Ch. 009. Pricing Engines - General Information

 
 

Important information about Pricing Engines in the Pressero system: 

Required. Every product in your store must have an associated pricing engine. In some instances you may want to hide pricing from the customer, but there still needs to be a pricing engine assigned to the product. 

Assign to multiple products. A Pricing Engine you create can be used with more than one Product and more than one Site. Make changes to the pricing engine and all products using it will update automatically. 

Create different pricing engines for the same product. You can have a different Pricing Engine for different Groups of Users in your Customer Storefront. In Products > Pricing, you can pair a Pricing Engine with a Group of Users. Any number of Group/ Pricing Engine pairs can be set for a given Product. Using this feature allows you to offer one price to one set of users and another price to another. An example might be when you give preferred users a discount, or if your site is a wholesale site that offers retail and wholesale pricing. In a B2B customer-specific site, you may want to offer one price to corporate staff while independent sales reps pay a higher price. Refer to the chapter on Site Groups to learn more about how you can create multiple groups of users. 

The following types of Pricing Engines are available (Pricing Engines > +Add New): 

  • UOM (Unit of Measure). You can set a simple pricing method that is based on ordering a box, a carton, or single item (“each”). Example: A box of 200 items is $20.00, a box of 500 is $35.00, and a box of 1,000 is $55.00. The customer selects the unit they want and the system will show the price. See Ch. 011. Creating a Unit of Measure (UOM) Pricing Engine.  

  • Price Breaks. You can set a simple pricing method that is based only on the quantity ordered. Example: You set 1-49 items at $2.00/each, 50-99 at $1.50/each, and 100 and up at $1.00/each. The customer enters the quantity they want and the system calculates the cost. See Ch. 012. Creating a Price Break Pricing Engine

  • Calculator (calculators using the standard method). You can set a number of criteria used in an Excel calculation to determine the price. For example, the customer makes choices for Quantity, Paper Stock, Number of Sides, Paper Size, Turnaround Time, etc. and those selections are used to instantly calculate and display a price. With this Pricing Engine you set parameters (Quantity, Paper Stock, etc.) within Pressero, download the resulting Excel template, make adjustments to the template, and load the finished Excel file back into Pressero. See Ch. 013. Creating a Pricing Calculator Pricing Engine

  • Spreadsheet (calculators using the spreadsheet method). This option is for Excel experts. Same as Calculator, but you create your own Excel file and load it into Pressero. The Spreadsheet pricing engine enables you to manage your own pricing, especially when it is difficult or impossible to fit it into the Calculator pricing engine schema. With Spreadsheet, nearly any spreadsheet that you can use in Excel can be used as a pricing engine. However, macros, special function libraries like the Analysis Toolpak, and design controls -- checkboxes, drop-downs, or other controls that float over the spreadsheet -- are not supported. Drop-downs that live within a cell are supported. See Ch. 014. Creating a Spreadsheet Method Pricing Engine

  • Web2Plan. See Ch. 010. External Pricing Services.  

  • External Service. See Ch. 010. External Pricing Services 

Pricing Engines and Integrated Shipping. If you plan to provide an integrated shipping method (FedEx, UPS, USPS) as an option for those ordering a Product, make sure the Pricing Engine has weights. An integrated shipping option will never work (and won't display) when there are no weights in the Pricing Engine.

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