Promotions are repository items. When a user is “given” a promotion, it means that a reference to the promotion repository item is added to the user’s profile property activePromotions.
Promotions are a way of encouraging a user to make a purchase by highlighting products and offering discounts. ATG Consumer Commerce provides flexibility in the types of promotions and the ways that they can be delivered to users.
One typical way to deliver a promotion is to embed a promotion ID in a URL, which automatically gives the user that promotion when he clicks on the URL. Another way is to create a scenario that uses the “Give Promotions” action, and shows the promotion’s media in a slot. For example:
"upon login of person whose purchase history=null give promo 'buy 2 apples, get 1
free' and show items in slot MediaSlot 'ApplesPromotionMedia'."
It is important to realize that, although these two actions are conceptually related in the eyes of the customer, there are distinct differences. The first gives a customer a promotion that discounts a product while the second shows the customer a media item.
When prices are calculated for items, orders, tax, or shipping, the pricing engine uses the user profile’s activePromotion list to calculate a personalized price. Discounts are applied when the order is priced, which is any time that the customer looks at his shopping cart or checks out.
If there are several applicable discounts, the “order of application” attribute of the promotion determines the order in which they get applied.
