Understanding Price Rules

This section discusses:

Price rules.
Price rule conditions.
Price rule formulas.
Price rule setup examples.

A price rule defines the conditions of the transaction that must be met before the adjustments are applied to the base price and the recurring price. The price rule is made up of one or more price conditions and one or more price formulas. A price condition defines the set of circumstances that make a price rule applicable to a transaction. A price formula defines the actions that occur when the pricing conditions are met.

PeopleSoft CRM provides an advanced search capability for looking up existing price rules by rule conditions.

Enterprise Pricer supports the definition of price rule conditions in two modes: basic and advanced. Basic mode enables you to create price rules using the And operator. Advanced mode enables you to create more complex conditions. You can use the Or operator, in addition to the And operator. Advanced mode enables you to enter the valid values directly for the price by fields without having to go through the search or prompt page for the field.

Adding Price Rule Conditions in Basic Mode

To add a price rule condition in basic mode:

Add a new price rule for the selected setID. On the Conditions page that appears, select basic mode by clicking the Change to Basic mode link.

The transaction for which this rule is created is Order Capture. This transaction determines the valid price-by field names available for the conditions.
Enter a long and a short and description for the price rule.
Add a rule condition by first selecting a price-by key field in the Rule Conditions group box.

Choose the transaction field that you want to price by. For example, if you want this rule to apply to every order in a particular business unit, select Business Unit.
Click the Search Push Button to select values for the corresponding field.

When you click the Search Push Button, the system transfers you to a page from which you can search for and select valid values for the field name that you select. For example, if you selected Business Unit as a price-by key field, then you would get a list of business units to choose from. Values that were previously selected for the condition automatically appear as selected. You can restrict the search further by entering additional search data in the fields provided at the top of the page and clicking the Search button. Select one or more values that you want to apply to the rule condition and click OK.

The condition appears in the Rule Definition section. The system displays the rule definition based on the last condition that you built. If you are updating an existing condition, you may need to click the Build Rule Definition button to have the system rebuild the entire price rule condition.

Enter all the conditions needed for the rule.
Update the status of the rule to an appropriate value. Typically, set it to Ready to Test to be tested later. A price rule supports these values:

Pending: Price rule is incomplete.

Deployed: Price rule is currently in use for pricing in the pricing system.

Ready to Test: Price rule is complete but can be used by the simulator only, not for pricing calculations.

Inactive: Price rule is no longer active. Use to inactivate a rule that was previously in use.
Save the change.

Adding Price Rule Conditions in Advanced Mode

To add a price rule condition in advanced mode:

Add a new price rule for the selected setID. The Conditions page appears in the advanced mode by default.

The transaction for which this rule is created is Order Capture. This transaction determines the valid price-by field names available for the conditions.
Enter a long and a short and description for the price rule.
Add a rule condition by first selecting a price-by key field in the Rule Conditions group box.

You may enter multiple fields by inserting a new row for each new field name.
Enter the field name values directly in the Identifier field, or click the Search Push Button to find desired values.

Enter multiple values by separating the values with commas. Alternatively, you can click the Search Push Button. The system transfers you to a page from which you can search and select valid values for the field name that you selected for the condition. Values that were already selected for the condition automatically appear as selected. You can further restrict the search by entering additional search data in the fields provided on top of the page and clicking the Search button. Select the fields that you want to apply to the rule condition and click OK.

The field name and value conditions defined in the Rule Conditions section appear in the Combined Conditions section. The individual rows in the Combined Conditions section serve as a foundation for you to create more complex conditions.
To create a combined condition with two individual conditions, select the conditions in the Combined Conditions section and a desired operator (And or Or ) to combine them.
Click the Build Rule Definition button to create the advanced price rule.

The system automatically inserts the new condition in the Combined Conditions section. The condition also appears in the Rule Definition section.

You can create more complex conditions by selecting new rows in the Combined Conditions section, selecting an operator, and clicking the Build Rule Definition button until you have created the desired rule definition.
Update the status of the rule to an appropriate value. Typically, set it to Ready to Test to be tested later. A price rule supports these values:

Pending: Price rule is incomplete.

