Getting Started with Order Rules

Overview

Order Rules are designed to calculate the Metrics that a Member accrues upon making a purchase.

When a Member completes a purchase, the Order Rule receives the order details, calculates the Metrics that the order is worth, then creates a Purchase activity on the Member’s account. The Order Rule populates an Attribute on the Purchase activity named sl_value with the Metrics to be accrued. An Earn Rule then triggers from the Purchase activity, looks at the sl_value, and assigns the Metrics to the Member’s account.

Note: If you define and publish an Order Rule, you do not also need to define an associated Earn Rule. The platform utilizes a standard, default Earn Rule called “Purchase (system)” that will trigger when the Order Rule creates the Purchase activity. This default Earn Rule performs the necessary adjustments to the Member’s Metric balance, based on the results of the Order Rule.

Order Rules can also be executed after all items have been added to the order, but before the purchase transaction is completed. This feature allows you to quickly query the Loyalty platform via the Point of Sale (POS) API and return the estimated number of Metrics the customer will earn from the purchase. Providing this information upfront, before the sale is complete, allows you to inform the Member of their point accrual, or perhaps to even include the point accrual on the printed receipt. You can also identify if the Member will reach a new Tier as a result of the purchase.

Order Rules are very flexible, and can support a wide range of marketing strategies and business requirements. In general, an Order Rule comprises the following:

  • Base Earn Rule: The standard formula for Members to earn Metrics from making purchases. This formula specifies the multiplier to be applied to the purchase amount. Optionally, you can exclude certain products from being eligible for the Base Earn Rule. Please see Define a Base Earn Rule for more information.

  • Bonus Earn Rule(s): An optional formula used to calculate additional Metrics that a Member can earn, but only if the order meets certain conditions. An Order Rule can have multiple Bonus Earn Rules. The platform will evaluate these Bonus Earn Rules in a prescribed sequence, then determine the total number of Metrics to be added to the Base Earn total. Please see Define a Bonus Earn Rule for more information.

Prerequisites

Order Rules work only with orders submitted by Loyalty’s POS API. The feature does not work with other commerce APIs, or with batch Order imports.

To use Order Rules, you must have the Business Unit feature enabled within your Loyalty account, and you must have at least one Business Unit defined. Typically, Business Units are set up by your Customer Service Management (CSM) team as part of your initial platform implementation, if you use the Loyalty POS APIs. See Business Units for more information. The best practice recommendation is to have only one published Order Rule per Business Unit.

If you want to define Bonus Earn Rule conditions by location, you must have the Locations feature enabled within your Loyalty Account, and you must have at least one Location defined. Please speak with your CSM team for assistance with enabling Locations.

The Loyalty platform provides an optional Order Rule feature called a Bonus Summary. When enabled, the API response provides additional messaging to Members regarding Bonus Earn Rules for which their purchase qualifies, as well as any potential Bonus Earn Rules for which they could qualify if they include additional items in their purchase. The intent of this feature is to inform the Member of these additional Bonus Earn Rules, so they can potentially alter or add to their purchase to meet the requirements and earn additional Metrics. For more information on this feature, please see Technical Implementation of Order Rules.