Point-Of-Sale: Automation Promotions
In this article I want to share the classification of promotion schemes that are automatically processed by POS systems, built on the experience of developing such for many clients over the course of many years. I hope it will be useful both for developers implementing the POS-modules themselves and their interfaces with them, and for the users of such systems.
By special price, we will mean the so-called quotation, which can be specified in both absolute and relative terms.
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The quotation is determined by the type of quotation and, in fact, by the quotation, that is, the absolute or relative value associated with the product or product group (in this case, if there is no quotation for the product belonging to the group, then the one that is linked to the group is used).
The relative value of the quote means one of the following options:
With regard to the issue of promotions, the type of quotation can be interpreted as a dedicated price channel for a certain set of stocks. In this case, it is permissible to limit the applicability of the type of quotation by
In addition to the above, the quote itself may be limited to a calendar period of validity.
To correctly identify many promotions, you must specify a combination of products for which, if it is found on the sales receipt, you should apply an incentive action. Such a combination consists of a list, each element of which is a commodity associated with a quantity. Instead of a product, either a product group or a so-called generalized product grouping an arbitrary set of ordinary goods can be indicated in the list item. In addition, the list element may contain additional attributes (say, the sign “only identical positions”, meaning that the quantity associated with the generalized goods is taken into account only if the check contains a specified number of the same goods from the generalization).
The discount is provided directly by the cashier at his own discretion, as a rule, as a percentage. Such a discount can be given either on a separate line of the check, or on the entire check at once.
This option is used infrequently because it gives the cashier too much authority.
Of course, in the system there should be a regulation of access rights to such a function.
For a range of products, special prices can be determined, linked to one or several conditions, and provided to all customers who do not present a discount card. Usually the conditions for the use of such prices is the date and time of sale.
The most simple and popular mechanism for discount sales promotion. The cardholder receives a percentage discount on any check.
The following additional features are possible here:
Such a scheme does not fix the discount percentage on the card, but dynamically determines it, based on the amount of the sales receipt. To do this, a table should be associated with a series of cards, linking the range of the check amount with the percentage discount.
If the cards in the system are not differentiated by series, then such a table will be applied to all cards.
A very flexible mechanism that allows you to fine-tune the value of discounts for different products and product groups. Features of special prices I reviewed above.
Here I will list promotions using combinations of products defined at the beginning of the article.
Additional options for complex stocks:
When automatically processing a check to identify the applicability of a particular stock associated with a combination of goods, there is often the problem of the possibility of simultaneous triggering of two or more stocks.
Most often such conflicts are resolved in favor of the maximum benefit for the buyer (the maximum number of gifts given out or the maximum value of the gift).
Corporate credit cards are used by queuing networks (shops, enterprises of the HoReCa segment, beauty salons, etc.) whose clients are largely constant. Actually, this is not so much a tool to stimulate sales, but rather a way of linking customers to oneself and simplifying the collection of payments for goods and services.
Technically, the corporate credit also includes club cards, for which the client, once having paid a certain amount, can receive arbitrary services from the set provided by the enterprise and within the amount paid (with an optional overdraft).
The essence of a corporate loan is that customers are given ID cards on which the issuer can accrue funds either after the customer deposits cash, or as a bonus, or with the expectation of subsequent compensation for the amount of goods and services provided (for example, when charging wages or by trust).
A corporate credit card can simultaneously perform all functions of a discount card.
A special case of a corporate loan is popular gift certificates, whose owners can buy goods or services for the amount of the nominal value of the certificate with a possible cash surcharge if the purchase exceeds the nominal value.
A positive factor in automating the accounting of such certificates is the ability of the holder to make several purchases for one certificate, since the amount spent the previous time will be taken into account. In the absence of the opportunity to keep the chronology of purchases under the certificate, the buyer will have to select products at a time for at least the nominal amount.
When you purchase with a bonus card, the purchase amount is transferred to a centralized server, which periodically credits a certain amount of purchases for a given period with a certain percentage of the bonus, which the buyer can use on their next purchases.
Special cases:
The functionality of bonus cards is similar to credit cards with an additional feature: in addition to direct debit and accrual operations on the card, they require operations to fix accounting amounts (checks, documents) and automatic charging according to the rule depending on the value of accounting amounts.
Fundamentally important common feature and bonus and credit cards - they are a substitute for money. This places significant demands on the reliability of storing data on these cards and the rules for access rights. In addition, since most often such cards are used by enterprises with a network structure, information on transactions and balances on cards should be processed centrally with instant access from any point of sale. That is, periodic synchronization of data between points of sale, as a rule, does not suit the management of the enterprise due to the likely double use of the same amount from the card.
We use Universe-HTT services for centralized processing of bonus and credit cards.
When offsetting the payment on the check amount deducted from the bonus or credit card, this amount should not be counted as fiscal. That is, it should not fall into the fiscal memory of the cash register.
In the case of a bonus, everything is more or less clear: this is just a discount. With a credit card, a small explanation is required: the amount credited for the purchase from a credit card has already been paid (with prepayment) or will be paid, with subsequent charging of money to the card, like a fiscal one. That is, carrying out payment on such a card in the form of a fiscal wrongfully increases the taxable base of the seller.
