ChannelEngine: price rules
About this article
This article describes the supported price rules on ChannelEngine and how to use them.
Table of contents
Introduction
ChannelEngine offers multiple options to adjust the price of a product sent to a channel. Price rules add or subtract set amounts in the target currency. It is also possible to add or subtract a percentage of the price. To manage price rules go to Channels, Price rules. If you want to manage the price rules for a specific channel, go to Pricing, Price rules in the top menu of the chosen channel.
To add a price rule, click + Add price rule. You can apply price rules on two levels:
- Channel - applicable on all products for a certain channel.
- Listing - applicable on a specific listing for a certain channel.
- Multiple price rules are allowed, as long as they consist of a single type. This means you can have an unlimited amount of channel price rules and listing price rules, but not combined. You can chain multiple price rules under one listing or channel, but not across them.
- If a product is included in more than one listing, there is a very high chance that different prices are calculated for both listings – based on the price rules applied. The highest price calculated is always used for the export, be it the price resulting from a price rule or not. E.g.: if product X has a final price of 24.95 in listing A and 29.95 in listing B, the price from listing B is used.
- If you use multiple rules, the order of the factors does change the result. Rule 1 is applied first, followed by rule 2, then rule 3, etc.
Pricing options
When adding a price rule, it is possible to choose your own fixed amount or percentage to add or subtract. There is an option to apply rules to products exclusively within a certain price range. In that case, the price range applies to the Input price, be it a default or custom field. It is also possible to select a date range, so your settings return automatically to the default after the end date. E.g.: a summer sale, valid only during the month of July.
- Name - the name of the price rule, used to identify the price rule overview. It is recommended that you make this as descriptive as possible. E.g.: Amazon 10% discount.
- Input - the name of the attribute you want to set the price rule for. By default, this is (ChannelEngine) Price, but it is possible to select other default price fields or even one of the custom fields. Make sure this is an attribute with a valid price value, otherwise price rules have no effect.
- Output - the name of the attribute you want to set the output of the price rule for. By default, this is (ChannelEngine) Price, but it depends on the field you are mapping to be used on a specific channel. If you have a custom attribute, such as Amazon price, and you use that attribute in the Offer mappings for Amazon as well, both the input and the output should be mapped to Amazon price.
- Fixed amount - the fixed amount you want to add to or subtract from the input price. To subtract a fixed amount, add a minus before the value. E.g.: -4.85. Note that a period should be used as the decimal separator for price rules.
- Percentage - the percentage you want to add to or subtract from the input price. To subtract a percentage, add a minus before the value. Example: -20.
- From date - the start date and time from which you want the price rule to apply. E.g.: if you add this rule on the 13th of February with the value 16-2 14:29 as the From date, the rule is applied starting from the first export after the 16th of February at 14:29 CET or CEST. Setting a different timezone is not possible yet.
- To date - the end date and time until which you want the price rule to apply. E.g.: if you add this rule with the value 14-2 15:05 as the To date, the rule is applied starting from the first export after the 14th of February at 15:05 CET or CEST. Setting a different timezone is not possible yet.
- From price - the input price from which a price rule is applied. E.g.: if the value is set to 20, a price of EUR 19.99 does not trigger the rule; if the price is EUR 20.00 or higher it does.
- To price - the output price to which a price rule is applied. E.g.: if the value is set to 50, a price of EUR 50.00 triggers the rule; if it is EUR 50.01 or higher it does not.
- Rounding - used to round the output of a price rule to a more commercially friendly value. E.g.: by using Round UP to nearest .99, a price of EUR 19.84 would be converted to EUR 19.99.
- Level - choose if the price rule is applied to a specific listing or to all products of a channel. Bear in mind that listing and channel price rules cannot be combined. If both are active for a product, only the listing rule is applied.
Currency conversion
It is possible to convert your default currency to the currency of a channel or country-based currency of a channel. This is particularly useful for multi-country channels, such as Spartoo and Miinto.
The exchange rates for all currencies are retrieved once a day from the European Central Bank (ECB), which updates them once a day. If you want to know more about the rates used, check out the website of the ECB.
