Setting Up Promotional Pricing and Discount Tiers
AccuArk's promotional pricing system lets you create time-limited discounts, quantity-based pricing tiers, and bundle deals for individual items. Promotions are configured per-item on the Pricing tab of the item form and are automatically applied at the Point of Sale when conditions are met.
Three Discount Types
Every promotional pricing rule uses one of three discount types:
| Type Code | Name | How It Works | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| s | Special Price | Sets a fixed sale price that replaces the item's normal price | Item normally $29.99, special price $19.99 |
| a | Fixed Dollar Discount | Subtracts a fixed dollar amount from the normal price | $5.00 off each unit |
| p | Percentage Discount | Reduces the price by a percentage of the normal price | 15% off each unit |
Bundle Mode
Each promotional pricing rule has a Bundle checkbox. When enabled, the promotion changes from per-unit pricing to bundle pricing:
- Bundle OFF (default) — The quantity fields define a range ("buy between X and Y units to get this price"). The discount applies to each individual unit.
- Bundle ON — The quantity field defines the bundle size. The discount applies to the entire bundle as a group.
Bundle mode changes how the promotion description displays:
| Bundle | Type | Description Example |
|---|---|---|
| OFF | Special Price (s) | Special $19.99 (qty 1-10) |
| OFF | Fixed Discount (a) | $5.00 off (qty 5-10) |
| OFF | Percentage (p) | 15% off (qty 1-100) |
| ON | Special Price (s) | 3 for $10.00 |
| ON | Fixed Discount (a) | 3 items, $5.00 off bundle |
| ON | Percentage (p) | 3 items, 10% off bundle |
Creating a Promotional Pricing Rule
Promotional pricing rules are created from the Pricing tab on the item form.
Step-by-Step
- Open the item you want to promote via Inventory > Items
- Go to the Pricing tab
- Fill in the promotional pricing fields:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Pricing Name | A descriptive name for the promotion (e.g., "Summer Sale", "Buy 3 for $10"). Defaults to "Discount Pricing". |
| Discount Type | Select Special Price (s), Fixed $ Discount (a), or Percentage Discount (p) |
| Discount Amount | The price, dollar amount, or percentage value depending on the type selected |
| Quantity From | The minimum quantity required to trigger this promotion |
| Quantity To | The maximum quantity for the range (ignored in bundle mode) |
| Bundle | Check to enable bundle mode, which treats the quantity as a bundle size |
| Allow Multiple Times | When checked, the promotion can stack. For example, a "3 for $10" bundle with stacking allows 6 units to get two bundles at $10 each. |
| Customer Type | Filter the promotion to a specific customer account type, or set to 0 (All) to apply to every customer |
| Start Date | The date and time the promotion becomes active |
| End Date | The date and time the promotion expires. Defaults to 3 days from creation. |
| Enable Pricing | Checkbox to enable or disable the promotion. Disabled promotions are not applied at POS. |
- Click Save (or the promotion-specific save button on the Pricing tab)
Date Range Presets
AccuArk provides convenient preset buttons for common promotional periods to quickly set the start and end dates. You can always manually adjust the dates after selecting a preset.
Managing Existing Promotions
The Pricing tab shows a grid of all promotional pricing rules for the current item.
Grid Columns
The grid displays each promotion's name, type, amount, quantity range, date range, and status at a glance.
Editing a Promotion
Double-click a promotion in the grid to load its details into the form fields for editing. Make your changes and save.
Important: If a promotion has already been used in invoices (i.e., a customer has purchased the item with this promotion applied), editing is restricted. You can only change the status (enable/disable) and date range. The discount type, amount, and quantity settings are locked to preserve invoice integrity. AccuArk checks this automatically and displays a message explaining the restriction.
Deleting a Promotion
Promotions that have been used in invoices cannot be deleted. AccuArk returns the message: "Cannot delete this promotion because it has been used in invoices. You can disable it instead." For unused promotions, deletion removes the record entirely.
How Promotions Apply at POS
When an item is scanned or added at the Point of Sale, AccuArk automatically checks for active promotions:
- The system queries for promotions where the current date falls between start_date and end_date, the promotion is enabled (status = 1), and the customer type matches (either the specific customer type or "All")
- If multiple promotions match, the one with the highest discount amount and most specific customer type takes priority
- The promotion is applied automatically to the invoice line item
Customer Type Filtering
If you set a customer type on the promotion, only customers with that account type will receive the discount. Setting customer type to 0 means the promotion applies to all customers, including walk-in (unassigned) customers.
Testing Promotions
Use the Test Promotional Pricing button on the Pricing tab to verify your promotion configuration before it goes live. This lets you confirm the discount calculations without creating actual transactions.
Tips
- Use bundle mode for "X for $Y" deals — Bundle mode with Special Price type is the cleanest way to set up deals like "3 for $10"
- Enable stacking carefully — The AllowMultipleTimes option lets a promotion apply more than once per transaction. This is useful for bundles but can lead to unexpected discounts if enabled on percentage-off promotions
- Set end dates — Every promotion should have an end date, even if it is far in the future. This prevents promotions from running indefinitely if forgotten
- Disable rather than delete — If a promotion was used in invoices, it cannot be deleted. Get in the habit of disabling promotions when they end rather than trying to delete them
- Use customer types for tiered pricing — Create different promotions with different discount levels for Wholesale, Retail, and VIP customer types to implement tiered pricing strategies