The above classification of promotions was compiled as a result of summarizing the experience of working with the Papyrus system of the Petroglyph company.
Papyrus, having its own POS-module, at the same time is able to work with many popular front-end solutions, such as: Frontol, Set Retail, Barcode-miniPos and others.
In this regard, it should be added that when working in a heterogeneous architecture (stand-alone front-end system + back-end solution) there are considerable difficulties with the implementation of many of the above sales promotion methods.
Firstly, due to the fact that vendors of POS-systems provide a much more limited set of tools than the listed ones, secondly, due to complex interfaces for interacting with even the mechanisms existing in such systems.
If someone is familiar with other schemes of promotions, I will be grateful for their brief description in the comments.
Important Concepts
Special price
By special price, we will mean the so-called quotation, which can be specified in both absolute and relative terms.
')
The quotation is determined by the type of quotation and, in fact, by the quotation, that is, the absolute or relative value associated with the product or product group (in this case, if there is no quotation for the product belonging to the group, then the one that is linked to the group is used).
The relative value of the quote means one of the following options:
- Markup, as a percentage, to the accounting price of receipt.
- Margin (negative - discount), given as a percentage of the accounting (base) sales price.
- Margin (negative - discount), given as a percentage of the difference between the accounting selling price and the accounting price of the receipt (discount from the margin).
- Margin (negative - discount), given as a percentage of the value of the quote, which has a special reserved form.
With regard to the issue of promotions, the type of quotation can be interpreted as a dedicated price channel for a certain set of stocks. In this case, it is permissible to limit the applicability of the type of quotation by
- calendar period
- days of the week
- time of day
In addition to the above, the quote itself may be limited to a calendar period of validity.
Combination of goods
To correctly identify many promotions, you must specify a combination of products for which, if it is found on the sales receipt, you should apply an incentive action. Such a combination consists of a list, each element of which is a commodity associated with a quantity. Instead of a product, either a product group or a so-called generalized product grouping an arbitrary set of ordinary goods can be indicated in the list item. In addition, the list element may contain additional attributes (say, the sign “only identical positions”, meaning that the quantity associated with the generalized goods is taken into account only if the check contains a specified number of the same goods from the generalization).
Classification of discount and promotional schemes
Manual discount
The discount is provided directly by the cashier at his own discretion, as a rule, as a percentage. Such a discount can be given either on a separate line of the check, or on the entire check at once.
This option is used infrequently because it gives the cashier too much authority.
Of course, in the system there should be a regulation of access rights to such a function.
Special prices offered without a discount card by the buyer
For a range of products, special prices can be determined, linked to one or several conditions, and provided to all customers who do not present a discount card. Usually the conditions for the use of such prices is the date and time of sale.
Simple discount cards
The most simple and popular mechanism for discount sales promotion. The cardholder receives a percentage discount on any check.
The following additional features are possible here:
- The amount of discount may vary between cards.
- An enterprise can periodically change the percentage of discount on cards, depending on the turnover for any period. In this case, it is desirable that the cards be differentiated by series, so that you can separately control the gradation of the discount depending on the turnovers and separately change the percentage of the discount on the series.
Exotic case: the transfer of cards to another series, if the momentum on it reaches a given value. - For some products, the limit of the discount can be set, or the possibility of reducing the price on a discount card is simply blocked.
Discount cards with a discount depending on the total amount of the check
Such a scheme does not fix the discount percentage on the card, but dynamically determines it, based on the amount of the sales receipt. To do this, a table should be associated with a series of cards, linking the range of the check amount with the percentage discount.
If the cards in the system are not differentiated by series, then such a table will be applied to all cards.
Discount cards with special pricing
A very flexible mechanism that allows you to fine-tune the value of discounts for different products and product groups. Features of special prices I reviewed above.
Complex marketing promotions
Here I will list promotions using combinations of products defined at the beginning of the article.
- In response to the purchase of a given combination of goods, a gift item is issued free of charge to the buyer.
For example, for the purchase of 6 bottles of beer, the buyer receives the manufacturer's branded mug. - In response to the purchase of a given combination of goods, the buyer receives a special price on them.
As an example, we can take the action, sometimes practiced under the slogan "Together cheaper": for example, buying a shampoo and conditioner for hair of one brand at the same time causes the price for both positions to decrease by 15%. - When buying a certain set of products, the cheapest position from this set is sold at a significant discount.
A special case: the cheapest position is given free of charge. - When buying one of the goods in quantities greater than a specified value, the price of one (and only one) of the pieces is set with a significant discount.
Additional options for complex stocks:
- The minimum amount to sell a combination of products at which a stock is triggered.
With such a limit, the number of gifts given is a multiple of the total limit (in the absence of this limit, the number of gifts is usually equal to the number of product combinations found on the check, an exception is described below). - Limit the number of promotions on one check. In most cases, a promotion action assumes that the number of gifts given is equal to the number of times the promotion combination has been met on the check. However, sometimes marketers of an enterprise limit the number of gifts to a given value (for example, if a gift is expensive). In fact, this is a half measure: it is difficult to prevent the buyer from going through the cashier with the second gift combination again and again to receive the gift.