Note that the currency being converted from is the default currency set for your account. E.g.: if it is set to EUR, you can set the conversion to GBP, USD, CAD, etc.
Adding currency conversion rules
To add a currency conversion rule, go to the channel's dashboard and select Pricing > + Add currency conversion. You are then presented with a screen showing the following options:
- Name - the name of the currency conversion, used to identify the rule. It is recommended that you make this as descriptive as possible. E.g.: Amazon USD to EUR.
- Input - the name of the attribute you want to set the price rule for. By default, this is (ChannelEngine) Price, but it is possible to select other default price fields or even one of the custom fields. Make sure this is an attribute with a valid price value, otherwise price rules have no effect.
- Output - the name of the attribute you want to set the output of the price rule for. By default, this is (ChannelEngine) Price, but it depends on the field you are mapping to be used on a specific channel. If you have a custom attribute name such as Amazon price and you use that attribute in the Offer mappings for Amazon as well, both the input and the output should be mapped to Amazon price.
- From currency - the currency you want to convert from, i.e.: your default currency.
- To currency - the currency you want to convert to.
- Rounding - used to round the output of a price rule to a more commercially friendly value. E.g.: by using Round UP to nearest .99, a price of EUR 19.84 would be converted to EUR 19.99.
- Level - choose if the price rule is applied to a specific listing or to all products of a channel. Bear in mind that listing and channel price rules cannot be combined. If both are active for a product, only the listing rule is applied.
Copying existing rules
When setting price rules, especially if you have multiple rules based on price ranges, it is a good practice to use existing price rules as a template for new price rules.
The option to copy prices can be found in the price rule overview, under Channels, Price rules. Select the Copy existing price rule option, and the following popup appears.
You can select the price rule you wish to copy, if you want to copy this on a channel or listing level, and to which specific channel or listing this needs to be copied. Note that if you select a listing, this feature also copies that listing to the channel.
Alternatively, you can copy a price rule from the price rules of a specific marketplace using one of the following options:
- Copy existing price rule - copy an existing price rule from any marketplace in your environment.
- Copy from channel - copy an existing price rule from from the same marketplace, but from a different country. E.g.: from Amazon DE to Amazon FR.
Once you select the preferred method of copying, you can chose which price rule you wish to copy. This new price rule copies the name of the original rule by adding the [COPY] prefix to it. However, you can rename and edit the new price rule as you see fit. If you make any changes, make sure to save the price rule.
Examples
Listing/Channel price rules
Input
- Price: EUR 20.00
- Catalog price: EUR 30.00
- Rule 1 (Price -> Price): EUR +5.00
- Rule 2 (Price -> Price): +15%
- Rule 3 (Catalog -> Price): -25%
Result
- 1) 20 + 5 = 25 --> [Price] (this is a channel rule, so it is not applied as there are also listing rules)
- 2) 20 * 1.15 = 23 --> [Price] (the original price value of EUR 20.00 is used)
- 3) 30 * 0.75 = 22.50 EUR --> [Price] (this is also the output, as the rule uses a different input attribute and this is the last rule to be applied)
Exported price
EUR 22.50
Currency conversion rules
Input
- Price: EUR 20.00
- Rule 1 (Price -> Price): convert to GBP
- Rule 2 (Price -> Price): +10%
Result
- 1) 20 * 0.8769 = GBP 17.54 --> [Price]
- 2) 17.54 * 1.10 = 19.30 --> [Price]
Exported price
GBP 19.30
Chaining price rules
Input
- Prijs Spanje: EUR 20.00
- Price: EUR 17.50
- Rule 1 (Prijs Spanje -> Price): +1.75%
- Rule 2 (Price -> Price): +15%
- Rule 3 (Price -> Price): +21%
Result
- 1) 20 * 1.0175 = 20.35 --> [Price]
- 2) 20.35 * 1.15 = 23.40 --> [Price] (if the input was anything other than Price, the chaining would fail and result in a different output)
- 3) 23.40 * 1.21 = EUR 28.32
Exported price
EUR 28.32
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