Happy Hour Promotions

Happy hour promotions allow you to run time-of-day based discounts that automatically activate during specific hours. This is ideal for restaurants, bars, cafes, and any business that wants to drive traffic during slower parts of the day. In AccuArk, happy hour promotions use a time window that the system checks at the moment of each sale, ensuring the discount only applies within the configured hours.

Concept

A happy hour promotion is a discount that is tied to the clock rather than to specific items or purchase thresholds. You define a start time and an end time, and the promotion automatically activates each day during that window. Outside the window, the promotion is dormant and has no effect on invoices.

For example, a bar might run a "20% Off All Drinks" happy hour from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM every day. Any drink sold during those hours receives the discount automatically. A drink sold at 3:59 PM or 6:01 PM does not.

Setting Up a Happy Hour Promotion

Happy hour promotions are created in the Promotion Editor under Marketing > Promotions. Click New Promotion to begin.

Step 1: Basic Information

Fill in the standard promotion fields:

• Promotion Name — A descriptive name such as "Happy Hour — 20% Off Drinks"
• Start Date / End Date — The date range during which the happy hour is active (see the Date Range section below)
• Location — Apply to specific locations or All Locations
• Customer Type — Restrict to a customer type or set to All

Step 2: Select the Promotion Type

From the Type dropdown, select Happy Hour. This reveals the time window fields that are specific to happy hour promotions.

Step 3: Set the Time Window

The time window defines when the happy hour is active each day:

• Start Time — The time of day the happy hour begins (e.g., 4:00 PM)
• End Time — The time of day the happy hour ends (e.g., 6:00 PM)

Both fields use a 12-hour format with AM/PM selection. The promotion activates at the exact start time and deactivates at the exact end time.

Important: Both start time and end time must be configured. If either field is left blank, the happy hour will not activate. AccuArk requires both values to define a valid time window.

Step 4: Configure the Discount

Set the discount that applies during the happy hour window:

• Discount Method — Choose between Percentage or Fixed Amount
• Discount Value — The percentage or dollar amount to discount

You can also optionally target specific categories or items for the happy hour discount, or leave it open to apply to all items on the invoice.

Step 5: Save

Click Save to store the promotion. The happy hour will activate automatically each day during the configured time window, as long as the current date falls within the start date and end date range.

How the System Checks the Time

At the moment a sale is processed at the Point of Sale, AccuArk compares the current system time against the happy hour's configured start time and end time. If the current time falls within the window (inclusive of start time, exclusive of end time), the promotion is applied to the invoice.

This check happens in real time for every invoice. There is no caching or pre-calculation. The system reads the clock at the moment the promotion engine evaluates the invoice, ensuring accuracy even if a sale is processed right at the boundary of the time window.

Time Zone Consideration

The time comparison uses the local system time of the machine running AccuArk. If you have locations in different time zones, each machine's local clock determines whether the happy hour is active. A happy hour set from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM will activate at 4:00 PM local time at each location.

Date Range Still Applies

The happy hour's time window operates within the broader date range defined by the start date and end date fields. Both conditions must be true for the promotion to activate:

1. The current date must fall between the promotion's start date and end date
2. The current time must fall within the start time and end time window

If today's date is outside the date range, the happy hour will not activate regardless of the time of day. This means you can schedule a happy hour to run only during a specific period (e.g., the month of March) while still having it activate at the same time each day within that period.

Combining Date Range and Time Window for Seasonal Happy Hours

The interaction between date range and time window makes it easy to create seasonal or limited-time happy hours:

• Summer happy hour — Set the date range to June 1 through August 31, with a time window of 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. The happy hour runs every day during summer at those hours.
• Holiday promotion — Set the date range to December 20 through December 31, with a time window of 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM. A lunchtime holiday happy hour that only runs during the last two weeks of December.
• Permanent happy hour — Set the date range to a very wide window (e.g., January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2030) and it will run every day during the configured hours.

This approach eliminates the need to manually enable and disable the promotion each season. Set it once and the date range handles the activation automatically.

Example: 20% Off All Drinks, 4 PM - 6 PM Daily

Here is a complete example configuration:

Every day between March 1 and December 31, 2026, any sale processed between 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM receives a 20% discount. Sales outside that two-hour window are not affected.

Midnight-Crossing Happy Hours

If your happy hour crosses midnight (e.g., 10:00 PM to 2:00 AM), configure the start time as 10:00 PM and the end time as 2:00 AM. AccuArk recognizes that the end time is earlier than the start time and treats it as a window that spans midnight. A sale at 11:30 PM or 1:15 AM would both qualify.

Tips

• Test with the Promotion Sandbox — The Promotion Sandbox allows you to set a specific date and time for testing. Use this to simulate a sale at 4:30 PM and verify the happy hour discount applies, then simulate a sale at 6:30 PM and verify it does not.
• Set both start time and end time — A missing time value prevents the happy hour from activating. Always fill in both fields.
• Use the date range for seasonal control — Rather than manually enabling and disabling the promotion, use the start date and end date to automatically limit when the happy hour runs.
• Check your system clocks — Since happy hour relies on the local machine time, ensure your POS machines have accurate clocks. A machine with the wrong time will activate happy hour at the wrong time.
• Communicate happy hour to customers — Display signage or POS prompts during happy hour windows so customers and staff are aware the promotion is active.
• Monitor with the Promotion Performance Report — Track happy hour usage to see how many invoices benefit from the promotion and whether it is driving traffic during the targeted hours as intended.