X-Cart:Special Offers

Overview

Key features

X-SpecialOffers allows you to create special offers. By special offers meant a variety of discounts and bonuses which customers can get under certain conditions. X-SpecialOffers does not impose any ready-made schemes, but provides you with extreme flexibility in defining bonuses/discounts and setting up conditions under which they will be made available to your customers.

• allows to create an unlimited number of special offers based on 5 combinable types of bonuses;
• allows to set up complex conditions defining when this or that special offer can be applied;
• informs customers about available special offers using promo blocks, ‘Special offers’ page and clickable ‘Special offer’ labels added to thumbnail images of products;
• detects situations in which a customer is eligible for getting discounts/bonuses;
• automatically applies bonuses to qualified orders (performs deduction of discounts and shipping charges; adds bonus points to customer accounts);
• provides optional bonuses (free products and memberships) to eligible customers;
• keeps the list of available offers up-to-date (automatically disables expired offers);
• provides customers with a means for managing earned bonuses (including a tool for converting bonus points to Gift Certificates).

Special offers

Special offers which can be created by means of X-SpecialOffers add-on module are extremely diverse. Each offer is supposed to give a customer some kind of bonus: a discount, some bonus points, a privileged membership, free products or free shipping. Bonuses may be combined within one special offer (for example, a customer may be offered both a discount and a membership for buying a specific amount of some product).

Customers become eligible for getting bonuses as a result of certain conditions being met. For example, you can create offers that will be applicable if a customer:

• buys a certain product/combination of products/product(s) from a certain category;
• belongs to a specific membership group;
• has a certain amount of bonus points;
• comes from a specific geographic location;
• orders products for a sum of money that is larger than a certain amount.

Conditions can be combined with one another to form complex conditions. It is possible to define a validity period for each of your special offers. Expired offers get disabled automatically.

Detailed information on how to create special offers is available in the chapter #Creating and Configuring Special Offers.

To see how special offers would appear to your customers please refer to X-Cart:Special Offers in Customer_zone page.

Functional roles

The administrative part of X-SpecialOffers module is handled by the store administrators and providers.

In X-Cart GOLD the store admin/provider fully controls the work of the module: enables the module and adjusts the module settings; configures special offers (defines bonuses and conditions, creates promo-blocks, adjusts availability and duration for each offer); manages existing special offers; has access to information about the number of bonus points earned by specific customers and edits the number of bonus points if necessary.

In X-Cart PRO the store admin and provider(s) have different access privileges, so the functions performed by them in connection with X-SpecialOffers are not the same. The administrator installs and configures the module, while all the tasks related to configuring and managing special offers are performed by providers. The administrator also carries out the function of supervision, which enables him to edit the number of bonus points earned by the store users.

Installation and configuration

Installing

To install the module, take the following steps:

1. Download the module distributive from the File area/Software distributives. The file you need is named x-offers-x.y.z.tgz, where x, y and z are the numbers of the module version (must be the same as the version of your X-Cart).

2. Uncompress the archive file x-offers-x.y.z.tgz and copy the resulting files to the directory where your X-Cart is installed. The file INSTALL.X-OFFERS provides instructions for installing the module.

Note: Please make sure you keep the directory structure during unpacking and uploading, otherwise some necessary files can be overwritten!

3. Run in the browser the installation script: http://www.yourhost.com/xcart_dir/install-xoffers.php

X-SpecialOffers installation wizard will be launched.

4. Enter your authentication code, read the License Agreement and, if you accept the terms and conditions of the License Agreement, click the Next button.

Note. The authentication code is issued on completion of X-Cart installation. It is used to prevent unauthorized re-installation of X-Cart. You also need to know this code to install any purchased X-Cart modules. If you do not remember your Auth code, you can look it up at any time in the file include/install.php.

5. The installation script will copy the files and make all the necessary changes in the database.

Note. If, while running the installation, you get any messages marked red, it means some errors were encountered and the installation has not been completed properly. Resolve the issues causing the installation process to be interrupted and run the installation wizard from the beginning.

Click on Next to proceed.

6. After the installation is completed, you will get a message informing you of the completion of the installation process.

Now you need to enable the module and configure it for work with your X-Cart based store.

Uninstalling

To uninstall X-SpecialOffers, do the following:

1. Launch the Installation Wizard (Point your browser at the location of your store with the addition of /install-xoffers.php)
2. At the first step of the Installation Wizard (Step 1: License agreement), select the 'Un-install the module' radio button.
3. Click the Next button.
4. The Installation Wizard will remove the module files and deactivate the module (Step 2: Uninstalling the module). Click Next to proceed.
5. Step 3: Uninstallation complete is the final step of the uninstallation process. It notifies you that the module has been successfully uninstalled.

