Introduction
This form is designed to easily perform bulk PLU updates of prices, awarded points or redemption points, rather than making major changes to your PLU file, one PLU at a time, you can perform bulk changes by percentage, currency, fixed or relative percentage amounts, and targeted towards specific price/points levels. This form will edit either PLU Prices, PLU Redemption Points or PLU Awarded Points depending on how it accessed (See How to Access sections below). Whether you are editing PLU Prices or Loyalty points, the only variation in the process is how you access this file. Therefore both Price Management and Points Management are covered in this chapter. The three different methods of accessing this form are described below.
 | How to Access - To Manage PLU Pricing |
From Polygon POS Management, Select Products from the main menu and then select Product Pricing Management.
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| How to Access - To Manage Awarded Points |
From Polygon POS Management, Select Products from the main menu and then select Loyalty Awarded Points Management.
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| How to Access - To Manage Redemption Points |
From Polygon POS Management, Select Products from the main menu and then select Loyalty Redemption Points Management.
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If the setting to Enable bundle pricing is turned on, product pricing management can be used to either: •Apply bulk updates to the Bundle Price | Points values of selected PLUs; or •Apply bulk updates to the Normal Price | Points values of selected PLUs.
Use the Manage Normal Prices or Manage Bundle Prices buttons at the bottom left of the window to access either Normal or Bundle price management.
The window background will change colour while managing bundle prices as a visual reminder that the pricing affected will be for bundles. WARNING: switching modes will reset any currently selected criteria. See Also: Automated Bundling |
•Completing the Pricing Update Selection Criteria
The first step in creating a PLU Price/Points Update Plan is to identify which PLUs you wish to change. PLUs can be selected either by location (multi-location users only), reporting category, selecting individually from the PLU file, or by a combination of these methods.
oSelecting PLUs by location
Multi-Location Users - If you have a multi-location database, you can select the location(s) for which you want to manage PLUs. To do this, click the Select POS Locations button at the top left of the screen and select the Location(s) you wish to manage. To edit only the default price, that is, the price used if no location price is set, leave the location list blank. To remove a location from the location filter list highlight it, then right click on the locations list and select Delete. Once you have selected the correct locations you will need to specify which PLUs you wish to edit. This can be done by selecting categories and/or selecting individual PLUs. These methods are described below.
Note: Multi-Location Users:
If you are using Location Pricing (see section PLU Item Details > Pricing and Loyalty Details) and you wish to update the Default Pricing, leave POS Locations list blank. If you wish to update the Default Pricing and Location Pricing, select the required POS Locations. Default prices are also shown in the PLU list with a blank location name.
Note: Location prices have orange arrows next to them to differentiate from default prices.
oSelecting PLUs by Reporting Category
The PLUs you wish to edit can be filtered/selected based on the Reporting Category they belong to. To do this click on the Select Reporting Categories button at the top of the form, then select the reporting categories of the PLUs you wish to manage. When these categories are selected, the PLUs which belong to these categories will be listed in the PLUs list on the right. Individual PLUs can be added and removed from this list by clicking the Select PLUs button.
oAdding/Removing Individual PLUs
Click the Select PLUs button to display a PLU pick list. Highlight the PLUs which you wish to manage and click select.
Items can be removed from the Pricing Management form by clicking the Select PLUs button, then holding the Control button on the keyboard and clicking on the item to remove from the list. Click the Select button to apply the change.
oClearing the Selection Criteria
Click on the Clear the Selection Criteria button to clear the selected POS location, Reporting Category and Selected PLUs. This allows you to select different criteria and adjust the prices for another group of PLUs.
•The PLU List
PLUs from the locations and reporting categories which you have selected are listed at the right of the form with the following details Location, PLU No, Description, Category (Reporting Category), Price 1, Price 2, Price 3, Price 4, Price 5. The PLU List can be sorted by these details by clicking on these headings.
