" style purse with purchase of "Kalanda" shoes - In the Requirements section check "Require Quantity" and in the "Quantity Required" filed enter 1.  In the Requirements section check "Certain Style", and in the "Style" menu field select Kalanda. (XpertMart™ will know that the Kalanda style is a shoe!)

In the Benefits section check the "Benefit % Discount" box, in the "Discount %" field enter 100%. In the Benefits section check "Style Benefit" and in the "Style" menu field select "Missy". Check the "Benefit Certain Qty" box and in Quantity enter 1. (XpertMart™ will know that the Missy style is a purse!)

Again, there are literally hundreds if not thousands of possibilities. Contact XpertMart™ tech support if you need assistance with a certain type of promotion.


Promotion Tracking
The last three fields before the Notes section of the promotion allow you to link the promotion to a Promotion Manager, Promotion Distribution Method and Promotion Target Market so you can also run reports to see the results obtained for each of these dimensions.

To enter your promotions distribution methods you use the Promotion Distribution Catalog. You select this catalog under the catalogs menu as shown here:


Once you select this option the catalog opens as shown here:



Basically you want to name your distribution methods. You can describe them more thoroughly in the Notes section.

To enter your promotions managers you use the Promotion Managers Catalog. You select this catalog under the catalogs menu as shown here:



Once you select this option the catalog opens as shown here:



Enter the name of the employee who will be managing the distribution of the promotion. You can also enter additional information in the Notes section.

To enter your promotions target markets you use the Promotion Market Catalog. You select this catalog under the catalogs menu as shown here:



Once you select this option the catalog opens as shown here:



Basically you want to name your distribution target markets. You can describe them more thoroughly in the Notes section.


Promotion Coupons at the Point of Sale
To receive and use Promotion Coupons at the Point of Sale you must enter the "Promotion Coupon" payment type in the Payments Catalog. The "Promotion Coupon" payment type must have ID 12. (PAYMENTS_ID = 12). You may call this payment type something else if you wish, but XpertMart™ will take payment with ID = 12 as a promotion coupon and will process it accordingly.

When you have this payment type defined and wish to enter a Promotion Coupon at POS then you simply select this payment type in the payments section of the sales screen as show here:



Once you select this payment type, XpertMart™ will show you a menu of all Promotion Coupons that are active in the Promotions Catalog. You simply select the one the customer is using from the menu as shown here:



You will not enter a value amount for the coupon. The amount in the payment section will be zero. (XpertMart™ will not let you enter an amount for Promotion Coupons.) As explained above, if the sale meets any additional requirements for the promotion then the value or percent discount the coupon represents will be applied either to the line the Item is on or as a global discount on the bottom of the invoice.

The promotion coupons are entered in the payment section so that at the end of the day there is a list of the coupons that should be turned in along with the cash and other payments types received.


Logic Behind Promotions Module
The following are some important points we have taken into consideration when designing the Promotions module:

1) Since the promotions module is supposed to be automatic, XpertMart recalculates the whole invoice for promotions each time a line is added, deleted or modified on an invoice. This is to make sure that the promotion rules are respected at all times.

For example, if you have a promotion that requires the purchase of two items to get a third item for free (100% discount). The promotion module would look and see if you add the first item, then the second and finally when you add the third item it would apply 100% discount to this item. But IF you go back and delete one of the two items that were used to qualify the third item for the 100% discount then the promotion module goes back in and removes the 100% discount.

2) If we applied promotions to lines with more than one quantity of the item the discount percentages would get very confusing.

For example, if you had a promotion that says buy one Item "X" and get the second Item "X" for free (100% discount). If you sell two of the items on one line then the net discount for the two items would be 50%. Most users would see this and immediately say that they have no promotion to give 50% off on an item! The case would be even worse if on one line you had three of these items. The net discount would be 33% (2 at full price and 1 at 100% discount).

For this reason we designed the promotions module to use one line on the invoice either to qualify for a discount or benefit from a discount but not both things at the same time. While this limits the way you can ring up promotions, it definitely avoids unacceptable confusion about discount percentages to the retailer and their customers.



Copyright © 2005 XpertMart

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