Important: After uninstalling X-SpecialOffers, be sure to remove the module distribution package from your web directory.

Configuring

Log in to the Admin area. Go to the ‘Modules’ section. Enable the module Special Offers by selecting the checkbox next to it.

Figure 1. X-Cart admin area, ‘Modules’ section: enabling X-SpecialOffers.

Click on Update at the bottom of the page.

1. Go to the General settings/Special Offers options section and adjust the module settings:

Figure 2. X-Cart admin area, ‘General settings/Special Offers options’ section.

• Bonus points to gift certificate conversion rate: Specify the conversion rate which should be used when converting bonus points to a gift certificate (The amount of the resulting GC will be calculated as the number of bonus points multiplied by the number entered into this field). For example, if the store currency is US dollars, the conversion rate is 0.1, and the customer has 100 bonus points, the GC amount will be $10 (100 bonus points x 0.1 = $10). Please note that bonus points will only be converted to a GC if their amount is larger or equal to the amount specified in the 'Minimum allowed amount of bonus points to convert'.
• Minimum allowed amount of bonus points to convert: Enter the minimum amount of bonus points which a customer can convert to a Gift Certificate.
• Display offers list in multiple columns (1-3): Specify how many columns you would like the short promo blocks of your special offers to be displayed in on the store pages.
• Maximum number of offers in the list (at category and product pages): Specify the maximum number of short promo blocks with information about special offers that will be simultaneously displayed to your customers on category and product pages.
• If an offer's bonus includes products from the same category, the zero price will be assigned to the most: Select from the most expensive one and cheapest one.
• Show the special offer thumbnail on the product lists: Select this check box to display the special offer thumbnail on the product list page.

Click Save to apply the changes.

Creating and configuring special offers

Special offers are configured via the section ‘Special offers’ located in the administrator (X-Cart GOLD) or provider (X-Cart PRO) area of your store. To access this section, select Special offers from the Management menu.

Figure 1. Management menu -> Special offers.

The page you will find yourself at is supposed to provide a list of all the special offers in your store. As no special offers have been configured yet, on your first visit to this page the list of special offers will be empty.

Figure 2. ‘Special offers’ section (no special offers configured).

As you start creating special offers, they will be added to the list.

To add a special offer, click on Add new at the bottom of the ‘Offers’ dialog. You will be given access to the offer configuration dialog. Use it to configure the new offer.

Configuring any special offer involves the following steps:

1. Setting up offer conditions;
2. Selecting bonuses;
3. Creating promo texts for short and detailed offer descriptions;
4. Defining the validity period of the offer; activating the offer.

Each of the named steps corresponds to a specific section of the offer configuration dialog. The sections can be accessed by clicking the links Conditions, Bonuses, Promo texts and Offer at the top.

Figure 3. Offer configuration dialog.

The link Status in the top right corner of the offer configuration dialog allows you to make sure you have adjusted all the required offer settings. Red color of the link means offer configuration has not been finished. To find out which configuration steps still need to be completed, click the link. You will see a list of required configuration settings and their statuses.

Figure 4. Offer status: red links lead to the sections which need to be configured.

The status links allow you to access the corresponding settings and (re)adjust them if necessary. Green links mark the settings which are already defined. Red links mark the settings that still need to be taken care of.

Conditions

The first thing you need to do while configuring a special offer is to set the conditions under which your special offer will be applied. To set offer conditions, do the following:

1. Open the ‘Conditions’ section of the offer configuration dialog.

Figure 5. Offer configuration dialog: ‘Conditions’ section.

Note. This section opens automatically when you click the button Add new in the ‘Offers’ dialog. Another way to access this section is to click the link Conditions at the top of the offer configuration dialog or the link Offer conditions in the status section of the offer configuration dialog.

In the central part of the dialog window you will see five types of conditions:

• Customer orders a certain product or products - for offers similar to “All DVDs – Buy 3, Get 4th FREE” (customer orders 3 DVDs), “30% Off Hardcover Bestsellers Every Day” (customer orders a hardcover book), “Free 256MB expansion card with any Palm computer” (customer orders a Palm computer), “Buy a cell phone and a hands-free kit, get 200 bonus points” (customer orders a cell phone and a hands-free kit).

