The Customer Discount parameter allows you to set up and maintain automatic discounts for selected customers. You can set up as many customer discount parameters as you need.
To access the Customer Discount parameter
Go To:
Tools > Administration >Parameters
- From the list of parameters, select AutoDiscountID
The first thing you will see is the code description screen,
Here all customer discount codes and accompanying descriptions are listed.
To access an existing code:
- Highlight the row of the code you want to access.
- Click on the Properties button or simply press Enter.
- The Properties screen for the selected code appears.
To create a new code:
- Select File > New >Parameter from the Menu Bar.
- The Discount Code Properties screen will appear, with all the fields blank.
The Properties screen has four basic fields:
Code = the code you designate for this particular discount. It can be alpha or numeric, or a combination. Just make sure that each discount has a unique code.
Description = describe the discount. For example, if the discount is for schools, then the description might be, "school discount." Choose something that makes sense to you.
% Amount = sets % amount for discount
Rule = Within the particular customer discount parameter, which items in your store do you want discounted?
- Take the discount for schools. If a customer is purchasing items for a school (i.e., a school customer)
- Which store items do you want automatically discounted for them?
- Just textbooks?
- Textbooks and school supplies?
- Another combination?
- Or everything in your inventory, with no restrictions?
- That is where the Rule field comes into play.
Initial Set Up
When setting up a code for the first time, only the Discount Code and Description fields initially appear.
After filling those in
Select File > Add Discount Rule
The % Amount and Rule fields will then display.
If you want to add another Rule to an existing code
Select File > Add Discount Rule again
A new line will appear under the last line under both the % Amount and Rule fields.
% Amount and Rule
The % Amount and Rule fields work together.
If you want the selected customer to have an automatic discount on everything in the store:
- Select File > Add Discount Rule
- The % Amount field and Rule field will appear if you are setting up a new code.
- At this point, leave the Rule field set to All Items.
- If you do this, there are no restrictions. The discount is good on everything in your store.
- Then, in the %Amount field,
- Key in the percent off you want the customer to have for all items in the store.
- If you want it at 10%, enter that, or whichever percentage you want.
Now, when a customer assigned with this discount code purchases anything in your store they will get 10% off the regular price.
The cashier can override this automatic discount at the POS.
If the cashier manually enters a percentage in the Discount % fields at the POS, that will override the automatic discount established here.
If you want to establish restrictions on what is discounted for a discount code (i.e., not everything in the store will be discounted), then you need to establish a Rule.
- Select File > Add Discount Rule.
- When the Rule field initially appears, it will be set to All Items.
- Click on the word All Items.
- You are taken to the Discount Find window.
- This is where you either select an existing rule or create a new one.
Discount Query - Filter By
At the top of the Discount Find window, there are two options:
Discount Query:
-
New: to create a new rule. A message box appears where you need to key in the name of the new rule.
- Click on OK when you are finished keying in the name, then set up the parameters for the new rule.
- Delete: With the rule selected, choose Delete from the Discount Query menu. The rule is deleted
- Select: Click on the Select button to the right of the field.
- Once you select a rule, you are returned to the Customer Discount screen
- The selected rule is listed under the Rule field.
- If you want to view a rule already on the system
- Click on the arrow at the right of the field in the top left corner of the Discount Find window.
- All of the existing rules (or all of the existing rules only you created if you set the Filter By field to Me) appear in a dropdown list.
- Click on the one you want. Its parameters display in the Discount Find window.
Filter By:
- allows you either to view rules only you created or rules everyone has created.
- A submenu will appear with the word Me on top and All Users underneath.
- Click on the one you want
- A black dot appears to the left of the selected choice.
- This is user definable and up to you.
- Choose whichever makes the most sense.
- You can switch back and forth anytime you like, but the system will always default to the way you left it the last time you were in the Discount Find window.
Define Selection Criteria for New Rule
To define the selection criteria for the new rule:
- Choose the category you want to define in the Select Field by clicking on the down arrow at the right of the field.