- Overlapping combination of goods. Such action can be combined with any other.
Difficult, in terms of development, the case of the application of promotions. In general, in order to properly account for the given gifts (discounts) for a given combination of goods, it is necessary to mark the corresponding check lines with a sign that they have already been given a gift. For overlapping combinations, special measures are required to circumvent this rule. - Information message for the cashier about the amount for which it is necessary to purchase goods for the action to work.
The requirement for some shares (mainly a limited amount), so that the cashier could “provoke” the buyer to make additional purchases in order to receive a promotional gift (price).
This option is used only in stores with low service intensity: otherwise, the queue will not give the opportunity to spend additional time on increasing the shopping cart.
Resolution of conflicts between complex promotions
When automatically processing a check to identify the applicability of a particular stock associated with a combination of goods, there is often the problem of the possibility of simultaneous triggering of two or more stocks.
Most often such conflicts are resolved in favor of the maximum benefit for the buyer (the maximum number of gifts given out or the maximum value of the gift).
Corporate loan
Corporate credit cards are used by queuing networks (shops, enterprises of the HoReCa segment, beauty salons, etc.) whose clients are largely constant. Actually, this is not so much a tool to stimulate sales, but rather a way of linking customers to oneself and simplifying the collection of payments for goods and services.
Technically, the corporate credit also includes club cards, for which the client, once having paid a certain amount, can receive arbitrary services from the set provided by the enterprise and within the amount paid (with an optional overdraft).
The essence of a corporate loan is that customers are given ID cards on which the issuer can accrue funds either after the customer deposits cash, or as a bonus, or with the expectation of subsequent compensation for the amount of goods and services provided (for example, when charging wages or by trust).
A corporate credit card can simultaneously perform all functions of a discount card.
A special case of a corporate loan is popular gift certificates, whose owners can buy goods or services for the amount of the nominal value of the certificate with a possible cash surcharge if the purchase exceeds the nominal value.
A positive factor in automating the accounting of such certificates is the ability of the holder to make several purchases for one certificate, since the amount spent the previous time will be taken into account. In the absence of the opportunity to keep the chronology of purchases under the certificate, the buyer will have to select products at a time for at least the nominal amount.
Bonus programs
When you purchase with a bonus card, the purchase amount is transferred to a centralized server, which periodically credits a certain amount of purchases for a given period with a certain percentage of the bonus, which the buyer can use on their next purchases.
Special cases:
- The amount of purchases taken into account may be limited to a given set of goods.
- The bonus can only be used to pay for a given set of items from the check.
- The use of the bonus may be limited to a certain percentage of the amount of the check.
- POS-system can allow the client to refuse to use the accumulated bonus.
This option is unlikely to be often requested, however, such requirements on the part of enterprises are met. - The bonus card can have all the properties of the discount card described above at the same time.
The functionality of bonus cards is similar to credit cards with an additional feature: in addition to direct debit and accrual operations on the card, they require operations to fix accounting amounts (checks, documents) and automatic charging according to the rule depending on the value of accounting amounts.
Important common features of bonus and credit cards
Fundamentally important common feature and bonus and credit cards - they are a substitute for money. This places significant demands on the reliability of storing data on these cards and the rules for access rights. In addition, since most often such cards are used by enterprises with a network structure, information on transactions and balances on cards should be processed centrally with instant access from any point of sale. That is, periodic synchronization of data between points of sale, as a rule, does not suit the management of the enterprise due to the likely double use of the same amount from the card.
We use Universe-HTT services for centralized processing of bonus and credit cards.
Features of fiscal accounting of purchases by credit and bonus cards
When offsetting the payment on the check amount deducted from the bonus or credit card, this amount should not be counted as fiscal. That is, it should not fall into the fiscal memory of the cash register.
In the case of a bonus, everything is more or less clear: this is just a discount. With a credit card, a small explanation is required: the amount credited for the purchase from a credit card has already been paid (with prepayment) or will be paid, with subsequent charging of money to the card, like a fiscal one. That is, carrying out payment on such a card in the form of a fiscal wrongfully increases the taxable base of the seller.
Conclusion
The above classification of promotions was compiled as a result of summarizing the experience of working with the Papyrus system of the Petroglyph company.
Papyrus, having its own POS-module, at the same time is able to work with many popular front-end solutions, such as: Frontol, Set Retail, Barcode-miniPos and others.
In this regard, it should be added that when working in a heterogeneous architecture (stand-alone front-end system + back-end solution) there are considerable difficulties with the implementation of many of the above sales promotion methods.
Firstly, due to the fact that vendors of POS-systems provide a much more limited set of tools than the listed ones, secondly, due to complex interfaces for interacting with even the mechanisms existing in such systems.
If someone is familiar with other schemes of promotions, I will be grateful for their brief description in the comments.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/166783/
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