Selecting the Price Update Type You can elect to effect some of or all of the PLUs price/points levels by ticking the Target Price Levels boxes. A ticked box means that this price level will be adjusted when this Price/Points management plan is applied. An un-ticked box indicates this price level will be ignored by this price update plan. There are several different ways that pricing can be updated, these are explained below:
•Price Movement Update - This is used to update prices by a percentage or currency amount.
oEnter in the Percentage Amount (eg. a 10% increase or a -10% decrease in pricing) or alternatively enter the Net Currency Amount (eg. a $0.50 increase or a $-0.50 decrease in pricing). oSelect the Target Price Level/s. That is the price level that is to be updated (eg. Level 1).
•Fixed Price Update - This is used to change prices to a fixed currency amount.
oEnter the Fixed Price Amount/s. That is the price that all selected PLU's will become after being updated. oSelect the Target Price Level/s. oIf you wish to ignore PLU's that do not currently have a price, then select the Ignore Zero Amounts checkbox.
•Relative Price Update - This is used to update prices as a percentage amount relative to the Price Level 1.
oEnter the Relative Price amounts. That is the percentage amounts for each price level relative to Price Level 1 (eg. If you enter 100% for Price Level 2 it will the same as Price Level 1. If you enter 50% for Price Level 3 it will be half of Price Level 1). oSelect the Target Price Level/s by ticking the levels which you wish to update. oIf you wish to ignore PLU's that do not currently have a price, then select the Ignore Zero Amounts checkbox.
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Once the PLUs and update type have been selected, click on the Show the Update Plan Preview button. This will display the PLU Pricing Update Plan form which previews your pricing changes. Original prices are shown in the Current Values list and new prices will be previewed in Target Update Values list.
To edit the price/points of a particular PLU, highlight the PLU in the Target Update Values list and then click the Change button.
Handy Hint: This is useful if you are making similar changes to a large group of PLU's, however a few need to be different. For example, if you were increasing the price on all Beers by $0.50 but a couple of them needed to increase by $1, you could program the price movement of $0.50 and then manually edit the other beers that needed to go up by $1.
To remove a PLU from the Target Update Values (Pricing Update) - select the PLU and click on the Delete button. The deleted PLU will not be effected by the update plan.
To complete the update plan and apply updated prices or points, click on the Apply Update button. This will change the PLU prices or points with the values shown in the Updates Plan Preview form.
See Also: Polygon POS Management > Pricing/Points Plan Preview
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Pre-set Update Plans are useful if you need to program a series of price level changes that are due to occur at a later date or occur on a regular basis throughout the year. Alternatively if you wish to save your work to return to it at a later date, update plans can be saved. By saving the Update Plan you are essentially saving the group of PLUs in your selection criteria and their price change details Once you have selected the PLUs to update and the chosen how to update them, make sure the correct update type tab is selected, then click the Preview Price Update Plan button at the bottom of the window. This will load the Pricing Plan Preview Details form which displays your changes. Click the Save button to save your plan. This will display the PLU Update Plan Form where you can name the plan and set additional details. Note: From Pricing Plan Preview Details form you can also, edit prices for individual PLUs, delete an item from the list of price changes, generate a report showing the planned changes, or Apply this price change update.
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Saved update plans can be loaded and applied at a later time. After loading an update plan you can, go back and modify pricing as required without having to re-enter the selection criteria.
To load an update plan which has already been saved, go to the Pre-set Update Plans tab at the bottom of the form, click the Load pre-set Update Plan button. A list of saved update plans will be displayed in the Pre-set Pricing Plan File. Highlight the plan you wish to load and click Select. Once the update plan is loaded it can be applied, edited, printed or or saved again. Note: A loaded update plan will not affect prices until it is applied. Click here to view the above section - Applying Price Updates.
Revert Selected Plan to Current Database Values Clicking this button will clear the adjustments shown for the current update plan and revert back to the current prices/points settings.
