|
Quantum VS Help: File Maintenance |
The Discount Matrix controls how pricing and discounts are applied to your available combinations of customers (Customer Classes) and products (Price Groups or Product Groups).
This section covers:
How Does The Discount Matrix Work? See below.
The 'Discount Matrix' is a grid made up of your various Customer Class and Price/Product Group combinations. You may create a Discount Matrix record for a specific Customer Class and Price/Product Group combination, which defines the pricing criteria for that combination.
Customer Classes form the first half of the Discount Matrix.
Customer Classes are groupings of customers. Customer Classes are set up to group together similar types of Customer based on the pricing/discount terms you will offer to that group.
Note: Customer Class categories must be set up and maintained in the table file CLA using Table File Maintenance.
In Customer Maintenance each Customer is assigned to a Customer Class depending on the terms of business which have been agreed. This is one factor which controls the prices/discounts the Customer will receive, based on the Products they will be purchasing.
For example: large building firms may be offered different terms to small building firms and general trade customers. Therefore you might have the following Customer Class categories: Large Builders; Small Builders; General Trade.
Price Groups and Product Groups are the two 'layers' which form the second half of the Discount Matrix.
Price Groups and Product Groups are two different forms of grouping by product. In Product Maintenance each Product is assigned to a Price Group and a Product Group.
Price Groups are set up to group together different products which have similar pricing, discount and quantity break structures.
Note: Price Group categories must be set up and maintained in the table file PRI using Table File Maintenance.
For Example: in a range of power tools, Black and Decker drills might have two available prices (retail and trade), while Bosch drills may have four prices (retail and trade A, B and C). The Black and Decker drills should therefore be in a separate price group to Bosch drills. A particular customer might therefore be pointed to the trade price for Black and Decker drills and, if required, price band 3 or 4 for Bosch drills. Therefore you might create the following Price Group categories: Retail; Trade A; Trade B; Trade C.
Product Groups are set up to group together products of a similar 'type'. The product group can be used to group together similar types of product. It may also be used to group together 'top sellers'.
Note: Product group categories must be set up and maintained in the table file P using Table File Maintenance.
For example, all tiling-related products might be assigned to a Product Group called 'Tiling', all fencing-related products assigned to a Product Group called 'Fencing', and so on.
For each combination of (a) Customer Classes and (b) Price Groups and Product Groups you may therefore create a Discount Matrix record.
When a customer buys a certain product, the Discount Matrix will then determine the pricing and discount criteria which will apply, based on the applicable Customer Class and Price Group (or Product Group) combination. The system applies the pricing/discount criteria stored in the Discount Matrix according to (a) what Customer Class the customer comes from and (b) what Price Group(s) or what Product Group(s) the products being purchased come from.
Note: Details of saved Discount Matrix records can be found in the Discount Matrix Finder. See Finding Discount Matrix Records.
The first example is based on a Customer Class and Price Group combination.
Imagine the building firm Acme Builders is purchasing a Black and Decker drill. Acme Builders is in the Customer Class 'Large Builders', while the applicable Price Group for Black and Decker drills is 'Trade A'.
The system therefore looks at the pricing/discount criteria held in the Discount Matrix for the Customer Class/Price Group combination 'Large Builders'/'Trade A' and sets the price accordingly, applying the discounts set up for this Customer Class/Price Group combination in the Discount Matrix.
The second example is based on a Customer Class and Product Group combination.
Again, imagine the building firm Acme Builders is purchasing a Black and Decker drill. Acme Builders is in the Customer Class 'Large Builders', while the applicable Product Group for the Black and Decker drill is 'Electrical Products'.
The system therefore looks at the pricing/discount criteria held in the Discount Matrix for the Customer Class/Product Group combination 'Large Builders'/'Electrical Products' and sets the price accordingly, applying the discounts set up for this Customer Class/Product Group combination in the Discount Matrix.