• Cart subtotal comes within a particular amount - for offers similar to “Free Shipping on any purchase over $40” (the subtotal order amount exceeds $40), “200 bonus points with orders of $200 or more” (the subtotal order amount is $200 or more).
• Customer has a certain membership - for offers similar to “Premium Members Save 20% June 7-23” (customer is a Premium member).
• Customer has a certain amount of bonus points - for offers similar to “10% off any purchase for 200 bonus points” (customer has 200 bonus points).
• Customer comes from a specific geographic location - for offers similar to “Free shipping on all orders within the Continental USA” (customer resides in the Continental USA), “Free shipping to all addresses within Bayfield county” (customer is from Bayfield county).

2. Decide on the type of condition that you want to set. Click on the selected condition. The dialog window will be expanded allowing you to configure the condition parameters.

3. Configure the condition parameters.

• If you have selected Customer orders a certain product or products, select what product(s) a customer will need to buy to become eligible for bonuses. You can select one specific product, several products (which will have to be ordered as a set) or a category. For each of the selected products/categories specify the product quantity that needs to be ordered. If you want to show a promo block for the product, if a product is not in the cart, select 'Promote'. Select the action that the system should take if a customer orders more than one product or product set specified here (Give bonus just once or Give bonus for each instance of this set).

Figure 6. ‘Conditions’ section: the condition ‘Customer orders a certain product or products’ is expanded.

Note: the Give bonus just once or Give bonus for each instance of this set setting is only applicable to 'Offer products for free' bonus option.

To add a set of products click the Add product set button. Then select products or categories to be included in the product set. To include products from subcategories, select the corresponding check box.

Note: To be able to include a product into a special offer, select the 'Apply special offers discounts' check box on the product details page of this product.

• If you have selected Cart subtotal comes within a particular amount, specify the range in which a customer’s order subtotal must fall for the customer to be able to get bonuses. The minimum limit is supposed to equal the lowest (the maximum limit – the highest) order subtotal amount with which a customer will be eligible for bonuses. If no maximum limit is needed, simply set the maximum limit to 0.00.

Please note that this functionality enables you to define more than one subtotal amount ranges and use them for different special offers. For example, you can define two offers - A and B - whose application will depend on the subtotal amount. If you configure them so that the subtotal amount range for A is 100.00 - 199.99, and the subtotal amount range for B is 200.00 – 0.00 (assuming the currency is USD), offer A will be applied to orders with a subtotal of $100 or more (under $200); offer B will be applied to orders with a subtotal of $200 or more.

To display a promo block if the cart subtotal exceeds the specified amount, select the corresponding check box and enter the required sum.

Figure 7. ‘Conditions’ section: the condition ‘Cart subtotal exceeds a certain amount’ is expanded.

• If you have selected Customer has a certain membership, specify a membership that a customer will need to have to be eligible for bonuses. If necessary, specify more than one membership (To do so, simply hold down Ctrl key while selecting the necessary memberships with your mouse). Please note that, in case of multiple memberships selected, ANY of the selected memberships entitles a customer to use the special offer.

Figure 8. ‘Conditions’ section: the condition ‘Customer has a certain membership’ is expanded.

• If you have selected Customer has a certain amount of bonus points, specify the amount of bonus points that a customer is supposed to have to be eligible for bonuses. In a way similar to setting a subtotal amount range, you can specify the minimum and maximum limit for the amount of bonus points. If no maximum limit is needed, simply set the maximum limit to 0.00.

To reduce the customer's bonus points balance after an order has been completed, select the corresponding option.

Figure 9. ‘Conditions’ section: the condition ‘Customer has a certain amount of bonus points’ is expanded.

• If you have selected Customer comes from a specific geographic location, specify, what destination zone a customer must come from to be eligible for offer bonuses. If necessary, several destination zones can be specified in one offer. For each of the zones, you can specify, which of the customer’s addresses (billing or shipping) must belong to that zone.

Figure 10. ‘Conditions’ section: the condition ‘Customer comes from a specific geographic location’ is expanded.

Click Next. The zone will be added to the list of zones applicable to this special offer.

Select zone type - Billing or Shipping from the corresponding drop-down box.

To remove a zone from the list select the check box next to the zone name and click Delete selected. When all the necessary zones have been included into the list, click Update. The condition parameters will be saved.

4. Select the check box next to the condition whose parameters you have just configured. Click Update. The condition will be assigned to the special offer being configured.

After all the necessary conditions have been set, you can move on to configuring offer bonuses.