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The Clear by Location tab will enable the clearing of Location Pricing and/or Location Mapped Records for the selected location(s).
To use this function: •Select the target POS locations in the main window. Under Clear POS Location Pricing select the records that you which to clear: •Location Pricing, •Location Mapped Records. If clearing Location Mapped Records, you may further choose to clear: •PLUs only, •All Record Types (PLUs, POS Staff, Keypads, Client & Management Accounts). Note: as selections are made the dynamic text on the button will change to indicate your current selection. •Use the [Clear ....] button to clear the records as selected.
Read the confirmation message carefully ensuring that the correct records have been selected to be cleared.
•Choose the Yes button to complete the process.
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This feature is extremely useful for multi-location clients who maintain standardised price bands for different regions or store types (eg. East Coast Pricing, West Coast Pricing or Airport Store Pricing). If placeholder or template locations have been created to configure the price band using POS Location Pricing, they can now be used as the 'source location' and copy the entire price schedule when setting up a new POS location.
If a price increase is programmed on a template location ahead of time, this Copy by Location function can be used to apply the new pricing to each relevant group of locations when the price change is scheduled to take place.
Note: This feature is used as a full over-write update; users cannot specify which fields or price types are to be included in copy, nor target specific PLUs or Categories.
Both pricing and loyalty point records are included in the copy. If Bundle Pricing is programmed in the source location all Bundle Pricing fields will also be copied.
To use this function: •Select the target POS locations in the main window. •On the Copy by Location Tab, choose the source POS Location from the Copy From pick list. Choose the records that will be copied from the Source location to the Target location. •Location Pricing, •Location Mapped Records. If copying Location Mapped Records, you may further choose to copy: •PLUs only, •All Record Types (PLUs, POS Staff, Keypads, Client & Management Accounts). Note: as selections are made the dynamic text on the button will change to indicate your current selection. •Use the [Copy ....] button to clear the records as selected.
Read the confirmation message carefully ensuring that the correct POS Locations have been chosen as the source and target POS Locations and the correct records have been selected for copy.
•Choose the Start Copy button to complete the process.
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Pricing updates can be facilitated using an Export / Import methodology. Current pricing schedules can be Exported using the PLU List by Location report. Prices can then be easily updated on the .csv file and the resulting changes imported here. Alternatively, you can obtain a base template and create a file containing only the records you need changed. Please note: if you make your changes to the file using MS Excel an additional comma (,) is inserted at the end of the header line (row 7). You may need to open the file again in Notepad or another similar application and remove this comma prior to importing the file.
NOTE: It is of paramount importance that the layout of the files is NEVER changed. No columns should be deleted nor added.
•Ensure that the files for import are saved in a local directory you can access. •Choose the Select Import Folder button. •Navigate to the directory containing your import files. The system will read ALL files in the directory and display those items found to have changed prices/points.
The importer reads the data in the files and compare against any existing price mapped records to determine if the record has changed, or needs to be created if a price mapped record does not already exist. Only changed records are removed before the importer creates the new records.
The Price Importing Rules panel is located on the right side of the matrix. Do Not Clear Locations If this setting is OFF, the importer will remove all mapped location pricing records for the store ID(s) found in the file and then import only the records displayed in the matrix (the records found to have changed). The Importer would only be used with this setting OFF if you wish to clear a location of all mapped price records and then only reimport a subset of records that have been changed.
•Enable the Do Not Clear Locations setting. The importer will only remove and replace or insert the records displayed on the Import Ready Data tab. •a) If using the base template, the importer reads the records you have added to the file, compares against the current PLU record mapped to the location(s) and adds the record to the Import Ready Data tab only if a change is detected or a mapped record for that PLU does not already exist. •b) If using the PLU List by Location report, the exported file will contain all price mapped records for the location(s). Once your changes are made, the importer reads all the records in the file, compares against the current PLU record mapped to the location(s) and adds only those records where a change is detected to the Import Data Ready tab.