- A pull down list of categories appears.
- Click on the one you want.
- Once selected, it displays in the Select Field. For example select BINDINGS
- In Select Operation: choose Like, equal to, greater than, less than, greater than or equal to, less than or equal to, or between.
- In Choose Value, choose the value or values that define the selection criteria.
- With the BINDINGS example, say you chose equal to in the Select Operation.
- If you then select MM (Mass Market) in the Choose Value field,
- The rule will apply to all inventory in your store with a binding code of MM.
For applicable categories (such as Bindings), there will be a binoculars icon at the right of the Choose Value field.
Select Operation Field
In the Select Operation field you can choose:
Like
Equal to
Greater than
Less than
Greater than or equal to
Less than or equal to
or
Between
If you select between in the Select Operation field
Two fields will display under Choose Value.
In the top field, choose the start value.
In the bottom field, select the ending value.
For example, if you selected Store Number in the Select Field and you want the rule to apply to merchandise only between store numbers 1 and 5, you would select between in Select Operation,
Key in a 1 in the top Choose Value field, and key in a 5 in the bottom Choose Value field.
If you choose Publication Date (or any other date category) in the Select Operation field, a calendar will display if you click on the down arrow at the right of the Choose Value field.
The Choose Value field will automatically default to the current day's date.
If you need to change that, either access the calendar and choose a new date or you can highlight the default date and rekey the desired date.
Finalizing a Discount Rule
Once you have set the fields the way you want, click on the Add button at the right of the Discount Find window.
The criteria you just set will display in the Selected Ranges box. For example, if you selected a binding code of MM, "Bindings = MM [Mass Market]" will display in the Selected Ranges box.
If you want to blank out the search fields and begin again, prior to clicking on Add, click on the Cancel button.
- The search fields are blanked out.
Repeat the above process as many times as you want to define the criteria for the rule.
Each time you establish a new set of criteria and click on the Add button, the new criteria will display in the Selected Ranges box.
The more sets of criteria you select, the more specific the parameters of the rule will be. So, for example, you may set criteria for multiple categories in order to establish a well-defined, highly specific rule.
Remove Discount Criteria
To remove a set of criteria:
- In the Selected Ranges box
- Highlight the criteria you want removed
- Click on the Remove button.
- The selected criteria is removed from the template.
Applying the Rule
When you are through creating the rule
Select it for the discount code by clicking on the Select button at the top of the Discount Find window. (If you do not want to select the rule, then simply click on the "x" at the top of the Discount Find window.)
The rule is saved automatically in your system.
Back at the Customer Discount screen,
The rule you selected (if you selected one) in the Find Discount window now appears under the Rule field.
If you click on the rule, you are taken back to the Find Discount window.
To the left of the rule, if you haven't already, establish the discount percentage under the %Amount field.
You can create as many rules as you want. Every time you create a new rule (by selecting File-Add Discount Rule from the menu at the top of the Customer Discount screen), a separate line is listed under the %Amount and Rule fields.
You can set up one rule for one discount code or one hundred.
Within a discount code, the rules are tiered.
If you set up two rules, the system will check an item against the parameters established in the first rule, then it will check against the parameters established in the second rule, and so on, if there are more than two rules.
If the item a customer is buying does not match the parameters in rule 1 but does match the parameters in rule 2, the discount applies, and vice versa.
Also, the percentage off may vary among rules within a discount code. Items that fall within rule 1 may be discounted 20% (established in the % Amount field), but items that fall within rule 2 may be discounted only 15%.
Once you have filled in the four fields on the Customer Discount screen
Click on the Close button.
The system will prompt you to save your changes if you haven't.
Once you return to the general Customer Discounts screen, where all discount codes are listed, the newly created code will now be there.
You can establish as many customer discount codes as you want.
To delete a code and description:
- Select the record you wish to delete from the grid at the bottom of the Find screen. The Properties window appears.
- At the Properties screen,
- Select Edit > Delete
- A prompt asks you if want to delete the record from the system.
- Click on Yes.