Course
Mastering your promotions
Overview & use cases of different promotion types
- Promotions
- Business
Franziska Kuhlmann
Business Consultant
Overview
Understanding promotions
The "Promotion" feature enables you to create customized discounts and gives you the freedom to define the conditions under which the discounts are valid and applied to basket/order items. It is not to be confused with the other discount types such as “Vouchers” and “Price Campaigns”, they all exist in parallel and can serve different purposes:
| Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Promotions | Promotions are added to the items in the basket. You can have multiple discounts within one basket/order, but only one promotion per order item. The conditions of the promotion are flexible and can be based on customer or basket/order data. The reductions are communicated in the basket view. | 15% off of all jeans when user is in the customer group “VIP” and has more than 2 jeans in his basket/order |
| Price Campaigns | Price campaigns include a wider range of products which are relatively discounted in a given period for all customers. Discounts are already presented in the storefront on product listing and product detail pages, as well as in the basket. | Summer sale 20% off |
| Vouchers | Vouchers grant a relative or absolute discount on orders or order items and have to be submitted in the checkout flow. The usage of vouchers can be limited by certain parameters and conditions (e.g. max applicable count, only applicable to certain brands, etc.). Only one voucher per order is allowed. | Welcome voucher for registration or Sorry voucher (for delayed delivery) |
All three functionalities can be combined, so you could achieve (if configured) a stacked discount based on a price campaign, voucher and promotion.
For better understanding of promotion stacking order, check the list of use cases in the Multiple promotions order.
Fundamentals of a promotion
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- Promotions can be assigned to specific shops and are then only valid in these shops. Of course, promotions can also be valid in several shops at the same time.
- Within one shop, a promotion can be configured to be valid in specific countries. Promotions can also be valid in multiple countries at the same time.
- Audiences are finely tuned customer segments that enable precise customer outreach. You can define for which audiences a promotion is valid. This is optional, a promotion can also be valid for all audiences.
- Each promotion has a set of basic configurations, such as:
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | Each promotion has a specific name, that you can freely choose. The name is not unique, so multiple promotions can have the same name. |
| Combinable | Configuration which states whether the promotion can be combined with others and if so, with which ones. You can either include or exclude other promotions. |
| Schedule | Period in which the promotion is valid. |
| State | A promotion can be either active or inactive. Promotions in the state inactivate are not returned by the Storefront API, and are also not valid when applying them to items in a basket/order. |
| Priority | Priority refers to the ranking of a promotion when compared to other promotions. Useful in the storefront, when running multiple promotions and you want to evaluate, which one has a higher priority by comparing. |
| Custom Data | Custom data represents a JSON object, that you can use freely to persist any data that you like. |
| Supported Effect | Automatic Discount or Buy X Get Y. Read more about them below. |
| Promotion Conditions | Conditions are special rules that must be satisfied in order for the promotion to be applied. Read more about them below. |
- Promotion capabilities are exposed via the Storefront API. You can use the Storefront API to
- fetch a list or specific promotions (also upcoming promotions)
- fetch for promotions, which are applicable to your current basket
- add and update promotions of basket/order items
- validate promotions applied to your basket
- Promotions are manageable via the SCAYLE Panel. You can create, update and delete promotions.
Supported effects
Each promotion is assigned a so-called effect. An effect is the result of a promotion being applied to a specific item in the basket/order when all the conditions are satisfied. Effect can also be considered the “type” of the promotion.
Currently, the “Promotion” feature supports two types of effects, buy_x_get_y and automatic_discount.
| Effect | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Buy x get y | When the promotion conditions are satisfied, the customer will receive n items for free. (The list of which items will be given for free and how many can be defined during promotion creation). | Buy two t-shirts and receive one pair of socks for free. For every sneaker in the basket, you receive one care product for free. Have an order total greater than 100€ and receive a pair of glasses for free |
| Automatic discount | When the promotion conditions are satisfied, the customer will receive a relative (e.g. 10%) or absolute (e.g. 10€) discount on specific items in the basket/order. | 10% off of every sneaker, but only when customer is in the audience “VIP”. 15€ off of every item, which is more expensive than 200€. 10€ off of the cheapest/most expensive item in the basket |
It is not required to add a voucher code or similar in order to activate a promotion. The promotion is valid as soon as the promotion conditions are fulfilled. See the chapter below for more details.
Promotion conditions
To each promotion, conditions can be assigned. Conditions are special rules that must be satisfied in order for the promotion to be applied. A distinction is made between two types of conditions:
Global conditions
Global conditions are checked against general customer- or basket/order data. The promotion is only considered valid if the global condition is met. If the global condition isn't met, the entire promotion is invalid, regardless of whether the item conditions are met. Typical examples for global conditions are:
- Minimum order value is greater or equal than €100
- Customer is in group “VIP”
- Basket/order contains more than 3 items of a specific brand
Item Conditions
Item conditions are checked against the item you are trying to apply the promotion to. This is useful, when you want to limit the set of items, which can benefit from a promotion, for instance
- 15% off of jeans
- 10% off of all items with attribute group “deal”
- Conditions can be connected by “and” or “or” operators as well.
By mix and matching global and item conditions, you can create specific promotions that serve your individual promotion cases.
The conditions are defined using the Google Common Expression Language. This is especially important to know, when using the advanced view in the SCAYLE Panel. You can read about that later.
Summary
Key facts of the “Promotion”-feature:
- Promotions can discount basket/order items relatively, absolutely, or make them sellable for free. This is supported by two effects, Automatic Discount and Buy X Get Y.
- The effect is only valid in case global and item conditions are fulfilled
- Promotions can be valid in a specific shop, countries and for specific audiences. Find out more about Audiences
Further education - SCAYLE Academy
