Custom Vantage Web™: Step by Step How to create special pricing

 

by Amanda Katon

 

 

Being able to offer your customers special pricing on particular products or categories is so easy. The same is true of creating promotional codes. It’s an ideal opportunity for you to promote new products, increase sales and reward your loyal and large clientele with special offers and prices.

 

Within the Stamp Shop Web system, there are three ways to do just this. First, you have the ability to create sales/customer pricing. This section allows you to generate new sales that are store wide or per product and that can be directed to individual customers or everyone. The second approach is by creating discounts. Discounts allow you to take an amount or percentage off the price of a product, a shipping method or an order total. This is typically also where Stamp Shop Web users can create promotional codes.

 

Finally, you have the option to create pricing levels. Price levels let you assign certain discount levels to particular customers. This is similar to sales/customer pricing but slightly different in that you can have 10 levels which you can set at varying discounts. They apply to your entire store, but you can choose which customers are assigned to specific levels. Let’s start with the Products Tab where we’ll explore sales/customer pricing in greater detail.

 

Steps to Follow
In order to set up special pricing, we must sign into the admin area of your Stamp Shop Web site. Once you are logged in, click the Products Tab to get started. First, we will dive into creating new sales/customer pricing.
 

Creating New Sales/Customer Pricing
After you click on the Products Tab, you will choose the option Sales/Customer Pricing from the product menu on the left-hand side of your screen (see Picture 1).

 

 

On the next screen, you’ll see the New button, which you will click on to create a new sale (see Picture 2). Once clicked, your screen will refresh and you will have some decisions to make about the type of sale you would like to create.

 

 

When creating new sales/customer pricing, you have several options: a Store Wide Sale, a Sale by Product that applies to everyone, or a Sale by Product that applies only to selected users. First you must choose whether this sale will be a Store Wide or Sale by Product, then choose Everyone or Selected User under the Sale Type section (see Picture 3, #1).

 

 

Store Wide Sale: Select this option to create a sale that applies to every product on your entire site.

 

Sale by Product: Select this option to create a sale that applies to only the product(s) that you select and move into the Apply To column (see Picture 4 , #1). First, find the product(s) on your site using the Search By filter, and then click the Find button (see Picture 4, #2). You can search by Keyword/SKU, Type, Category, Manufacturer or Vendor. Next select the product(s) by clicking on the checkboxes (see Picture 4, #3). Then click the Add button the left of the Find field (see Picture 4, #4). This will move the selected products over to the Apply To section. All of the products inside the Apply To column will have the sale applied to them.

 

 

Everyone: Select this option to create a sale that applies to all customers on your website.

 

Selected User: Select this option to create a sale that applies to only the user(s) you select and move into the Members Applied To column. First, find the users you would like to apply the sale to within the Find By filter and click the Find button (see Picture 5, #1). Next select the user(s) by clicking the checkbox to the left of their username. Then click the Add button (see Picture 5, #2). All users inside the Members Applied To column (see Picture 5, #3) will have the sale applied to them.

 

 

In this section, establish a name for the discount/customer pricing to help identify it later within the listing of all your sales/customer pricing (see Picture 3, #2). The name will appear in bold only in the Stamp Shop Web admin area to make it easier to distinguish one sale from another.

 

 

Discount Type
This represents the reduction in the product’s price that the customer will receive. First, choose whether to discount by a percentage or an amount off. Next, type the percentage/amount into the field currency amount on right (see Picture 3, #3). Your options include a percentage or amount off the List Price, Site Price (the price customer actually gets charged) or Site Cost. If you are using a percentage, enter the number with no decimal points; for example, 50% would be 50.

 

Start Date
Type in a start date for your sale/customer pricing to take effect. You may also click on the Yellow Calendar button which provides a calendar from which to choose a start date. Click on the date, and it will be added to the Start Date field (see Picture 3, #4).

 

 

End Date
Here you will enter your end date, just as you did with your start date (see Picture 3, #4). If you do not wish to have the sale/customer pricing end, we suggest choosing a date far in the future.

