Managing Promotions

This document explains how to create, manage and follow up on a promotion in M3. It also explains all the different statuses a promotion has during its life cycle.

A promotion is a time-limited activity that aims to increase sales of one or more particular products to one or more customers. A promotion is based either on reduced prices or on discounts.

A promotion is an entity that can be followed up on separately or along with other sales.

Outcome

Prices and discounts are retrieved from promotions into customer orders.

This functionality is useful for managing discounts or reducing prices in cases where it is necessary to follow up on sales separately.

If promotions are activated, the system checks for valid promotions during customer order entry.

Either a single promotion or a promotion selection panel will be retrieved into the customer order, depending on the settings.

Promotion prices and discounts are retrieved automatically to the customer order line if the order matches one or more promotions. Prices for entered items have price origin 9=Price from a promotion agreement.

Transactions are created in 'Promotion. Display Transactions' (OIS842) for orders that include promotions.

The following files are updated:

  • OPROMH – Promotion Header
  • OPROMC – Promotion Customer
  • OPROML – Promotion Lines
  • OPROMW – Promotion per Warehouse.

Before you start

  • The 'Promotion check' field must be activated and promotion must be a part of the price origin sequence in 'Customer Order Type. Open' (OIS010/I).
  • A promotion must be entered, its status must be 20=Activated, and customers must have been generated for it.
  • If the promotion is discount based:
  • A discount model must be entered or retrieved into the customer order header in 'Customer Order. Open' (OIS100/H).
  • In the discount model, a discount number must be reserved in the 'Reserved promotional discount' field in 'Discount Model. Open' (OIS800/E).
  • If business chains are used for a promotion, the 'Business chain check' field must be activated in 'Customer Order Type. Open' (OIS010/E).
  • If the promotion is only valid for certain warehouses, the connections to the warehouses must have been generated.
  • A view must be entered for 'Promotion. Display Transactions' (OIS842) in 'View. Open' (CRS020).

Follow These Steps

  1. Enter and Activate a Promotion

    When a promotion is entered and activated in 'Promotion. Open' (OIS840), you define the promotion and connect customers, warehouses and items to it. The promotion is an entity that controls prices and discounts for a limited time period for a number of customers and items. The promotion contains its own budget and follow-up transactions.

  2. Carry Out a Promotion

    A promotion is active in the system for as long as it is running in the media, in stores, etc. Throughout that period, checks will be performed during order line entry to see if any order line matches the promotion (or matches any other active promotion, for that matter).

  3. Promotion Check at Customer Order Entry and Invoicing

    When promotions are active, a check is made during customer order entry and invoicing.

    A promotion is valid for a customer order when:

    • The customer is included in the promotion.
    • The item the customer is purchasing is included in the promotion.
    • The pricing date is within the validity dates of the promotion. The pricing date is set in the 'Price and discounting setting' field on the I panel in (OIS010).
    • The order line belongs to a warehouse connected to the promotion (in cases where the promotion is valid only for a particular warehouse or selection of warehouses).
    • A discount model is entered in the order header (in cases where the promotion includes a line discount that is entered as a deduction). If this is the case, the discount model must have an allocated discount number in (OIS800).

    If all applicable values match, the appropriate promotion prices and/or discounts are used for the order. If the settings are such that valid promotions are displayed in a selection panel (alternatives 2 or 3 in the 'Promotion check' field in the order type), it is possible to ignore promotions by pressing F17. When promotions are ignored, the sales price is retrieved from the next source in the order type's price origin sequence.

  4. Follow Up on a Promotion

    The results of a promotion can be monitored day by day. As soon as a customer order is invoiced, the result is updated in 'Promotion. Open' (OIS840). The total amount invoiced for the promotion is displayed in the 'Sold amount' field on the E panel in (OIS840). The amount is shown in terms of net price and is updated during invoicing.

    Detailed information about sales tied to each particular promotion can be viewed in 'Promotion. Display Transactions' (OIS842). User-defined views can be set up to monitor promotions.

    Promotion results are also tracked in general sales statistics. 'Sales Stats/Budget Report. Open' (OSS412) can be used to generate reports to help you monitor a promotion's results.

  5. End a Promotion

    When a promotion's validity has expired, its final fixed costs are reported and it is deactivated.

    First, the total fixed costs (ads, telemarketing, etc.) for the promotion are reported and distributed across the included items.

    The promotion cost is entered in the 'Actual fixed cost' field in 'Promotion. Open' (OIS840/E). The cost is then distributed across the included items using F17=Distribute actual fixed cost. The result is that the 'Actual fixed cost' field for each included item is updated in 'Promotion. Open Lines' (OIS841/F). The distribution is made according to the chosen distribution method.

    Finally, the status is set to 90=Ended on the E panel in (OIS840). When the promotion is ended, orders can no longer be matched to the promotion order entry.