Deployed: Price rule is currently in use for pricing in the pricing system.

Ready to Test: Price rule is complete but can be used by the simulator only, not for pricing calculations.

Inactive: Price rule is no longer active. Use to inactivate a rule that was previously in use.
Save the change.

Enterprise Pricer provides a robust architecture that supports the setup of various types of price rules to suit your needs. You can create price rules that are as simple or as complex as needed. As delivered, the Order Capture transaction supports the definition of these types of price rules:

Discount or surcharge.

This type of price rule applies a discount or surcharge (either an actual amount or at a percentage) to the product list price or recurring price in an order line. For the total order discount or surcharge action type, the adjustment applies to the entire order.
Free period promotion.

This type of price rule offers no recurring charge to products and services for a specified number of times.
Giveaway or product add.

This type of price rule gives away additional products for free or at a discounted price if the customer purchases a particular product (also known as Buy-One-Get-One or BOGO). For discounted giveaways, the list price or recurring price can be used to calculate the actual discounts.

For an overview of discounted giveaway rules, refer to the Discounted Giveaways and “Buy One, Get One Free” Rules topic in PeopleSof tFSCM Enterprise Pricer.
Minimum or maximum target discount.

This type of price rule evaluates the sum of discounts that were given to the final product price or recurring price by other applicable price rules; if the discount amount exceeds the range that is set by the minimum and maximum amounts of this rule, an additional adjustment is applied so that the final discount amount falls within the allowable discount range.
Minimum or maximum target price.

This type of price rule evaluates the final product price or recurring price after all the pricing adjustments were made; if the price exceeds the range that is set by the minimum and maximum prices of this rule, an additional adjustment is applied so that the final net or recurring price falls within the allowable price range.
Minimum or maximum target surcharge.

This type of price rule evaluates the sum of surcharges that were given to the final product price or recurring price by other applicable price rules; if the surcharge amount exceeds the range that is set by the minimum and maximum amounts of this rule, an additional adjustment is applied so that the final surcharge amount falls within the allowable surcharge range.
Price list only condition.

This type of price rule matches its rule condition with related objects of price lists and uses the list price of the product from the matching price list.
Price override.

This type of price rule replaces the existing list price or recurring price with a new one as defined in the price rule. The definition of this new price can be a simple number value, or a derived value of an expression or an external application class.
Rollup only rule. This type of price rule is used to roll up quantities. Referenced in other price rules as a rollup option, a rollup rule is used to match the formula break for adjustment consideration. Because a rollup rule is intended to group products for formula consideration, rollup is always by transaction.

One-Time Only Price Rules

Enterprise Pricer supports the creation of price rules that are identified as one-time only, per price rule or per customer. When the one-time only price rule is determined to apply to the order, it can apply to multiple order lines in the same order. An example of a one-time price rule per customer can be “Gives a 10 percent off an order to customer 1005 if the order is made in the month of February and the order total is USD 1000 or more.” This rule will be applied to the first matching transaction made by customer 1005 and becomes inactive afterwards.

Note: In addition to orders, one-time only price rules are also applicable to quotes. However, when a quote, using a one-time only price rule for pricing, is expired, that rule becomes available again for the next eligible order or quote.

Mutually Exclusive Price Rules

Normally you enable the mutually exclusive option on price rules if they are truly very good deals that you don't want other discounts to be applied in conjunction with them. A mutually exclusive arbitration type enables you to create or modify arbitration plans to sort mutually exclusive rules appropriately. An example of a mutually exclusive price rule can be “Gives a 50 percent off the order to customer 1005 if the order total is greater than USD 1000 and the quantity purchased for product 10050 exceeds 200. Not combined with other discounts.” You can limit the occurrence of a mutually exclusive price rule to once simply by enabling the one-time only option.

