Work with promotions

Current version: 10.2

Promotion management consists of two main elements:

  • Promotion books - A promotion book contains a collection of individual promotions, which can apply to sellable items, catalogs, or customer shopping carts. A promotion book can apply to products in one or more catalogs, making the promotions available for particular customer segments.

  • Promotions - A promotion is a set of qualifications used to apply benefits to a customer order. For example, to promote a specific product you offer 50% of the cart total when the customer buys the Optix camera. You can add any of the following parameters to a promotion:

    You can also assign a promotion priority that influences how promotions are applied. Promotions that have a higher priority are applied first with 1 being the highest priority. Promotions with the same priority are ordered and applied according to date.

    Before you create promotions, review the evaluation and prioritization rules that are used to prequalify promotions before they are evaluated.

Note

To work with promotions, you must be assigned the Promotioner or Promotioner Manager user role. The only exceptions are when you are approving or rejecting promotions, or extending an active promotion, which require the Promotioner Manager role.

Create a promotion book

The Promotions dashboard displays a list of promotion books in alphabetical order.

To create a promotion book:

  1. To open the Promotions dashboard, in the left pane, click Promotions.

  2. In the Promotions Book section, click +.

  3. In the Add dialog box, in the Name field, enter a name for the new promotion book. The display name and description are optional.

Note

When you create a promotion book, you cannot delete it.

Associate a catalog with a promotion book

You can associate a promotion book with multiple catalogs, but you can only associate a catalog with one promotion book. If a catalog is already associated with a promotion book and you associate it with a different promotion book, this automatically disassociates the catalog from the first promotion book. You must associate a promotion book with a catalog before you can associate any sellable items with the promotion book.

To associate a catalog with a promotion book:

  1. In the Catalogs section of a promotion book details page, click Associate.

  2. From the Catalog Name drop-down list, click the catalog you want to associate.

Create a promotion

You must create a promotion book before you create a promotion.

To create a promotion:

  1. On the Promotions dashboard, in the Promotions Books section, click the name of a promotion book.

  2. On the promotions book detail page, in the Promotions section, click +.

  3. In the Add dialog box, enter a name, the dates and times that the promotion is valid for, the display text, and the display cart text.

    Note

    Business tool users specify date and time in their local time. In the database, the date and time are stored using UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) format.

    The display name, description, and if the promotion is exclusive are optional.

    Note

    If the Is Exclusive check box is selected, only this promotion applies to the shopping cart. Where there are multiple exclusive promotions, they are ordered by priority, then sorted by valid from date, and finally by date created. After which, only the first exclusive promotion is applied per cart.

Important

As per promotion prioritization and evaluation rules, cart line benefits apply before cart level benefits. Promotion priority does not impact this order. Promotion priority applicable to cart lines and carts are evaluated and applied separately.

Add a sellable item to a promotion

You can add individual sellable items to a promotion, instead of having a promotion applied to the entire catalog.

To add a sellable item to a promotion:

  1. On the promotion details page, in the Items section, click +.

  2. In the Add dialog box, in the Item Id field, enter an Id for the sellable item you want to apply the promotion to, such as Remote. The drop-down list shows all of the sellable items that use the term. Select the item that you want to apply the promotion to.

  3. Click the check mark to save your changes.

Add a qualification to a promotion

Qualifications are conditions that a customer order must meet for a promotion to apply to it. These can include:

  • Product qualifications (such as "Is the item In stock?")

  • Cart qualifications (such as "Is the item available?")

  • Cart line qualifications (such as "Is the cart contact registered?")

  • Shopper qualifications (such as "Is the contact registered?")

  • Shopper history qualifications (such as "Did the current customer purchase an item with a specific tag?")

  • Environment qualifications (such as "Is current day?")

  • Shop context qualifications (such as "Is this related to a specific shop name"?)

You can add multiple qualifications to a promotion, so the first condition you select may trigger additional conditions that you can select.

To add a qualification to a promotion:

  1. On the promotion book details page, in the Promotions section, click the name of a promotion.

  2. In the Qualifications section of the promotion details page, click +.

  3. In the Add window, select a condition from the drop-down list.

  4. Click the check mark to save your information. New fields are displayed in the Add dialog box.

    Note

    Once you have saved your selected condition, you cannot change it.

  5. In the Add window, from the Condition Operator drop-down menu, select And or Or.

    Note

    The And condition operator means that an order must meet all conditions for the promotion to be applied to it. The Or condition operator means that an order can meet any single condition for the promotion to be applied to it.

  6. Click in the Condition field and select a condition to apply to the sellable item.

  7. Enter all required parameters and, in the Item Id field if it is available, enter the sellable item information in the format of Catalog Name|item ID|Variant ID. If there is no variant of the sellable item, the information must be in the format of Catalog Name|item ID.

Add a benefit to a promotion

Benefits are the discounts that are applied to a customer order as the result of a promotion. For example, free shipping, or 50% off the order total. You can add multiple benefits to a promotion. Benefits can apply to line items, or can apply to the cart. The same promotion can have some benefits that apply to line items, and others to the cart.

To add a benefit to a promotion:

  1. On the promotion book details page, in the Promotions section, click the name of a promotion.

  2. In the promotion details page, in the Benefits section, click +.

  3. In the Add dialog box, click in the Action field, and click a benefit from the drop-down list.

  4. Click the check mark to save your changes.

Add a free gift to a promotion

When you add a free gift benefit to a promotion, you specify the conditions the shopper must fulfill to receive the free gifts, how many free gifts are to be offered, and whether the free gifts are pre-defined or can be chosen by the shopper. For example, the condition Cart Subtotal [compares] to [specific value] means that to receive a free gift the shopping cart subtotal must match the value you define in the condition. The free gift can be added to the shopper's cart automatically or the shopper can select a free gift from a pre-defined list. On the storefront, you use the Free Gift Selection rendering to display the sellable items from which shoppers can select their free gifts.

