In retail, a bonus system is a powerful tool for retaining customers. Unlike a regular discount, bonus accrual allows money to remain in the store’s turnover, while setting an expiration period additionally motivates the customer to return sooner for a new purchase.
However, when implementing this tool, entrepreneurs often ask technical support specialists a number of practical questions: why were the accrued bonuses not written off automatically on time? How can the system be configured so that customers receive timely reminders about bonus accrual and point expiration?
The answers to these questions lie in properly configuring automation and understanding the nuances of how the Torgsoft program works.
Logic of bonuses with an expiration date
The additional option "Bonuses with a limited validity period" allows flexible management of the bonus lifecycle. In the discount card type settings, the owner can specify exactly when unused points expire: at the end of the calendar year, month, or automatically after a specified number of days. The actual bonus lifetime is calculated as follows: product sale date + bonus accrual period + bonus validity period. For this mechanism to work flawlessly and not require manual work from staff, the process of writing off bonuses and notifying customers must be entrusted to the application server through special tasks.
Scheduled tasks: automation without salesperson involvement
For the program to automatically check balances and write off expired bonuses, the "Scheduled tasks" tool is used. In the menu "Settings - Scheduled tasks - Automatic calculation and mailing", you need to create the corresponding tasks with the following types: "Bonus write-off", "Mailing about bonus accrual", and "Mailing about bonus expiration".
Specialists strongly recommend setting the automatic bonus write-off time at night (after midnight and before the store opens). This is done so that mass recalculation of thousands of customer cards does not load the computer or server resources during active sales, and by the time the store opens, the bonus amount of all customers is already up to date.
Calculation nuances: how to avoid double write-off
When working with bonuses that have a limited validity period, complex mathematical situations may occur. For example, if a customer has two overlapping bonus accrual periods of different durations (some bonuses are valid until the 10th, others — until the 15th), and they make a purchase while writing off part of the points. The Torgsoft program has an algorithm that correctly calculates the balance so that when the expiration date of the first batch arrives, the correct amount is written off without affecting bonuses whose validity period has not yet expired. There is also a strict rule: the system will never automatically or manually write off more bonuses than are actually available in the customer’s account at that moment.
Customer notifications and the zero balance issue
To stimulate sales, the program allows you to configure SMS or Viber mailings that will warn the customer a few days before their points expire. For this, the mailing type "Bonus amount change" is used with special variables such as <amount of bonuses that are about to expire> and <days until bonuses expire>.
Important detail: product return
To avoid accounting failures, entrepreneurs should pay attention to the "Validity period of returned bonuses" field in the discount card type settings. If a customer paid for a purchase with temporary bonuses (whose validity period was almost over) and later returned the product to the store, these bonuses are returned to their card. If a new limited lifetime is not specified for them, they may turn into permanent (unlimited) bonuses, which will violate the original logic of the promotion. Therefore, this field is mandatory for correctly configuring the bonus lifecycle.
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