If one of the matching price rules returned for an order capture transaction is mutually exclusive, the mutually exclusive price rule is used and other price rules are ignored. If more than one mutually exclusive price rule is matched, only the first (use the arbitration plan to specify the order) mutually exclusive price rule is applied and others are ignored.

Price Rules with Mathematical Expressions

Enterprise Pricer enables you to create mathematical expressions in the price rule that are used to calculate the net price for a given product. Suppose you want to give a 5 percent discount plus a discount of USD 5.00 to all orders of product 10050 that are made in the month of February, you can create a price override rule and represent the total discount for each product unit using this expression:

LIST_PRICE * 0.95 - 5

Enterprise Pricer delivers pricing variables that can be used in defining expressions. If you wish to introduce user-defined variables, customization of the system is needed to accept and process values properly, if the record and field pair that is selected for the user-defined variable is not available in the component buffer.

Price Rules with External Classes

In addition to mathematical expressions, you can create custom processes to perform multiple calculations to determine the net price to use, and returns the result to Enterprise Pricer. This is accomplished by creating an application class that conforms to the application programming interface (API) specified and identifying the name of the application class in the price formula. During pricing process, when Enterprise Pricer processes such a formula, instead of performing the calculation, it instantiates the application class to perform the calculation. The application class returns the net price to Enterprise Pricer.

To get an idea on how to build an API-compliant application class that performs pricing calculations, review the class called EOEP_API:Sample:TestNetPriceCalculator that is provided in the system. This sample class, when called, gives a 1 percent discount to the first matching product, a 2 percent discount to the second matching product, and so on.

Price Rules with Compound Date and Formula Breaks

When you define a price rule, you need to specify a date range and a formula range that transactions must match (in addition to the conditions specified on the Conditions page) for the price formula to apply. The Price Rule component supports the reference of multiple date ranges and formula ranges (by product price or quantity) in a price formula. For example, you can define a price formula that includes these date and formula ranges:

Date range #1: 12/31/2010 > order date > 01/01/2000
Formula range #1: 99999 > Price > 1
Formula range #2: 5000 > Quantity > 1

And the price formula will be applicable to transactions that match all of the associated date and formula ranges.

See Formulas Page.

Price Rule Action Types and Supported Adjustments

Price action types support a range of methods used for calculating pricing adjustments. Based on the selected action type and adjustment method, the system updates the display and label of numeric and textual fields so that adjustment information can be entered appropriately. This screenshot shows how the Price Formulas section looks like for the Discount/Surcharge price rule action type:

Image: Price Formulas section of the Formulas page

Price Formulas section of the Formulas page

This table lists the adjustment methods that each price rule action type supports, the fields that appear based on selected adjustment method, and the labels of the fields that are updated based on the selected rule action type and adjustment method:

Note: For discount or surcharge action types, use a negative number to indicate discount amounts or percentages, for example, -10 for a discount of 10 percent or dollar amount. A positive number represents surcharges by percentage or amount.

Price Rule Action Type	Label of the Adjustment Field and Supported Method	Numeric Field Label	Text Field Label
Discount/Surcharge	Label: Discount / Surcharge By Supported adjustment methods: Amount Amount and mathematical expression Expression External class Percentage and expression Percentage	Label: Amount / Percentage This field appears if the selected adjustment includes calculation by amount or percentage. Example of a valid amount: -10 (a discount of the amount of 10 off the list price) Example of a valid percentage: 15 (a surcharge of 15 percent to the list price)	Label: Class / Expression This field appears if the selected adjustment includes calculation by an expression or external application class. In addition, the Small or Large field is shown for these adjustment types: Amount and mathematical expression Percentage and expression Example of a valid external class: RB_PRICER:AdjustmentCalculator Example of a valid expression: LISTPRICE * 0.95
Free Period Promotion	Label: Free Period By The only supported value is Quantity.	Label: Quantity	N/A
Giveaway / Product Add	Label: Product Add By BOGO BOGO and price Quantity and price Quantity expression Quantity	Label: Quantity / BOGO Factor	Label: Expression
Min/Max Target Discount	Label: Target Discount By Supported adjustment methods: Amount Percentage	Label: Min Amount / Percentage and Max Amount / Percentage	N/A
Min/Max Target Price	Label: Target Price By The only supported value is Price.	Label: Minimum Price and Maximum Price	N/A
Min/Max Target Surcharge	Label: Target Surcharge By Supported adjustment methods: Amount Percentage	Label: Min Amount / Percentage and Max Amount / Percentage	N/A
Price List Only Condition	N/A	N/A	N/A
Price Override	Label: Price Override By Supported adjustment methods: Expression External class Price and expression Price	Label: Price	Label: Class / Expression In addition, the Small or Large field is shown for the price and expression adjustment.
Rollup Only Rule	N/A	N/A	N/A
Total Order Discount/Surcharge	Label: Discount / Surcharge By Supported adjustment methods: Amount Amount and expression Expression External class Percentage and expression Percentage	Label: Amount / Percentage	Label: Class / Expression In addition, the Small or Large field is shown for these adjustment types: Amount and expression Percentage and expression

