How the loyalty system works
Customers earn points every time they make an eligible purchase. Points are associated with products, not with tenders – this means that if a customer purchases a product that has points associated with it, it doesn’t matter what tender is used to finalise the sale.
Once a customer has accumulated a sufficient loyalty points balance, they can redeem those points as a way of buying specified products.
How points are loaded into Readysell
When you load a catalogue into Readysell, any loyalty point information from that catalogue will also be loaded into your product file. However, you can also set loyalty points manually. See Manually changing loyalty points gained and redeemed on a product for more information.
How points are stored in Readysell
Points that have already been gained (or redeemed) are stored in two places:
- Tasks exists to "Clear Existing Points", this clears all existing points first. Then after existing points are cleared. Calculate points from the start date as per the existing code
- Customer cards store Points Redeemed, Points Gained and Points Balance for each customer in the status tab then sub tab Loyalty
- Sales store Points Redeemed and Points Gained for each sale. The system automatically adds the points used and gained from each sale to the customer's balance.
Readysell also stores information on the rates at which loyalty points are gained or used, in three places:
- Products store the Points Gained rate and the Points to Redemption rate for the product.
- Product Categories have an optional override Points Gained rate. This can be used to override points gained for products under a product category.
- Customer cards have an optional override Points Gained rate. This can be used to override points gained for all sales for the customer. Cards also contain an override points method, which can change the way points are calculated for the customer (for example, by multiplying the rate at which a customer gains points).
How points are calculated for a sale
Five rules are applied to each sale line before it is posted:
- Earning points from products: This applies if the dollar value of the line is greater than zero, and the product has Points Gained specified. The number of points earned is calculated as the number of points specified, multiplied by the line value ex tax.
- Earning points from bonus offers: This applies if the dollar value of the line is zero, and the product has Points Gained specified. The number of points earned is calculated as the number of points specified, multiplied by the product quantity.
- Redeeming points: This applies if the dollar value of the line is zero, and the product has Points to Redeem specified. The number of points used is calculated as the number of points specified, multiplied by the product quantity.
- WebX points: This applies if the customer has received points from WebX for the product. The WebX points are applied to the sale, and none of the above rules apply.
- No double dipping: If a customer redeems a product using points, they cannot earn points on the transaction.
Redeeming points
Once a customer has earned enough points, they can use those points to purchase products. This is known as redeeming points.
Customers should be able to redeem points against selected products using a points redemption page on your website.
Customers can also redeem points simply by placing products on an order. If a customer has enough points to cover a product that they have placed on their order, Readysell will prompt you to ask if the customer wants to redeem their loyalty points for that sale. Validation message now pops up giving you the option to use loyalty points to redeem this product
You can control the products available by setting the Loyalty Points Used field to be the number of points needed to redeem a single product. When a customer redeems their points, the Readysell system will automatically deduct that number of points. If the Loyalty Points Used field is blank, the product cannot be redeemed for points. For online orders, the Loyalty Points Used field is automatically set.
Viewing a customer’s points balance on the web
When a customer clicks My Account, their points balance will be displayed on the welcome screen. Customers can also click Loyalty Points History to view a more detailed record of the points they have gained and redeemed over time.
Examples
- Lee purchases 150 pens at $4 each (before tax). Each pen has a Points Gained value of 10. Lee earns 6000 points for the order.
- Pat’s Stationery runs a promotion where each customer receives 1000 points for referring a friend, and creates a Bonus Points product in Readysell with a Points Gained value of 1000 and a Line Value of 0. Chris refers five friends. A sale order is created in Readysell containing the Bonus Points product with a quantity of 5, and Chris earns 5000 points.
- Pat’s Stationery runs another promotion where customers can earn 500 points for purchasing a mousepad, and can also receive the same mousepad by redeeming 10000 points. Alex redeems 20000 points and receives two mousepads, but does not earn any points on the order.