 

 

Allow Sale Prices Lower Than Cost?
Check this box if you would like to permit the sale of products whose sale price is lower than the site cost (see Picture 3, #5).  Please refer back to the June 2012 MIM article on the difference between sale price and site cost.

 

 

Now that you have made all the decisions about the type of sale/customer pricing you would like, it’s time to Save Changes.

 

Editing existing Sales/Customer Pricing
To edit an existing sales/customer pricing, click the Edit button within the same row as the details of the relevant sale/customer pricing. Make the necessary changes and then click the Save Changes button located at the bottom of the page (see Picture 6).

 

 

Deleting existing Sales/Customer pricing
To delete an existing sales/customer pricing, click the Delete button within the same row as the details of the relevant sales/customer pricing you wish to remove. Next, click the OK button within the pop-up window to completely remove the sale from your website (see Picture 6).

 

In Stamp Shop Web, you can also apply sales or special pricing within the Discounts section. To get to Discounts, be sure that you are still on the Products Tab. Then click on Discounts from the products menu on the left-hand side of your screen (see Picture 7). Within the Discounts link, you will have the option to add discounts to your site.

 

 

Discounts are similar to sales/customer pricing in that they allow you to take a certain percentage or amount off products. However, discounts also allow you to take a percentage or amount off the order total or shipping method. Discounts also give the option to create, require and use promotional codes. They differ from sale/customer pricing in that discounts do not allow you to make it available to only certain people. Discounts are available to everyone. Now that you know what discounts are, let’s step through setting up a discount on your site.

 

To add a new discount to your site, start by clicking the New button. Once inside, you must first determine which type of discount you would like to create: whether it will apply to product(s), an order total or a shipping method (for example, free shipping) (see Picture 8, #1).

 

 

After you have chosen the discount type, you will need to decide which products to discount (this option is shown in Picture 8), which amount to discount, or which shipping method the discount will apply to (see Picture 9).

 

 

If you choose to have your discount apply to products, then you first need to search for them in the column labeled Select Products and click the Find button. Once you have found the products, click the checkbox next to the products you would like to add, and then click the Add button to move them over to the Apply To column. Every product in the Apply To column is what will be discounted (see Picture 8, #2).

 

 

After choosing the type of discount and the appropriate components associated with the discount, set the amount or percentage by. Next, determine the start and end dates for the discount just as you did in the sale/customer pricing section. Remember that if you do not want the discount to end, just select an end date far in the future. Then you can determine the actual discount by setting both of these fields: the quantity ordered is greater than (an amount you set) and the order total is greater than (an amount you set) (see Picture 8, #3).

 

 

In the next area, Promotional Code, you can create a code for the customer to enter to obtain the discount. To do this, simply click the checkbox next to “This discount requires a promotional code,” and in the “of” section, you may type any code you would like. For example, if you were having a spring sale, your code might read SPRINGTIME. Then you can specify how many times the code may be used per customer. We recommend choosing a short phrase that is easy for your customers to type in. It should have no spaces and contain only numbers and letters. Finally, if you do not want the code to be combined with other codes, check the box. Leave it unchecked if it can be combined with other codes (see Picture 8, #4). Once you are done, click the OK button to save the discount.

 

 

The last area to apply special pricing is located under the Users Tab. Once on the Users Tab, click on the link in the users menu called Price Levels. Within the Price Levels link, you’ll find 10 different price levels to set discounts for your entire store. If you’d like your customers to shop your site with a store-wide discount, you can achieve that goal with a price level.

 

Creating the 1-10 Price Levels
First, you will need to set the price level in itself. To do so, simply select which type of discount you would like to set from the drop down menu next to each price level (see Picture 10). Your options include Amount or Percentage off of the List Price, Site Price or Above Cost.

 

 

Next fill in the percentage (as numbers, no decimals) or dollar amount. For example, if you are giving customers at price level 1 40% off your site price, you would select “Percentage off Site Price” from the drop down menu and type “40” in the box to the right.

 

To apply certain pricing levels to specific customers, you will need to edit that customer and set the pricing level on their user accounts. The Users Tab and working with user information will be discussed in greater detail in an upcoming article. Once you have made the changes to Price Levels, click the OK button at the bottom of the page to save changes.