Bonus burn: how to set expiration dates and mass alert mailings

A bonus system is a powerful tool for retaining customers. However, unlimited bonus accumulation creates a deferred financial burden for the store, because a customer can accumulate points for years. 

The «bonus expiration» mode is designed specifically to limit the business’s financial obligations and additionally motivate the customer to return to the store for a new purchase before their points are canceled. 

When implementing this tool, entrepreneurs most often ask specialists the following questions: «How do I set up automatic write-off of unused points after a certain period?», «How do I notify the customer by SMS 5 days before their bonuses expire?», «What should I do if the customer paid with temporary bonuses and then returned the product?» and «Why did the automatic write-off not happen on time?».

In this article, we will take a detailed look at how to correctly configure bonus validity periods and automatic warning mailings in Torgsoft.

1. Required conditions for operation

To fully use the functionality of bonus expiration and customer notifications, you must have two additional paid options activated:

1. «Bonuses with a limited validity period» (Code 064) — allows you to set the lifetime of bonuses and write them off automatically.

2. «Mass mailings to customers» (Code 085) — required for automatic sending of messages to customers.

2. Configuring bonus validity periods

The main expiration parameters are configured in the discount card rules.

1. Go to the menu item Marketing — Discount card type.

2. Open the required card type (or create a new one) and go to the Bonus system tab.

3. In the Bonus expiration field, select «Automatically» from the list.

After that, the following fields will become available for completion:

• Bonus validity period (days). Calculated from the date of bonus accrual. For example, if the bonus accrual period is 5 days and the validity period is 100 days, the bonuses will actually expire 105 days after the purchase. Important recommendation: set the bonus validity period longer than the maximum product return period (for example, more than 14 days). This will help avoid confusion when a customer pays with bonuses and then returns the product.

• Validity period of returned bonuses. This is the validity period of the bonuses that are returned to the customer’s account if they return a product that was paid for with bonuses. If this field is left empty, returned bonuses will be given the same long validity period as regular ones. This field protects against tricks where a customer uses bonuses right before they expire and then returns the product the next day to receive the same bonuses again for a long period.

3. Configuring automatic bonus write-off 

For Torgsoft to independently check customer accounts and write off expired bonuses, you need to configure a system task.

1. Go to Settings — Scheduled tasks — Automatic calculation and mailing.

2. Create a new task with the type «Bonus write-off».

3. Specify the launch time. Specialists strongly recommend setting the bonus write-off time in the period after midnight and before the store opens. This ensures that the operation will not slow down cashiers’ work during the day, and by the time the store opens, all customer balances will be up to date.

4. Configuring mass warning mailings

To let the customer know that their points will expire soon, the program can automatically send them an SMS or Viber message.

1. In the Discount card type settings, go to the Mass mailing tab.

2. Activate the parameter «Send notifications about the end of the bonus validity period».

3. Specify how many days before the expiration date the customer should receive the notification.

Creating a message template. For such mailings, the Mailing type — Bonus amount change is used (the program now sets it automatically). Special variables will be available in the template:

• <amount of bonuses whose validity period is expiring>

• <days until bonus expiration>.

Launching the mailing. As with write-off, go to Settings — Scheduled tasks — Automatic calculation and mailing. Create a new task by selecting the type «Bonus expiration mailing». Be sure to specify your SMS service (for example, TurboSMS, BSG, AlphaSMS, or Eskiz.uz for Uzbekistan). 

5. Practical nuances and solutions to common questions

• Manual accrual of temporary bonuses. You can accrue temporary bonuses manually through the «Marketing — Customers» menu or directly in the sale. In this case, the «Valid until» date is specified.

• Write-off at the end of the year and «change to card». If you have configured bonus expiration «At the end of the calendar year», Torgsoft will not, by default, write off the bonuses that were credited to the customer as change to the card. The program calculates the difference and writes off only purely marketing bonuses, leaving the customer’s personal funds untouched.

With the correct configuration of a bonus system with a validity period, you automate the store’s marketing processes, free up staff time, and reliably increase the percentage of repeat purchases without the risk of uncontrolled accumulation of debts to customers.