It is possible to create a special group in eRatex whose members receive discounts on their purchases. Once this is set up on your site, customers will be able to opt-in to these groups by following a link and signing up for an account on your site. This can be a great way to provide discount promotions to active students or alumni.
On a technical level, customers are adding themselves to merchant-defined customer levels which allows for customer level discount promotions.
Customer Flow
There's a unique flow for a customer signing up for a special group:
They are directed to a Landing Page which requests them to log in (or create an account).
Please see Topic Configuration below for more information on the Landing Page Topic.
The link to the Landing Page should be provided to your customers via emails or through another advertising method alongside the Registration Topic's Promo Password. For more on the Promo Password, please see below in the Promo Password and Code section.
The link to the Landing Page will look like the following, replacing "33" with your Landing Page Topic's ID:
https://yoursite.com/grouppromotion?topicid=33
A Registration Link must be included in the Landing Topic HTML
Here is a sample link to the Registration Topic:
<a href="(!TopicLink Name='RegisterDiscountClub'!)">Register for our Discount Club (requires the password you received!)</a>
When the customer clicks the Registration Link, they will be prompted for the Promo Password, which needs to have been provided to them with the advertising. Entering the Promo Password successfully allows them to navigate to the Registration Topic page.
Please see Promo Password and Code for details on the Promo Password.
Please see Topic Configuration below for more information on the Registration Topic.
The Registration Topic must contain a Registration Link which registers that customer to a Customer Level.
Please see the manual page here for details on registering a new Customer Level.
An example Registration Link using customer level "3" is below:
<a href="(!Url ActionName='Submit' ControllerName='GroupPromotion' levelId='3'!)">Click here, Alumni, to join our Discount Club! Use code "AlumniClub20" at checkout!</a>
On the Registration Topic page, clicking the Registration Link allows the customer to join the special group (Customer Level) and begin receiving their promotion benefits.
The benefits received re dependent on promotions created for that Customer Level. Using these promotions in checkout will require a promo code.
Please see the manual page here for details on registering a new Customer Level.
Please see the manual page here for details on creating a Customer Level-targeted promotion.
In our example, a customer signing up for the "Discount Club" special group will become a part of Customer Level "3", which entitles them to using the "AlumniClub20" 20%-off
Promo Code during checkout. The "AlumniClub20" Promo Code is tied to a configured Promotion with a Customer Level Requirement of "3".
During checkout, the customer enters their special group promo code and receives their discount.
Topic Configuration
Registration Topic
This Topic should be created first, as you must provide a link to it inside the Landing Page Topic.
The Registration Topic is used to provide the Promo Code to the customers and to sign them up for a Customer Level.
In Administration->Content->Manage Topics, create a new Topic. Example: "RegisterDiscountClub"
Give the Topic a Name and Title. Please make a note of the Name you give the Topic as it will be used in a link on the Landing Page.
Add a Group Promotion registration link in the Topic's HTML like the following, substituting the Customer Level ID in "levelId" as needed for your promotion:
<a href="(!Url ActionName='Submit' ControllerName='GroupPromotion' levelId='3'!)">Click here, Alumni, to join our Discount Club! Use code "AlumniClub20" at checkout!</a>
Landing Page Topic
In Administration->Content->Manage Topics, create a new Topic. Example: "AlumniDiscountLandingPage"
Give the Topic a Name and Title. Add a Registration Link like the following to the HTML, which links to your Registration Topic. The Name must match what you created above for the Registration Topic:
<a href="(!TopicLink Name='RegisterDiscountClub'!)">Register for our Discount Club (requires the password you received!)</a>
Save the Topic. After it is saved, search for it using the Filter and make note of the ID it was given. You will need this ID in your marketing material link.
Direct your customers to the Landing Page in your advertising using a link like the following, replacing "33" with your Landing Page Topic's ID:
https://yoursite.com/grouppromotion?topicid=33
Promo Password and Code
Promo Password
This is the Password which you will configure for the Registration Topic. When creating the Registration Topic, enter it into the Password field and provide this password in your advertising material alongside the Landing Page link.
Promo Code
This is the promotion code that members of your Special Group will use during checkout. Because the Promo Code is tied to a Customer Level promotion, non-group shoppers will not be
able to use it. This is configured in Administration->Marketing->Manage Promotions, in the Promo Code field.
Sample Setup
Create a promotion customer level to represent your discount group.
Go to Contacts/Customer Levels and click Create Customer Level
The "Level Allows Promotions on Orders" option must be Yes. After creating this customer level, take note of the ID it gets assigned. You'll need this for step 3b below.
Create a promotion targeting that customer level. This is done in "Select Promo Requirements"->"Enable Customer Level Requirement" when creating a promotion.
You will be creating two different topics. First, create a promotion registration page topic with, at minimum, the following two things:
This topic must be configured to require a password. The password on this topic will be the code that you send customers in your marketing materials.
The topic must have a link which uses the following URL token, with the numeric customer level ID from your promotion customer level. Clicking this link is what actually adds the customer to your promotion customer level.
<a href="(!Url ActionName='Submit' ControllerName='GroupPromotion' levelId='promotioncustomerlevelid'!)">Your link text here</a>
Example: if your customer level ID was 3 then it'd look like this:
<a href="(!Url ActionName='Submit' ControllerName='GroupPromotion' levelId='3'!)">This is what the customer will see</a>
Create registration page topic:
Go to Admin > Content > Topics > *Create Topic* button.
Give it a Name and a Title, click the "Published" checkbox.
For "Description", in the content area there are three buttons at the bottom, Design, HTML, and Preview.
Click the HTML Button.
Copy the URL from step 3c above into the topic. You are done with the description.
Scroll down to the Password field and enter a "secret password" that the customers will be sent. It doesn't need to be super secure, just not obvious. "FREESTUFF" is fine.
Ensure your topic is visible and the password functionality works.
Next, create a promotion landing page topic that contains a link to your new promotion registration page topic.
You will use a "Token" to put your link on the page.
Example Topic Token: (!TopicLink Name='{mytopic}' !)
The landing page should have a link to your registration topic that indicates that they'll need to enter a promotional code or password to receive their promotion benefits.
Example: "Please click here to enter your promotion code and start saving!"
Again, Create a new topic as in step 4. Add the text from above.
Click the HTML button and put your topic token link into the "Description".
(!TopicLink Name='{mytopic}' !)
After creating your landing page topic, make note of the topic id. You can see the topic id in the list of topics on Admin > Content > Topics. You'll need it in step 7.
Now that your new group promotion is all set up, all you have to do is get your customers to the landing page! Distribute the following link, substituting your landing page topic's ID as indicated, through your preferred marketing channel. Please note that this feature will require your customer to log into the storefront or create an account if they do not already have one.
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