The Discounts/Promotions screen includes all of the settings necessary to create a record that applies a negative price change (a reduction) to a total. This screen allows you to create records that reduce the price of either a whole ticket or a single menu item.

Previously, you were required to create a discount record to reduce an item’s price or an adjustment record to reduce an entire ticket’s price. In the current version, you use the same screen to create discounts applicable to both individual items and whole tickets.

After creating a discount, you can then associate it with one or more promotional codes, which customers can use to apply the discount to orders made in the Guest and Kiosk apps, Skip the Line, and the Online Ordering website.

In this screen, you can only create records that impose a negative price change on items or tickets. To create records that impose a positive price change on items or tickets, you must use the Service Charges/Fees screen.

To access the Discounts/Promotions screen, log into the Admin Console, select an appropriate account. In the Admin Console’s Main Menu, click Menu, then click Discounts/Promotions. In the Discounts/Promotions screen, click New to create a new discount.

Item or Ticket Level: In this list, select the appropriate level for the discount or promotion. To create a discount or promotion for a specific menu item, select Item. To create a discount or promotion that modifies an entire ticket, select Ticket.

A discount (which reduces a single item’s price) requires different settings then an adjustment (which reduces an entire ticket’s price). Therefore, if you select Item in this list, the screen will display the settings needed to create a discount. But if you select Ticket, the program will display different settings, the ones needed to create an adjustment.

Defining Discounts for Items

If you select Item in the Item or Ticket Level list, the program displays the following settings in the screen.

Name: Type a descriptive name for the new discount.

Apply Post-tax: If you select this check box, the POS will only apply this discount after taxes are calculated. The discount will neither increase nor decrease the item’s original tax amount.

Fixed Price: If you select this check box, the POS will apply a fixed price to qualifying items. You can set the fixed price in the Amount box. In the POS, if you apply the discount to a qualifying item, the POS will reduce the price of the item to the fixed amount in the discount’s settings. The POS will only apply the discount to items with prices higher than the discount’s fixed price. You can also define fixed price discounts with promotional codes that customers can use in the Online Ordering website and the Kiosk and Guest apps.

Open Amount: If you select this check box, the POS will prompt you for an amount (either a percentage or a flat dollar amount) when you apply this discount to an item.

Show Discount Reason: If you select this check box, the POS will prompt servers to enter a reason whenever they apply this discount to an item. Later, the Admin Console will include these details with this discount whenever it appears in the Discount Report. (This feature can only be enabled by Admin Console users with Admin permissions.)

Affect Modifiers: Select this check box to enable this discount to apply to the total price of the item including additional modifier ingredients and context item prices, rather than solely affecting the base price or size price.

If you select this check box, the POS will apply the discount to the total price of any qualifying menu item, including its modifier ingredients and context item prices. If you clear this check box, the POS will only apply the discount to a menu item’s base price (or size price), but not the prices of any modifier ingredients or context items.

Tippable: If you select this check box, this discount can affect the totals of items considered subject to tipping, and the POS will include it (and any prices modified by it) when calculating service charges, auto-gratuities, and suggested tip amounts.

Amount: Enter the discount’s amount. Select $ if the amount is a flat dollar amount. Select % if the amount is a percentage of an item’s or ticket’s price.

Number of Required Items: This box enables you to require customers to order a certain number of required items before earning the discount. If you enter a number in this box, the POS will not apply this discount to an item until you first add this number (or more) of required items to the ticket.

For instance, if you want to create a “buy 3, get 1 free” discount for a particular item, you would enter “3” in this box.

If the discount does not require a minimum number of required items, enter “0” in this box.

Tag for Required Item(s): If you are creating a discount that requires you to order one or more other items first to qualify for the discount, you can select the tag for the discount’s required items in this list.

To create a discount that uses required menu items, you must first access the Attributes/Tags screen, create a tag for the discount’s required items, and then assign that tag to each required menu item.

For instance, if you want to create a discount for a “buy one entree, get one free dessert” promotion, you could create a tag for the required items (“Entrées”) and then apply that tag to all qualifying entrée menu items.

Tag for Discountable Item: If any menu item can receive this discount, do not select a tag in this list. If only certain menu items can receive this discount, select the tag in this list for the menu items that can receive the discount.

To create a discount for specific menu items, you must first access the Attributes/Tags screen, create a tag for the items that can receive the discount, and then assign that tag to each discountable menu item.

For instance, if you want to create a discount for a “buy one entree, get one free dessert” promotion, you could create a tag for the discountable items (“Desserts”) and then apply that tag to all qualifying dessert menu items.

Defining Adjustments for Tickets

If you select Ticket in the Item or Ticket Level list, the program displays the following settings in the screen.

Name: Type a descriptive name for the new adjustment.

Default Amount: Enter the adjustment’s default amount when it is added to a ticket. Select $ if the default amount is a flat dollar amount. Select % if the default amount is a percentage of an item’s or ticket’s price.

Tippable: If you select this check box, this adjustment can affect the totals of items considered subject to tipping, and the POS will include it (and any prices modified by it) when calculating service charges, auto-gratuities, and suggested tip amounts.

Apply Post-tax: If you select this check box, the POS will only apply this adjustment to a ticket after its taxes are calculated. The adjustment will neither increase nor decrease the ticket’s tax amount.

Auto Apply: If you select this check box, the POS will automatically apply this adjustment to new tickets when they meet the necessary conditions. To receive the adjustment, a new ticket must be created in a room that is set to automatically apply the adjustment, or it must include a required minimum party size (below).

Room Specific: This feature is only available if you first enable the Auto Apply check box (above). If you select the Room Specific check box, the POS will only apply this adjustment to tickets created within the specific room it is associated with. You can associate a room with an adjustment by accessing the room’s record in the Rooms screen and then selecting an appropriate adjustment in the Room Discounts and Charges list.

Minimum: In this box, enter a required minimum amount for the adjustment. Later, when servers add this adjustment to a ticket and manually enter an amount, the POS will not accept an amount less than the amount you set here. The default amount is “0”.

Maximum: In this box, enter a required maximum amount for the adjustment. Later, when servers add this adjustment to a ticket and manually enter an amount, the POS will not accept an amount greater than the amount you set here. The default amount is “0”.

Party Size: This feature is only available if you first enable the Auto Apply check box (above). Enter the minimum party size (if any) required to earn the adjustment. The Party Size box enables you to require a minimum number of guests on a ticket before the POS automatically adds the adjustment to it.

Promotions Area

If you click Save to save the discount’s settings, the program displays the Promotions area at the bottom of the screen. The Promotions area includes controls that enable you to associate this discount with a promotional code. Later, customers can use that code to redeem the discount in the Online Ordering website, the Guest and Kiosk apps, or the Skip the Line service.

To create a new promotion for this discount or adjustment, click + New Promo. The program will add the Promo Code box, the Available Online check box, and the In-Store E-Commerce check box.

Promo Code: In this box, enter an alphanumeric code for this promotion. Later, while placing an order, if a customer enters this code into the Promo Code box, the app will apply the promotion’s discount or adjustment to the order.

Customers can use these discount promotional codes in Guest, Kiosk, Skip the Line, and the Online Ordering website.

Available Online: Select this check box to allow customers to use this promotion when ordering in the Online Ordering website.

In-Store E-Commerce: Select this check box to allow customers to use this promotion when ordering in Kiosk or Skip the Line.