Promotion per category Manual
The promotion that maintains itself: every item of a category is discounted, for a customer group, over a bounded period — including items added mid-campaign.
Overview
The Promotion per category screen applies a discount to every item in a category, for a mandatory customer group, during a given period. It is the promotion that maintains itself: an item added to the category during the campaign automatically benefits from it.
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Scope | Document line — every item of the chosen category. |
| Customer target | A mandatory customer group (unlike the per-product promotion). |
| Category | One category per promotion, mandatory. |
| Percentage | From 1 to 90%, decimals accepted. |
The engine's general rules are described in Sales promotions.
Choose the category promotion as soon as the target exceeds about twenty items, or when the catalog changes during the campaign.
Access and navigation
Side menu: Items → Promotion per category.
The promotion list
The list shows the promoted category in addition to the usual information.
| Label⇅ | Beginning Date⇅ | Ending date⇅ | Percentage⇅ | Group⇅ | Category⇅ | Domain⇅ | Detail⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grocery -12% summer | 01/07/2026 | 31/08/2026 | 12.00% | Southern network | Food › Grocery | General | |
| Household care | 15/09/2026 | 15/10/2026 | 8.50% | Mass retail | Drugstore | General | |
| Back-to-school stationery | 25/08/2026 | 30/09/2026 | 18.00% | Retailers | Stationery | General |
| Column | Content |
|---|---|
| Label | Promotion name, entered at creation. |
| Beginning / Ending date | Validity bounds, included. |
| Percentage | Rate applied to every item of the category. |
| Group | Targeted customer group — always set on this screen. |
| Category | Promoted category, with its parent chain. |
| Detail | Opens the promotion in view / edit mode. |
Creating a promotion
The form is shorter than the per-product one: there is no pick list, but a single category to choose.
| Field | Entry rule |
|---|---|
| Domain | Mandatory in a multi-domain company; changing it reloads categories and groups. |
| Label | Mandatory. An Arabic label is also required in an Arabic-speaking company. |
| Beginning Date | Mandatory. Cannot be earlier than today. |
| Ending date | Mandatory. |
| Percentage | Mandatory, between 1 and 90. Decimals are accepted (for example 8.5). |
| Group | Mandatory on this screen. A category promotion always targets an identified group. |
| Category | Mandatory. One category only; drop-down with “contains” search. |
| Description | Optional. |
The group is mandatory here, whereas it is optional on the per-product promotion. To target all customers with a category, create a group containing them all — or use a per-product promotion with no group.
Reach of the category
The promotion applies to items attached to the chosen category. That is its main strength — and its main risk.
An item created or attached to the category during the period automatically enters the promotion.
Attaching an item to a promoted category puts it on promotion, even if that was not the intent.
Categories and their hierarchy are managed in Categories & catalog. Check the category's composition before launching the campaign.
During a category promotion, warn whoever creates items: a new item attached to that category will ship discounted.
Editing and deleting
| Operation | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Edit | All fields remain editable. The change applies to new documents only. |
| Change the category | Possible. Items of the former category leave the promotion immediately. |
| Delete | Logical deletion after confirmation; the promotion stops being applied. |
Documents already issued are never recomputed. An invoice issued under the old rate keeps its price.
To close a campaign cleanly, move the end date rather than delete: the promotion remains available as history.
Business rules
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Competition, not accumulation | If an item is also targeted by a per-product or an invoice promotion, only the highest percentage applies. |
| Category inheritance | Every item of the category inherits the rate, with no need to list them. |
| Floor | The price never falls below the item's ex-works price. |
| Mandatory group | A group with no member makes the promotion ineffective — check its composition. |
| Mobile reach | The promotion flows down into the field applications after synchronisation. |
A category promotion has no intrinsic priority over a product promotion: the best rate for the customer always wins.
FAQ & Tips
An item in the category is not discounted?
Check its actual attachment to the promoted category, and that a stronger promotion is not already applying (in which case the displayed discount is simply higher).
I want to target all customers, but the group is mandatory?
Create a group containing all customers, or use a per-product promotion with no group.
The displayed rate is lower than the configured one?
The price was capped at the ex-works price and the percentage recomputed to stay consistent.
Can I promote several categories?
One promotion = one category. Create as many promotions as categories, or group them under a parent category if your tree allows it.
Tip. The category promotion is the cheapest to maintain: it survives catalog changes. Reserve the per-product promotion for genuinely one-off campaigns.
Swifto ERP · Items & Catalog · User Manual v1.0
Promotion per category — Sales promotions · Categories · Home