Creating and Managing Promotions

This topic covers the creation and management of Promotions in Order Management. It includes the following sections:

Creating New Promotions
Managing Existing Promotions
Managing Single-Use Promotion Codes

Creating New Promotions

To create a new Promotion manually, follow these steps.

In the Marketing accordion menu, select Promotions.
Click the New Promotion link at the top of the page to the right of the search form. This opens the Edit Promotion dialog.
Complete the Promotion fields as described in Managing Existing Promotions, below.
To make the Promotion active immediately, check the Active box. If you don't check this box, the Promotion won't become active until you do.
Click Save.

Managing Existing Promotions

The following table describes how to use the fields available on the Edit Promotion dialog:

Field	Type	Description
Catalog	Drop-down list	Specifies the Catalog to which the Promotion applies.
Code	Text field	Specifies the promotion Code for Shared Private Code auctions; otherwise it can be used as an identifier to select the Promotion in the Promotions Manager. The default value for a new Promotion is NEW.
Active	Checkbox	Enables the Promotion. It isn't checked by default for a new Promotion.
Description	Text field	A text description of the Promotion. The default text is "New Promotion."
Eligibility	Radio buttons	Defines the type of Promotion, from the customer's point of view. The default for a new Promotion is Shared Private Code. The following options are available: Public: No code is required. The Promotion is automatically applied to all eligible Orders. Shared Private Code: A single shared promo code is given to all customers to use to activate the promotion. This code is defined in the Code field, as described above. To limit use of the code to a single Order per customer, check the Single Use per Customer box. Multiple Private Codes, Single Use: Multiple single-use codes are generated and distributed to customers as desired. See Managing Single-Use Promotion Codes, below.
User Defined	Text field	This field is accessible via web services for use in custom code.
Price Offering	Drop-down lists and text field	If using Price Levels, specifies a Price Level on which to base the Promotion from the first drop-down. The default selection is Default Public Pricing. The second drop-down specifies an adjustment type. Selecting an adjustment type will show a percentage or value field. The text field contains the desired adjustment percentage or amount. The following adjustment types are available: No Adjustment: No price adjustment is made. Actual: The price is changed to the amount entered in the value field. Markdown %: The price is reduced by the percentage entered in the percentage field. Markdown $: The price is reduced by the amount entered in the value field. Markup %: The price is increased by the percentage entered in the percentage field. Markup $: The price is increased by the amount entered in the value field.
Duration	Drop-down list and calendar forms	Defines a timeline for the Promotion. The following selections are available: Run Always: The Promotion remains in effect as long as the Active box is checked. Set Start Date: The Promotion becomes active on the selected date and time. Selecting this option shows a calendar form for entering the date and time. Set End Date: The Promotion remains active until the selected date and time. Selecting this option shows a calendar form for entering the date and time. Set Start/ End Dates: The Promotion becomes active on the selected Start date and time, and will remain active until the selected End date and time. Selecting this option shows two calendar forms for entering the Start and End dates and times.
Order	Text field	Controls the priority of the Promotion when multiple Promotions are in effect. Promotions with lower Order numbers take priority (for example, a Promotion with order 20 takes precedence over a Promotion with order 30). The default value for a new Promotion is 1000.
Applicable Items	Drop-down list and Item selection control	Defines the Items to which the Promotion applies, or doesn't apply, using the Applicable Items form: Select a restriction type from the Applies To drop-down list: All Items Except: The Promotion applies to all Categories/ Items except any Categories/ Items that you specify here. Only These Items: The Promotion only applies to Categories/ Items that you specify here. Click the Add/ Remove Items button to open the Edit Included Items dialog. Select Item Code or Category Code from the first drop-down list to specify whether you are listing Item Codes or Category Codes. Enter Item or Category Codes (as selected) in the text field, one per line. You can also delimit them with tab, pipe ('\|'), or comma (',') characters. This lets you paste in data from a text file or spreadsheet. Click Add to add the Items/ Categories in the field to the list. They appear in the Current Item Codes section. Click Remove to remove the Items/ Categories in the field from the list. Click Close or the X in the upper-right corner to close the dialog and return to the Edit Promotion dialog.

Managing Single-Use Promotion Codes

When a Promotion Eligibility is set to Multiple Private Codes, Single Use, each customer who participates in the Promotion needs a unique code. These are managed in the Create Promotion Codes and Promotion Codes Manager dialogs, which are accessible from the Edit Promotion dialog.

The Edit Promotion dialog shows the number of existing codes, as well as a breakdown of the number of used and unused codes. Clicking the [view] link next to a code type opens the Promotion Codes Manager dialog and automatically searches for the selected codes (total, used, or unused). Clicking the [Manage] link opens the Promotion Codes Manager dialog without executing a search.

Field	Type	Description
Catalog	Drop-down list	Specifies the Catalog to which the Promotion applies.
Expression	Text field	Specifies a pattern on which to base automatically generated codes. You can include the following variables in curly braces, in addition to explicit characters: {#}: Numeric digit (0-9) {A}: Alpha character (A-Z) {*}: Alpha-numeric character (0-9, A-Z) The default pattern is NEW{#####}.
Duration	Drop-down list and calendar forms	Defines a timeline for the generated Promotion codes. Note that the codes are only valid when the parent Promotion is active. The following selections are available: Always: The Promotion codes remain in effect as long as the Active box is checked. Set Start Date: The Promotion codes become active on the selected date and time. Selecting this option shows a calendar form for entering the date and time. Set End Date: The Promotion codes remain active until the selected date and time. Selecting this option shows a calendar form for entering the date and time. Set Start/ End Dates: The Promotion codes become active on the selected Start date and time, and remain active until the selected End date and time. Selecting this option shows two calendar forms for entering the Start and End dates and times.
Number to Generate	Text field	Specifies the number of codes to generate.
Generate	Button	Clicking this button generates codes according to the specified parameters.

Clicking the [New Codes] link opens the Create Promotion Codes dialog. Using this dialog, you can instruct Order Center to automatically generate codes based on a pattern that you specify. This dialog contains the following fields:

Field	Type	Description
Catalog	Drop-down list	Specifies the Catalog to which the Promotion applies.
Expression	Text field	Specifies a pattern on which to base automatically generated codes. You can include the following variables in curly braces, in addition to explicit characters: {#}: Numeric digit (0-9) {A}: Alpha character (A-Z) {*}: Alpha-numeric character (0-9, A-Z) The default pattern is NEW{#####}.
Duration	Drop-down list and calendar forms	Defines a timeline for the generated Promotion codes. Note that the codes are only valid when the parent Promotion is active. The following selections are available: Always: The Promotion codes remain in effect as long as the Active box is checked. Set Start Date: The Promotion codes become active on the selected date and time. Selecting this option shows a calendar form for entering the date and time. Set End Date: The Promotion codes remain active until the selected date and time. Selecting this option shows a calendar form for entering the date and time. Set Start/ End Dates: The Promotion codes will become active on the selected Start date and time, and remain active until the selected End date and time. Selecting this option shows two calendar forms for entering the Start and End dates and times.
Number to Generate	Text field	Specifies the number of codes to generate.
Generate	Button	Clicking this button generates codes according to the specified parameters. When Order Management has finished generating codes, it shows a Close button. Clicking this button returns to the Edit Promotion dialog.