Note

You can only add one free gift benefit to a promotion.

To add a free gift to a promotion:

  1. On the promotion details page, in the Qualifications section, click +.

  2. In the Add dialog box, select the condition that triggers the addition of the free gift to the shopper's cart (for example, Cart Subtotal [compares] to [specific value]?) from the Condition drop-down list and click the check mark.

  3. In the Add dialog box, define the relevant conditions, and click the check mark.

  4. In the Benefits section, click + and, from the Action drop-down list, click Get Free Gift, and click the check mark.

  5. In the Maximum Quantity field, type the maximum number of free gifts the shopper can select and add to the cart. If you want to add the free gifts to the cart automatically, leave this field blank.

  6. To add the free gifts to the shopper's cart automatically, click the Add to Cart Automatically check box, and click the check mark.

    As soon as the defined qualifications are fulfilled, the free gifts are added to the cart.

    Note

    If a sellable item has variants, you must select the individual variant when using the Add to Cart Automatically feature.

  7. In the Free Gifts section, click + to add a list of sellable items from which the shopper can choose.

  8. In the Add Free Gift dialog box, from the Catalog drop-down list, select the catalog containing the sellable items you want to offer as free gifts.

    Note

    The free gift must be in stock and cannot be a product bundle.

  9. In the Item Id field, enter the sellable item ID (for example, 604283), select the sellable item from the drop-down list, and click the check mark.

    When you select a top-level sellable item, the shopper is able to select any variant of that sellable item. When you select a variant, the shopper can only select that specific variant.

  10. Repeat steps 7 to 9 to add sellable items to the predefined list from which a shopper can select their free gift. You define how many free gifts a shopper is eligible for when you add a free gift benefit to the promotion.

Create a public coupon

You can create a public coupon, which is a discount code that can be used by any customer. It can be used multiple times with separate orders. Public coupons are frequently created for promotions that are publicized through social media, or displayed on the storefront, category, or sellable item pages. Using public coupons is optional.

To create a public coupon:

  1. On the promotion details page, in the Public Coupons section, click +.

  2. In the Add dialog box, enter a coupon code.

Create and allocate a private coupon

You can create a private coupon, which is a discount code that you assign to a single customer. You can specify how many private coupons you want to create and how many of these codes are allocated to a specific promotional campaign. After a private coupon is created and allocated, you can download an Excel document that contains the codes for each allocation. Using private coupons is optional.

To create and allocate a private coupon:

  1. In the promotion details page, in the Private Coupons section, click +.

  2. In the Add dialog box, enter a prefix, a suffix, and the total number of the private coupons available.

  3. Click the check mark to save the information.

  4. On the promotion details page, in the Private Coupons section, click the name of the private coupon.

    The Private Coupon summary page opens.

  5. In the Allocations section, click + to open the Allocate dialog box, and then, in the Count field, enter the number of coupons to allocate to this campaign.

  6. Click the globe icon to generate the private coupon codes and save them as an Excel file (the Excel file with the generated coupon codes is saved to your Download folder).

Request approval

You must submit your draft promotion to the approval workflow before it can become active on the storefront.

To request approval of a promotion:

  1. On the Promotions dashboard, click the name of a promotion book.

  2. On the promotion book summary page, in the Promotions section, click the name of the draft promotion you want to submit for approval.

  3. In promotion Details section, click the drop-down menu, and then click Request Approval.

  4. Click the check mark to save your change.

    The promotion goes from the Draft status to the Ready for approval status. You cannot edit a promotion that is ready for approval.

Approve or reject a promotion

As a promotion manager, (a user with the Promotioner manager role assigned), you can approve or reject a promotion submitted to the approval workflow. If you approve the promotion, it becomes actives on the configured start date. If you reject the promotion, it returns to the draft status.

To approve or reject a promotion:

  1. On the Promotions dashboard, click the name of a promotion book.

  2. On the promotion book summary page, in the Promotions section, click the name of the promotion to approve (the status should be Ready for approval).

  3. In promotion Details section, click the drop-down menu, and then click Approve to approve it, or click Reject to return it to a draft status . (You can optionally provide a comment or reason for rejecting the promotion).

    Note

    You can also change the duration of the promotion by clicking Edit End Date before approving the promotion.

  4. Click the check mark to save your change.

Change the duration of an active promotion

As a promotion manager, you can change the duration of a promotion that is already active on the storefront by changing its end date. For example, you can extend the end-date of the active promotion, or you can modify it to end sooner than currently configured.

Note

This change affects the duration of a promotion that is currently active on the storefront and requires the Promotion Manager security role.

Important

The Commerce Engine stores date and time in UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) standard. When a Business Tools user views a promotion, the Business Tools application converts the promotion's validity dates from UTC to the user's local time zone. The Business Tools application always displays time and date in the business user's time zone.

When you edit a promotion's end date, always consider the time zone in which the promotion was created. If a promotion was created from a different time zone, you must factor in the time difference between your time zone, and the time zone of the promotion creation, and set a new end date accordingly.

To extend the duration of an active promotion:

  1. On the Promotions dashboard, click the name of a promotion book.

  2. On the promotion book summary page, in the Promotions section, click the name of the promotion you want to change.

  3. In the Details section, click the drop-down menu, and then click Edit End Date.

  4. In the Edit End Date dialog box, in the Valid To field, click the calendar icon, and set a new promotion end date (optionally you can also specify a time).

  5. Click the check mark to save your change.

Note

You can also change the promotion end date when approving the promotion.

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