Sales promotions Manual
The automatic discounts of the sales cycle: how they are resolved, why they never add up, how the ex-works price protects the margin, and where they apply — back office and mobile apps alike.
Overview
Sales promotions are automatic discounts: they are not entered on the document, they are imposed on it. As soon as a customer is set on a quote, a sales order, a delivery note or an invoice, Swifto looks up the valid promotions, keeps the most advantageous one for each line and applies the discounted price.
Promotions are grouped in the Items & Catalog module. They replace the former “Promotions” module, which no longer exists: the screens and the rights are now attached to the catalog.
Purpose
- Apply a discount with no seller action
- Target a customer group or all customers
- Time-box the discount
- Protect the margin with a floor price
Audience
- Catalog manager — promotion setup
- Sales management — pricing policy
- Sellers & cashiers — application in the field
A promotion acts on the selling price. To give away quantities rather than a discount, use free articles.
Access and navigation
Side menu: Items → the three promotion screens, below the sales and purchase items.
Each promotion screen has its own right. By default, promotion rights are aligned with the profile's rights on items — see Users & rights.
The three promotion levels
Swifto distinguishes promotions that apply to lines from the one that applies to the document.
| Screen | Scope | What is targeted |
|---|---|---|
| Promotion per product | Line | A precise item selection, chosen from a pick list. |
| Promotion per category | Line | A whole category: all its items inherit the discount. |
| Invoice promotion | Document | No item at all: the discount applies to every line of the document. |
The document promotion is never a footer discount: it is applied line by line, exactly like an item promotion. That is what lets it compete with the other promotions on equal terms.
A fourth source exists, the promotion per delegation (by geographical region). It is not offered in the standard menu; it is still taken into account by the engine if it has been configured.
Eligibility conditions
For a promotion to apply to a line, four conditions must be met at the same time.
The customer belongs to the promotion's customer group — or the promotion has no group at all, and then applies to every customer.
The item is in the promotion's list, or belongs to the promoted category.
Today's date falls between the start and end dates, bounds included.
The promotion belongs to the current company (and domain).
Dates are normalised to 00:00:00 and 23:59:59 on save: a promotion valid for today only does work for the whole day.
The customer group is the trickiest point. Leaving the group empty (“---”) means all customers. A group that is set but has no members does not make the promotion universal: it simply applies to nobody.
Best promotion, never cumulative
This is the engine's core rule: when several promotions apply to the same line, Swifto keeps the one with the highest percentage. Discounts never add up.
| Promotion source | Percentage | Kept? |
|---|---|---|
| Promotion per product | 10% | No |
| Promotion per category | 15% | Yes — the highest |
| Invoice promotion (document) | 12% | No |
| Discount applied to the line | 15% | — |
| Rule | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Competition, not accumulation | 10% + 15% never gives 25%. The line receives 15%. |
| The document competes | The invoice promotion is compared to line promotions, item by item. |
| Best for the customer | In case of a tie the result is identical: the customer always gets the most favourable rate. |
In practice, stacking promotions to “reinforce” a campaign is pointless: only the strongest counts. One clear promotion beats an unreadable pile.
The floor: ex-works price
A promotion can never push the price below the item's ex-works price. That is the margin safeguard.
| Situation | Swifto's behaviour |
|---|---|
| Discounted price ≥ ex-works price | The discount applies in full. |
| Discounted price < ex-works price | The price is capped at the ex-works price, and the displayed percentage is recomputed to stay consistent with that price. |
| Discount reduced to 0 by the cap | The line reverts to the catalog price and becomes editable again. |
| Ex-works price empty or zero | No floor: the discount applies as is. |
The price is not rejected and the line is not blocked: the promotion is imposed by the system, not entered by the user — they must not be prevented from working over a decision they did not make.
The ex-works price is set on the item record — see Items. Without it, there is no margin protection.
Application in documents
Promotions are resolved on the four sales-cycle documents, as soon as the customer is known.
The promotional price appears as soon as the item is added.
They carry over the promotion in force.
The discounted price follows the goods.
The discount is carried on every invoiced line.
Line indication
When a line is under promotion, the screen shows an explicit message and the price can no longer be edited manually:
The calculation is consistent: it applies to the document's unit price, tax-excluded or tax-included, and rounds to the number of decimals of the document's currency (3 decimals for the Tunisian dinar).
Promotions and mobile apps
The same engine feeds the field applications: promotions are not a back-office exclusivity.
| Application | Effect |
|---|---|
| Swifto Seller | Promotional prices flow down into mobile selling rounds. |
| Swifto CRM Mobile | Orders taken during visits include the discount in force. |
| Online orders | Customer orders benefit from the same promotions as the back office. |
Mobile devices work on synchronised data. A promotion created today is only visible in the field after the next synchronisation — see Mobile applications.
Pitfalls to know
Three configurations produce counter-intuitive results. Knowing them avoids most surprises.
| Configuration | What actually happens |
|---|---|
| Customer group left empty | The promotion applies to all customers. That is often intended — but rarely when it happened by inattention. |
| Group set but with no members | The promotion applies to nobody. Check the group's composition in Categories & groups. |
| Dates in the past | No error is reported: the promotion exists, but is never selected. The screens forbid entering a start date earlier than today. |
An unresolved promotion never blocks document entry. On a technical incident the line simply reverts to the catalog price and the anomaly is logged. So you will not see an error on screen: if an expected discount does not appear, check the setup first.
Test any new promotion on a throwaway quote with a customer representative of the target group, before announcing it commercially.
Good practices
“Back-to-school discount — Southern network” beats “Promo 3”. The label appears in lists and in checks.
A promotion without a clear end becomes a permanent price — and the catalog price loses its meaning.
Since there is no accumulation, multiplying sources reinforces nothing and complicates diagnosis.
It is the only automatic protection against selling at a loss.
Remember to check the effect of promotions on margin in the Sales Dashboard: a campaign that succeeds in volume can lose on margin.
FAQ & Tips
The discount does not apply although the promotion exists?
Check in this order: does the customer belong to the group; is the item really in the list or the category; is today's date within the period; does the promotion belong to the right domain.
The displayed discount is smaller than the one configured?
The price was capped at the ex-works price and the percentage recomputed to stay consistent with the displayed price.
Two promotions should add up?
Accumulation does not exist, by design. If you want 25%, create a 25% promotion — do not stack a 10% and a 15%.
Can I force a price on a promoted line?
No: price and discount are locked as long as the promotion applies. To sell outside the promotion, remove the customer from the target group or close the promotion.
Does a promotion apply to credit notes and returns?
Credit notes carry over the price of the original document: the discount already applied is therefore preserved.
Tip — preparing a sales campaign. First create the target customer group, check that it does contain members, then create the promotion time-boxed to the campaign. Run a control quote on day one.
Swifto ERP · Items & Catalog · User Manual v1.0
Sales promotions — Items & Catalog · Free articles · Home