Here are several high-level pricing scenarios that Enterprise Pricer supports.

Note: For detailed examples on how to set up price rules to address these pricing requirements, refer to the Pricing Formula Scenarios topic of PeopleSoft FSCM Enterprise Pricer.

Applying Discounts or Surcharges

Pricing scenario: Offers different discount values to orders based on product quantity for customer 1005. Specifically:

EUR 10.00 dollars for 1-10 units of product 10050 purchased.
EUR 20.00 dollars for 11-20 units of product 10050 purchased.
3% discount for more than 20 units of product 10050 purchased.

Applying Product Adds or Discounted Giveaways

Pricing scenario A: Gives away one product 10049 at no charge for each order with 20-49 units of product 10050 purchased by customer 1005. The promotion is valid through the end of the year.

Pricing scenario B: Gives away one product 10049 at no charge and offers three other units of product 10049 at half price for each order that is made in the month of January by customer 1005.

Applying BOGO (Buy One Get One) Promotions

Pricing scenario: Gives away one product 10049 for free for each purchase of three units of product 10050 by customer 1005 in the month of January.

Applying Adjustment Caps on Product Unit Prices

Pricing scenario: Puts a cap on adjustments made to the unit price of product 10050, so that the final unit price falls within the USD 122.50–144.50 range.

Applying Discounts Based on Date Ranges

Pricing scenario: Gives a 5 percent discount off the order total for customer 1005 for each purchase of USD 1000.00 worth of product 10050 with an order date and schedule ship date in the month of February.

Applying Discounts Based on Product Price and Quantity Ranges

Pricing scenario: Gives a 10 percent discount off the order total for customer 1005 for each purchase with a total amount of USD 50,000 or more AND a total ordered quantity of 500 or more.

Applying Rollup Rule to Price Rules

Pricing scenario: Uses a rollup rule to determine the product quantity of the order that will be used to match against the quantity breaks in an applicable price rule.

For instance, a price rule called tubs contains several quantity breaks and each break is associated with a discount rate, the more the quantity ordered the better the rate. Suppose that this price rule references a rollup rule, which calculates a rollup quantity by summing up quantities of products that belong to the Bathroom product group in an order transaction (rule condition of this rollup rule is Product Group = Bathroom). If the tub price rule matches an order that has three order lines, each line with a product belonging to the Bathroom product group (for example, tub, faucet, and sink), then the total quantity of these three lines becomes the rollup quantity, which will be used to determine the level of discount that the tub order line gets. Now, suppose that only two of these three order lines are for products that belong to the Bathroom product group, then the total quantity of these two lines becomes the rollup quantity, which may end up falling into lower quantity break with a less attractive discount rate.

Applying Special Pricing to Certain Quantity of Products Purchased

Pricing scenario: Offers special pricing to any product of product group 1234 at USD $25 a unit for a maximum of 10000 units. Once the maximum is reached, the regular product price is used.

For more information, refer to PeopleSoft FSCM Enterprise Pricer.