Loyalty at the checkout: how to apply promotions, manual discounts, and sell gift certificates

Many entrepreneurs face loss of profit due to uncontrolled discounts, staff manipulation (for example, processing a sale with a discount that the cashier keeps in cash), or selling goods below cost. In addition, many technical questions arise when working with cash registers: cashiers do not understand why an automatic promotion did not apply to a certain item, and during the sale or redemption of gift certificates through a software ECR (PECR), fiscalization errors appear due to an incorrectly selected certificate type or conflicts with mixed payments. 

The loyalty mode in Torgsoft is designed to automate these processes as much as possible, remove the need for the cashier to make manual decisions, and protect the owner’s margin.

Below, we will look in detail at how a cashier should work with automatic promotions, how to correctly sell and redeem gift certificates, and how the owner can set up strict restrictions against manipulation.

1. How automatic promotions work (for example, 3=2) and cashier actions

Torgsoft allows you to set up various automatic promotions (for example, «Third item as a gift»). For the «3=2» promotion, the settings specify the «Number of different items in the receipt» (or the total quantity) — for example, 3 units, and the discount (100%) is applied to 1 cheapest item or in the order of entry.

When a customer brings items to the checkout, the cashier only needs to scan them — the program will calculate the conditions automatically. But what should the cashier do if the promotion did not apply? The cashier should check the following:

• Discount priority. Torgsoft has a discount hierarchy. By default, the highest priority (level 0) belongs to the Item discount set directly for the item. If an item discount applies to a product, it may override the promotional discount. A manual discount on the document also has the highest priority and cancels the others.

• The item has a «zero» discount. Sometimes a 0% discount is accidentally or intentionally set for a certain item in the warehouse. In this case, the promotion or discount card will not apply to it.

• Rounding «eats up» the discount. If aggressive rounding is configured for the product type (for example, to 5 UAH), it may visually cancel a small promotional discount.

• Activation conditions. The promotion may be configured in such a way that it requires an activating item from a specific product group that is not present in the receipt.

• Manual intervention. If the seller has the appropriate permissions, they may have accidentally changed the discount percentage manually, disrupting the algorithm.

 Solution for the owner: prohibit cashiers (the «Seller» role) from independently changing the discount percentage in sales and the selling price.

2. Gift certificates: sale, redemption, and pitfalls

To work with certificates, the paid option «Gift certificates» is required. Selling and redeeming certificates is done directly from the «Sale» window.

 How can a cashier sell a certificate? 

The cashier clicks the «Sell gift certificate» button (if they have been granted this access) and scans the certificate barcode. Then they select the buyer and specify where the money is received (into the cash register or into an account), after which the receipt is printed.

 How can a cashier accept a certificate as payment? 

When a customer pays with a certificate, the cashier scans the items, clicks «Pay», and in the payment window scans the certificate barcode into the corresponding field. The amount due is automatically reduced. If the purchase amount is less than the certificate value, no change is given to the customer. The program prohibits paying debts for previous sales with certificates.

The difference between certificate types and fiscalization issues (PECR)

The program has three logics for working with certificates, and choosing the wrong type leads to problems with tax reporting:

1. «As money». Selling this type of certificate is an exchange of money for a paper certificate. This operation does not appear in item reports. When redeemed, the certificate acts as a form of payment (money).  Issue: when using this type together with PECR, problems often arise with selecting the correct form of payment (prepayment/cash), which leads to receipt validation errors.

2. «As an item». The certificate is received into stock as a regular item and sold as an item.  Issue: when the customer uses it, the program records this not as payment but as an additional discount equal to the certificate value. If such a certificate is applied on a PECR, the fiscal receipt may incorrectly display the payment type (for example, indicate «Cashless / Card» instead of the certificate), which is a serious error. Such a certificate cannot be reissued.

3. «As a deferred discount» (the best choice for PECR). You sell the customer a future service. This is recorded in item reports. When redeemed at the checkout, the certificate amount is simply deducted from the receipt total as an item discount. This fully solves issues with PECR, because the fiscal recorder simply sees the item with a discount and fiscalizes the amount that the customer actually pays with real money. This is the type strongly recommended for use with fiscal devices.

3. Preventing sales below cost: settings and restrictions

The owner’s main concern is when, due to the combination of promotions, discount cards, or manual cashier actions, an item is sold cheaper than it was purchased.

To prevent this, the owner should configure the following settings:

1. Minimum selling price control in the cashier role. 

In the «Settings» -> «Users» menu, find the «Minimum selling price control» field for the seller. Available options:

• Prohibit selling below cost (or Ask about the sale).

• Sell at cost price + min. item markup.

• If you select «Ask about selling below cost», the program will block the sale and display a warning indicating the cost price.

2. Limiting the maximum discount for a product type. 

For low-margin goods (for example, diapers or promotional items), the owner can set the «Maximum discount (%)» directly in the Product Type card. If, for example, 0% is specified there, no VIP customer discount card will be able to make the program apply a discount to this item at the checkout.

3. Prohibition of manual changes.

Be sure to clear the checkboxes for the «Seller» role:

• «Allowed to change the selling price in sales».

• «Allowed to change the discount percentage when ordering goods».

• «Prohibit the seller from entering the discount card number from the keyboard» (so that the cashier does not enter the card number of acquaintances from memory but is forced to scan the physical plastic card).

By using the correct type of gift certificates («As a deferred discount»), limiting the cashier’s rights to change prices, and relying on Torgsoft’s built-in promotion priority calculations, you will ensure fast checkout service without the risk of tax penalties and financial losses.