Specials

There are 2 important concepts to understand about Specials, Specials and Codes. A Special is the statement and outline of the offer. It states what the offer includes and the type of offer. When a Special is created, it is assigned to a store. This does not limit where it can be used it is merely a tracking tag. A Code is the trigger entered by users to apply that code to the items associated with the Special. A Code can modify the price or percentage of the Special and connect the Code with a specific store and vendor. Codes have beginning and ending dates. An Exclusion can be added to a Code so that it cannot be used at a certain store.

Users can create Specials by adding a New Special.

• Special Name - This name is a shortened version of the Special. We use abbreviations to make searching for Specials easier. A large Original pizza with any one Topping is abbreviated to 1L 1T. Pizza D'Lish codes start with [D]. If there are 2 sizes that the Special can be abbreviated with L/XL. Bread Buds are BB, regular Cin Stix are Cin. Look though the list of all codes and match the abbreviation schema when creating a new name.
• Special Description - This is what the users will see in the various places it will appear when being used. I should concisely describe the special to the user.
• Order Type
  • Delivery - Codes added to this Special will only work on Delivery orders.
  • Pick-Up - Codes added to this Special will only work on Pick-Up orders.
  • Both - Codes added to this Special will work with all orders.
• Minimum Purchase Required - The order subtotal of the value of the items on the order without delivery or Online fees that the order must reach after the code is applied.
• Coupon Required - No is from an old feature. Always set to “Yes.”
• Delivery Fee Included - If set to Yes there is no additional charge for Delivery.
• Apply as Manager Discount - All Codes added to this Special will require a Manager Override to allow the Code to be applied to the order. They cannot be used Online.
• Double Toppings - Allows customers to add double toppings. Normally set to Yes.
• Special Available - Makes the special available. Always set to Yes.
• Max Usage / Order - There are Specials that we want to limit to one use per order. Codes on these Specials must also be limited to one use per order. If a Special has several Codes assigned this option prevents more than one of them being used on the same order.

Set the Search by:

• Special Name - The name of the Special. This is why it is important to follow the existing name schema. You want “1L 1T” to show all one large original pizza with one topping Specials. Searching GEN will bring up all Specials containing the letters gen, like generated.
• Coupon Code - The characters used in the code.

Then enter the search characters in the Search Data: field and click search

Common search wildcards like * are not supported. The search will bring up all specials containing the search characters entered.

If you click on the plus sign to the right of “Coupon Codes” it will expand a list of all the codes that have been added to that Special. There is a flaw in the search feature when a Special has more than 5000 Codes assigned, the Codes cannot be opened for editing. You will see a spinning icon if it disappears and no codes are displayed that means there are too many codes assigned.

Double click on one of the Specials on the results list to open that Special.

The top line is the description that customers see and the Special value if there is one. Codes can modify Special values. Right click on this line to Edit this special's general information as described above in New Special.

Most Specials must have one or more Component Groups. A Component Group is a list of one or more Item Sizes that are included in the Special. Within a Component Group there can be very different items. A common Special we have is Free Bread Buds or Cin Stix. That Special has a Component Group with the Item Sizes Regular Bread Buds and Regular Cin Stix.

If the Special includes more than one option like pizza and a drink, there is a Component Group with all the possible pizza Item Sizes that the customer can chose from and another Component Group with all the drink choices for that Special.

The names of the Component Group only apply to that special and can be anything that describes that Group.

There is an exception for Entire Order Specials. Because those codes apply to any full priced Item Size on the menu you create the Special with a Component Group called “Entire Order” and then delete the Item Size you added to create the “Entire Order” Group. This gives you a Component Group with no Item Sizes listed.

A Component Group can have an Upgrade. This is for Specials like 1M 1T @ $9.99 and you want to allow the customers to Upgrade to a large for $4 more. Upgrades are store specific and the Upgrade added in Admin will only be available at the store that is selected. [The selected store is the store in parentheses next to Change Store in the navigation menu.] If it is desired to have an Upgrade available on a Special at all stores it can be done by running a query in the database. Right click “Available Upgrades” to “Add an upgrade to this component group.”