Importing $0.00 (or 0) Values Once the Do Not Clear Locations setting is enabled, the remainder of the price importing rules become active. These rules allow you to decide if $0.00 (prices) or 0 (loyalty points) records are to be imported from the file or ignored and the existing values remain. For example: If your intention is to update price level 3 for a subset of PLUs, these PLUs can be included in the .csv file and only values entered for price level 3 (and award/redeemed point 3 as appropriate). If you leave all the Import $0 (0) from file for: options disabled only the values for price/points 3 will be updated. Similarly, if you want to remove existing values for price/points level 3 your file will contain 0 in these fields. When importing, ensure that the Import $0 (0) from file for: setting is enabled for: •Price 3 •Awarded 3 •Redeemed 3
‘Sticky’ Settings The Pricing Import Rules settings are ‘sticky’. Once the Do Not Clear Locations setting is enabled (and saved – applying the setting and using the Cancel Update button will not save the setting), this will be remembered and automatically applied the next time the window is opened. Any Import $0 (0) from file for: settings applied are also remembered. Care should be taken to check these selections are as required each time the import function is used. If the Do Not Clear Locations settings is turned off again, any Import $0.00 (0) from file for: settings currently ticked will have the tick removed before the settings are again disabled.
Error Reporting If records are contained in your file that cannot be validated (see Validated Fields), these records will be included on the Errors Found (x) tab.
These records will be excluded when the update is applied.
When the update has been applied, all the files that were imported are moved to the \Import\Processed directory so that they are not processed twice by mistake.
Restoring From Backup The system creates a backup copy of the current price mappings before the import and saves them in the \Import\Backup directory. Note: these are not .csv files and cannot be edited.
To restore to a previous price point, choose the Select File(s) to Restore button.
If the directory contains only a single file, that file will be restored automatically. If the directory contains more than one file, a listing of the available files will be displayed. Highlight the file to restore and choose the Open button. (Use the Ctrl key when highlighting to select multiple files). |
Advanced users may choose to update pricing or loyalty point values by compiling a list comprising only those PLUs which require updates to prices or loyalty point values using a base template. The Base Template The base template will be provided by your Redcat Account Manager or contact and will contain the first seven (7) rows of data. These rows contain header information and the required column headings. Note: While you can make any notations, additions or changes in the first six (6) rows, you must not amend data in the seventh (7th) row in any way. The format of the base template matches the format of the export file provided by the PLU List by Location report in Polygon POS Management.
Please note: if you add records to the base template using MS Excel an additional comma (,) is inserted at the end of the header line (row 7). You may need to open the file again in Notepad or another similar application and remove this comma prior to importing the file.
Validated Fields When reading the .csv file for import, the system will validate only these fields: •PLU #, then •Store ID Incorrect or non-matching data in other identifying fields (Location Name, PLU Category, Item Description) will not result in an error for that record. Similarly, data missing from informative fields (PLU Type, Price_Assigned, Location_Assigned, PLU Class, Revenue Account, PLU Modifier) will not result in an error for that record. If a PLU # does not exist in the PLU File, the importer will not create a record for that PLU and the row will be reported as an error. If a PLU # does exist in the PLU File, but there is currently no mapped pricing record for that PLU in the relevant Store ID a mapped pricing record will be created for that Store ID.
Imported Fields The only fields from which data will be imported are: • •Price 1 •Price 2 •Price 3 •Price 4 •Price 5 •Award Points 1 •Award Points 2 •Award Points 3 •Award Points 4 •Award Points 5 •Redeem Points 1 •Redeem Points 2 •Redeem Points 3 •Redeem Points 4 •Redeem Points 5
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See Also:
Polygon POS Management > Pricing and Loyalty Point Management Overview
Getting Started with Polygon POS Management
Polygon POS Management > PLU Item Details
Polygon POS Management > Keypads Overview
Polygon Inventory > Stock Items File
Polygon Inventory > Recipes File