How promotions work

Promotions are created to increase sales of products or groups of products made by customers who meet specific conditions.

The following are the types of promotions you can manage:

• Promotions with a discount (or fixed price) on one or more products apply to specific products. To simplify promotion setup, you can group products from specific departments, manufacturers, or attribute values. Depending on the conditions, this type of promotion can apply directly to the price shown in the catalog or when the customer adds the product to the cart.
• Promotions with a discount on the total cart cost apply to the cart total before shipping costs and any payment fees are applied.
• Promotions with free or discounted shipping apply to all or specific shipping methods to discount shipping or offer it for free.

Catalog promotion

A promotion with a discount (or fixed price) on one or more products that is applied directly to the catalog is called a catalog promotion. In this case, customers see the products in the catalog with the promotion already applied, and therefore with the promotional price.

Only promotions that simultaneously meet all of the following conditions can be catalog promotions:

1. they are product promotions, with any type of offer
2. they do not require a minimum quantity to purchase
3. they are active, meaning when products are viewed on the site the date falls between the start and end dates
4. they do not include a minimum or maximum total cart spend
5. they do not have discount coupons
6. they are not marked as Single-use

If multiple applicable catalog promotions exist for a product, Open2b Commerce Ready chooses the one with the highest priority; if several have the same priority, it chooses one at its discretion.

In other cases where conditions do not trigger a catalog promotion, the customer must add the product to the cart for a promotion to apply.

What happens when a product with an associated promotion is added to the cart?

When a product is added to the cart, whether or not it has a catalog promotion, all applicable promotions are applied to the product in the cart.

The importance of priorities

Because promotions are applied in priority order, a catalog promotion may be applied in the cart only after other promotions or be applied partially.

For example, if we give a customer a coupon and want its promotion to apply first when used in the cart, regardless of whether the product has a catalog promotion, we will give the coupon promotion higher priority than catalog promotions.

If instead we want a product with a catalog promotion price to keep that promotion applied immediately when added to the cart, we will give that catalog promotion a higher priority than other promotions. Those other promotions will be applied afterward, if applicable.

Offer

The offer in a promotion indicates what the customer receives. It could be, for example, a percentage discount on a product, free shipping, or a fixed discount on the total cart cost.

For offers that specify a fixed discount, price, or cost, the amount is considered VAT included or excluded depending on whether the customer group for which the promotion applies shows prices on the site with or without VAT. If the customer belongs to a group where prices are shown VAT included, then the promotion offer is VAT included. Conversely, if prices are shown VAT excluded, the offer is VAT excluded.

Promotions based on ordered quantities

It is possible to set these offers to apply only when a certain quantity X is added to the cart. This makes it possible, for example, to create offers such as:

• Buy X quantity and pay only Y

  You can select the quantity to buy and decide how that quantity should be calculated (on individual SKUs of a product, on the single product, or on any product in the promotion); you can also choose how much of that quantity the customer will pay for.

  This option makes it possible to create the classic promotion "Buy 3 pay 2".

• Buy X quantity and get a discount

  You can select the minimum quantity and decide how that quantity should be calculated (on individual SKUs of a product, on the single product, or on any product in the promotion); you can also set the offer to apply (percentage discount, fixed discount, or fixed price) and the quantity of product to which the offer will apply.

  This option makes it possible, for example, to create a promotion "Buy at least 5 products to get 10% off".

• Buy X quantity and get a discount on additional quantities

  You can select the minimum quantity and decide how that quantity should be calculated (on individual SKUs of a product, on the single product, or on any product in the promotion); you can also set the offer to apply (percentage discount, fixed discount, or fixed price) and the quantity of product to which the offer will apply, intended as additional quantity beyond the minimum.

  This option makes it possible, for example, to create a promotion "Buy 2 products and get 50% off the third".

• Buy X quantity and get a discount on the cheapest

  You can select the minimum quantity and how that quantity should be calculated (on the single product or on any product in the promotion); you can also set the offer to apply (percentage discount, fixed discount, or fixed price) to a quantity of the cheapest of the products purchased.

  This option makes it possible, for example, to create a promotion "Buy 5 products and get 30% off the least expensive".

Conditions

Conditions are the criteria that determine when a promotion applies. A promotion is considered valid and can be applied only when all specified conditions are met.

Validity Period and Times

Start and end dates define the validity period of a promotion. In addition to the day, you can set a specific start and end time, as well as an intraday time window for promotions that activate at precise times of day. This information can be displayed on the site along with products on offer.

Recipients

A promotion can be applied to all customers or to customers belonging to specific groups. For example, you can offer a 20% discount on certain products, but only to resellers in a certain geographic area.

In addition, you can define a promotion as single-use. In this case, the offer can be used only once per customer, identified by email address. Once the order is completed, the customer's email is added to a list that prevents reuse. This feature is ideal for exclusive offers such as welcome coupons or loyalty discounts.

Cart Amount

The minimum and maximum cart amount fields encourage customers to increase the value of their purchase. For example:

• If you spend at least €100, you will get a 40% discount on specific products.
• If you spend more than €300, the discount will be 60%.

Discount Coupons

Discount coupons are a versatile tool for various marketing strategies, such as reactivating inactive customers or rewarding loyalty. For example: "For all orders over €200, get 70% off garden products by using the coupon GIARDINO200."

Specific conditions for the Cart total discount promotion

Shipping and Payment Conditions

You can link the promotion to the selection of specific shipping or payment methods. The merchant can therefore offer a discount or advantage to the customer only if they select the desired method, encouraging its use.

Only when all the conditions specified in the promotion are met can the promotion be considered and applied. The other determining factor for applying a promotion is how it is combined with other promotions.