Blocking a discount card and customer control in Torgsoft: how to protect a store from losses and fraud
In modern retail, a discount system is a powerful tool for retaining customers, but it can also become a vulnerable area for abuse and financial losses. Card blocking modes and special attention marks are designed so that the business owner can fully control the use of discounts, manage problematic customers, and prevent fraud by staff. Entrepreneurs usually ask Torgsoft specialists the following questions:
"How can we prevent a salesperson from applying a discount using their own card or friends’ cards?",
"What should be done if a customer has lost their card so that no one else can use it?",
"How can a debtor customer be visually marked in the database?", and
"How can the program be configured so that a salesperson can independently block lost cards but does not have access to manipulate them?".
Here is a detailed overview of Torgsoft tools that provide clear answers to these questions and help bring order to customer database management.
Why does the need to block cards arise?
Most often, discount card blocking is used in three cases:
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Loss of a card by a customer. If a customer reports a loss, the card must be blocked immediately so that no third party can use the accumulated bonuses or discount. After that, the customer can be issued a new card with their purchase history transferred.
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Debtors and problematic customers. If a buyer systematically fails to repay debts (when using the VIP mode with deferred payment), the owner can block their card until full settlement.
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Staff fraud. Unfortunately, dishonest cashiers sometimes use discount systems for their own benefit. For example, a salesperson may memorize the number of a card with the maximum discount and enter it manually for customers who do not have a discount, keeping the price difference for themselves. There are also cases when salespeople have a whole set of cards belonging to friends and relatives, which they scan when ordinary customers make purchases.
To prevent manipulation with manual number entry, in addition to blocking suspicious cards, Torgsoft has a special setting: «Prohibit the salesperson from entering the discount card number from the keyboard (scanner only)». This prevents the use of other people’s numbers from memory, because receiving a discount requires the physical presence of a card with a barcode.
The «Blocked» status: how it works in the system
Torgsoft has a clear mechanism for working with blocked cards. To visually display blocking, a special symbol — a lock — appears next to the customer’s name in the database.
If a card is assigned the blocked status, it becomes impossible to use it at the checkout. When attempting to make a sale using such a discount card, the system will automatically display a message on the cashier’s screen stating that the customer was not found.
To ensure full transparency of actions, the program includes the ability to maintain a customer dossier. When a card is blocked or unblocked, the relevant information is recorded there: which employee performed this operation, when it happened, and for what reason. This allows the owner to check the history of interactions with a specific card at any time.
Special attention mark («Attention!!!»)
A customer does not always need to be fully blocked. Sometimes they simply need to be kept under special control. To track customers who require increased attention (for example, debtors or people who often make unjustified returns), the status «Attention!!!» can be set in the customer list.
In this case, the corresponding icon is displayed next to the customer’s surname. This mark serves as a signal for the salesperson to be careful (for example, not to release goods on credit). In addition, the system provides a special filter «Requires special attention» so that the store owner can quickly filter the list of such customers (including those with debts) and analyze the situation.
Salesperson rights to block and unblock cards
One of the most important security issues is who exactly has the right to manage card statuses. In Torgsoft, access rights are configured very flexibly:
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Restriction of visibility and filters. The owner can use role settings to block salespeople’s access to switches and filters on the «Customers» form, such as «Blocked», «Requires special attention», «VIP clients», and others.
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Granting rights to manage blocking. If the store’s work format requires the sales floor administrator or senior salesperson to be able to quickly block a card lost by a customer, such permission can be granted. If the employee’s role settings (for example, with the "Host Lite" or "Salesperson" role) provide access to the actions «Block discount card» and «Unblock discount card» on the «Customers» form, they will be able to do this. To use this function, the salesperson needs to select the customer and click the «Discount card» button on the corresponding form.
With these tools, entrepreneurs gain full control over the discount system. Card blocking, attention marks, and clear separation of access rights turn the loyalty program into a reliable mechanism that protects the store’s profit from fraud and negligence.
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