• New Upgrade
  • Category - The Category of the Item to be added for the Upgrade of the Component Group.
  • Item - The Item to be the Upgrade of the Component Group.
  • Size - The size of the Item to be the Upgrade of the Component Group.
  • Free Toppings - The number of toppings included within the price of the Upgrade.
  • Upgrade Price - The additional amount the customer will pay to get the Upgrade.

If you click on the plus sign to the right of “Coupon Codes” it will expand a list of all the codes that have been added to that Special. There is a flaw in the search feature when a Special has more than 5000 Codes assigned, the Codes cannot be opened for editing. You will see a spinning icon if it disappears and no codes are displayed that means there are too many codes assigned, and they cannot be displayed with this tool.

If you right click on Coupon Codes, you will see “Add a coupon code for this special.” Click on that message to open the Add Coupon window.

• Code Value: - The actual code value to be entered by the customer to apply that Special to the order. We tend to enter the code value in all caps, but the codes are not case sensitive. Capitalization does not matter. See code creation below.
• Price Modifier: - The is a modification of the price or percentage of the Special. When Specials are created, they will have a price, a percentage, or a number of dollars off. The modifier here, which can be plus or minus, will change the price, percentage, or number of dollars off of the offer. We don't modify Dollars Off Specials. A new Special is created for each different Dollars Off Special.
• Start Date: - The first day the Code will be available for use.
• End Date: - The last date that the Code will be available for use. This can be the same day as the Start Date for those offers only good for one day.
• Max Redemptions: - This sets the number of times the Code Value can be used. Most codes are created with “-1” which makes them unlimited. The redemption count needs to be between -1 (infinite) and 5000. Generated codes are created as 1 time use codes.
• Max Usage / Order: - There are occasions when we want a Code to be unlimited as to redemptions but only allow one per order. It is only the rare Code that you would set to 1 rather than -1. The Special Max Usage / Order must also be set to 1.
• Available Online: - A holdover from 2006. All Codes are set to True.
• Web Only: - This is merely a tag for stat analysis. We sometimes have Codes that state in the advertised offer Online Only. Set this this to True for those offers. However, MrJim's friend in store can accept it anyway if desired.
• Vendor: - It is very important to track Code responses by Vendor. Assign the proper vendor to every Code created.

Coupon Codes include the store number that is selected in admin when the Code is created. This is more of a tracking feature as any and all codes created can be used at any location. Codes for general Franchise Service Center placed advertising are created in Store 0300. Zee advertising codes are created for that zee's store by selecting the location before adding the Code.

Right click on the code to modify or remove it.

• Edit this coupon code's information. - Use this to edit an existing Code. We always create new Codes for new offers, so this is mostly used to correct errors.
• Remove this coupon code. - Coupon Codes normally live forever and again this would be used rarely.
• Add an exclusion for this code. - This Exclusion will modify a code so that it cannot be used at a specific store. Don't allow a zee to Exclude his store from any Franchise Service Center offers, but if a zee does not wish to honor an offer created by another zee he can request to be excluded. Click on the message and then select the Store to Exclude.

The default Special option is for the Special to always be available. But there are times when a Special is limited to certain day parts like our 20% off which is only available weekdays from 2 - 5. When a Special has limited availability, it must be set for every day of the week as needed.

• Availability: - Yes, it is available at the times below, or No, it is not available at the times below.
• Time Start: - Default is 12:00 AM
• Time End: - Default is 11:59 PM

2 TO 5 Example

Generally, Code Values are created with 4 letter characters. They are entered in all caps but are not case sensitive when a customer applies them.

Code values are only created by the Marketing department of the Franchise Service Center. Care must be taken to ensure there are no duplicate Code Values, and they are properly created for use.

Some examples of naming guidelines we use:

• Codes created for Franchise Service Center ads on the web begin with “W.”
• Codes generated by the OIC Code Generator start with the 4-digit user ID of the creator and are 10 characters long.
• We don't use I, 1, 0, nor O to prevent user confusion.
• The codes for Rewards reminders, Bounce Back, and we miss you emails sent every morning have 8 characters.