Promotion Restrictions to Identical Products
The restrictions setting limits product selection to identical products. When you set restrictions for a product promotion rule, you configure a single product promotion that can apply to multiple products.
These promotions act as multiple promotions that each apply to a single product. If you don't set restrictions, multiple products can be eligible for a discount, which can result in shoppers mixing and matching those products.
For product promotions with restrictions, the promotion applies to identical products only and applies up to the application limit for each separate product. For shipping promotions with restrictions, the shipment must contain only qualifying products.
These promotion configurations support the restrictions setting:
| Class | Type |
|---|---|
| Product | With amount of qualifying product |
| Product | With number of qualifying products |
| Product | Buy X/Get Y |
| Product | Buy X For Total |
| Shipping | With number of shipment qualifying products |
In the following examples, note how the promotion only applies to identical products.
| Promotion | Type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Buy $50 of identical products in one category and get 10% off | With amount of qualifying products | Buy $50 or more worth of products in the Paper category and get 10% off an Ink category product. |
| Buy 3 identical products in one category and get 25% off, or buy 5 identical products in same category and get 40% off | With number of qualifying products - tiered | Buy 3 or more Film products and get 25% off Film products. Buy 5 or more Film products and get 40% off Film products. |
| Buy 3 identical products in one category and get a fourth identical product free | Buy X/Get Y | Buy 3 or more t-shirts and get 1 t-shirt for free. |
| Buy 3 identical products in one category for $40 | Buy X for Total | Buy 3 products in the Film category or subcategories for total price of $40. |
| Buy 3 identical products in one category for $20 or 5 identical products for $30 | Buy X for Total - tiered | Buy 3 products in the Film category (or subcategories) for the total price of $20. Buy 5 products in the Film category (or subcategories) for the total price of $30. |
Using the Restrictions Setting
Only promotions with the same qualifying and discounted products can require identical products.
When Salesforce B2C Commerce processes a product promotion with restrictions, it partitions all products in the cart into identical groups. Then it attempts to apply the promotion separately to each group of products. Promotion processing is separate for each group of identical products because these promotions are equivalent to separate promotions, with each applying to a single product.
This processing eliminates unusual promotions such as, Buy 3 identical t-shirts, get 50% off identical belts. Only products with identical SKUs (except variation products) count toward quantity conditions and eligible quantities. Without restrictions, all qualifying or discounted products count.
The Maximum Applications field is interpreted as per SKU, and not per promotion.
Bonus products are still handled in the normal manner. The purchased products that qualify a basket for a bonus product must be identical. However, the bonus product itself doesn't need to be identical to the qualifying products.
Buy X/Get Y
This promotion type supports tiers. To ensure that a shopper qualifies for a tier when there are Y discounted products in the cart (for values of Y greater than one), use the following setting, Promotion requires the exact number of discounted products in order to apply. When tiering is used, the most advantageous discount is applied first. If you don't configure tiers, for each unique SKU in the cart, the promotion applies separately.
Example
You have the promotion, Buy three identical products in the Drinks category, get a free identical product. Maximum applications = 1.
| Cart | Promotion |
|---|---|
| Two energy drinks and two sodas | No discount applies because there are no identical products exceeding the quantity threshold |
| Three energy drinks | One free energy drink |
| Three energy drinks and three sodas | One free energy drink and one free soda (each SKU applies once) |
| Three energy drinks and six sodas | One free energy drink and one free soda (each SKU applies only once because max applications = 1) |
Buy X for Total
This promotion type doesn't support separate qualifying and discounted products. For each unique SKU in the cart, the promotion applies to as many tiers as possible.
Example
You have the promotion, Buy three identical products in the Drinks category for $2 or five identical products for $3. Max applications = 1.
| Cart | Promotion |
|---|---|
| Two energy drinks and two sodas | No discount applies because there are no identical products exceeding the quantity threshold |
| Three energy drinks for a total of $2 | Lowest tier applies |
| Three energy drinks and three sodas for a total of $4 (= $2 + $2). | Lowest tier applies for each SKU |
| Three energy drinks and five sodas and pays $5 (= $2 + $3). | Each SKU applies at a different tier |
With Qualifying Products
For the combination of With Amount of Qualifying Products and with Quantity of Qualifying Products, at most one tier applies per SKU.
Example
The base price for all drinks is $1. You have the promotion, Buy three identical products in the Drinks category and get 25% off. Buy five identical products and get 40% off. Max applications = unlimited.
| Cart | Promotion |
|---|---|
| Three energy drinks for a total of $2.25 (= $3 * 0.75) | Lowest tier applies |
| Five energy drinks for a total of $3 (= $5 * 0.60) | Highest tier applies |
| Three energy drinks and three sodas for a total of $4.50 | Lowest tier applies for each SKU |
| Five energy drinks and three sodas for a total of $5.25 | Each SKU applies at a different tier |
Variation Products
If you set restrictions for variation products and set a variation for the product rule, all variations of that base product are considered identical. If you specify a qualifying product as a base product, all qualifying or discounted variations of the base product are treated as a single SKU if the base product is included in the product rule.
If you set the product rule as a variation product but not the base product itself, each variation is considered a separate product.
Examples
You have the promotion, Buy 3 t-shirts of a specific design and get 10% off. The t-shirt with the specific design is a base product with a size variation attribute. It's included in the rules. A shopper buys three shirts in any size and receives the discount because all the shirts are considered identical.
You have the promotion, Buy 3 identical red products and get 20% off on Valentines Day. The catalog contains many variation products representing red products. However, none of the base products are included. The shopper only gets a discount if they buy three of the same variation of products, for example, three red shirts.