TRIADR H A R D G O O D S. Pricing and Promotions

Transcription

1 TRIADR H A R D G O O D S Pricing and Promotions

2 Created by Learning Products Development Copyright 1986, 1989, Triad Systems Corporation. All Rights Reserved Hardgoods Division 3055 Triad Drive Livermore, CA WARNING This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy. If not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, it may cause interference to radio communications. It has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A computing device pursuant to Subpart J of Part 15 of the FCC rules, which are designed to provide reasonable protection against such interference when operated in a commercial environment. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause interference, in which case the user, at his own expense, must take whatever measures may be required to correct the interference. Publication No Revision No. 4508

3 Contents Using This Manual 1 In This Section 1-1 About Pricing 1-1 Who Should Read This Manual 1-1 What This Manual Does Not Contain 1-3 Conventions Used in This Manual 1-3 Related Publications 1-4 Other Ways to Learn About Pricing and Promotions 1-5 Where to Get Help 1-5 Introduction 2 About Pricing 2-1 About Promotions 2-3 Questions You May Have 2-5 Report RPC Tutorial 3 About This Tutorial 3-1 Overview 3-1 Tutorial Exercises 3-7 Changing Prices 4 Adding Price Changes for a Group of Items (Function IPC and Report RPC) 4-1 Adding Price Changes for a Range of Items (Report RPC) 4-9 Editing Price Changes (Function IPC, Screen M) 4-14 Deleting Price Changes for a Range of Items (Report RPC) 4-16 i

4 Activating Price Changes (Report RPC, Option F) 4-18 Changing Replacement Cost, Retail Price, or Desired GP% for a Single Item (Function IMU) 4-22 Changing Other prices and Costs for a Single Item (Function IMU) 4-26 Changing Costs or Prices During Receiving (Function RP and Report RRP) 4-30 Changing the Prices You Charge Customers (Function MCR) 4-37 Updating Costs and Retail Prices for a Kit (Report RKR) 4-39 Looking Up Prices 5 Customizing the <Next Item> Key (Function NEX) 5-1 Displaying Costs and Prices for a Single Item (Function IMU, Screen P) 5-3 Quickly Displaying Current Prices and Costs for a Range of Items (Function IQR) 5-4 Printing a Price Book (Report RPB) 5-7 Browsing Through the Price Change File (Function IPC, Screen M) 5-10 Printing a List of the Price Changes in the Price Change File (Report RPC) 5-12 Performing What If Analysis on Desired Gross Profit (Function IQR) 5-14 Using Price Rounding 6 About Price Rounding 6-1 Changing the Price Rounding Table (Function PRO) 6-2 Changing Price Rounding for an Item (Function IMU, Screen C) 6-4 Changing Price Rounding for a Range of Items (Report RICU) 6-6 ii

5 Using Matrix Prices 7 About Matrix Prices (Advanced POS Users Only) 7-1 Adding Product Codes to the Price Matrix Function (MPM) 7-2 Changing How the System Calculates Matrix Prices (Function MPM) 7-5 Adding, Changing, or Deleting a Product Code for an Item (Function IMU, Screen C) 7-7 Adding or Changing the Product Code for a Range of Items (Function ICU) 7-9 Updating Matrix Prices (Report RPC, Options A and F) 7-13 Using Quantity Price Breaks 8 About Quantity Price Breaks (Advanced Inventory Users Only) 8-1 Changing the Quantity Break Table (Function MQB) 8-2 Changing the Quantity Break Code for an Item (Function IMU, Screen C) 8-4 Changing Quantity Break Codes for a Range of Items (Report RICU) 8-6 Putting Items on Promotion 9 Putting Individual Items in the Promotion File (Function MIP) 9-1 Printing Items in the Promotion File (Report RPM) 9-5 Adding a Range of Items to the Promotion File (Report RPD) 9-8 Activating Promotion Prices 9-13 Preventing Items From Going On and Off Promotion 9-17 Putting a Single Item on Promotion Quickly (Function IMU, Screen P) 9-19 iii

6 Changing the Promotion File 1 0 Changing a Range of Promotion Items 10-1 Changing the Percent Off Retail for a Range of Items 10-4 Changing the Promotion File for Individual Items (Function MIP) 10-7 Changing the Promotion Price for an Item Already on Promotion (Function MIP) Changing Promotion Dates for a Future Promotion (Report RPD) Extending a Promotion for an Individual Item Extending a Promotion Already Underway Taking Items Off Promotion 1 1 Printing Sales History for the Promotion (Report RPM) 11-1 Returning Items to Regular Retail Prices (Report RUP) 11-4 Returning a Single Item to Regular Retail Quickly (Function IMU, Screen P) 11-9 Looking Up Promotions 1 2 What Can You Look Up 12-1 Printing Promotion Information 1 3 Printing Items on Promotion (Report RIS) 13-1 Previewing Promotion Prices for a Range of Items (Report RPD) 13-3 Displaying and Printing Promotional Sales History (Function ISH and Report RSH) (Advanced Inventory Users Only) 13-6 iv

7 Using This Manual In This Section 1-1 About Pricing 1-1 Who Should Read This Manual 1-1 Tabbed Sections 1-2 What This Manual Does Not Contain 1-3 Conventions Used in This Manual 1-3 Related Publications 1-4 Other Ways to Learn About Pricing and Promotions 1-5 Where to Get Help 1-5 i

8 Using This Manual In This Section This section introduces the Pricing Manual, describing, in general terms, the pricing and promotions applications and what they can do for you. This section also describes: who should read this manual how this manual is structured what conventions are used throughout other resources you could use to learn more about pricing and promotions who to call for help About Pricing The Triad system provides very powerful and flexible pricing and promotions applications. You can gain control of gross profit by item, because you can analyze and price your items to achieve your profit goals. You can easily run promotions and track your promotional sales history to help you run your business more efficiently. Who Should Read This Manual If you are in charge of promotions or pricing items at your store, you should be familiar with the procedures included in this manual. The procedures included in this manual can help you control your gross profit by item. 12 Using This Manual In This Section 1-1

9 Tabbed Sections The tabbed sections included in this manual are as follows: USING THIS MANUAL describes the manual, structure, and conventions that will help you find the information you need. INTRODUCTION TO PRICING explains basic pricing control concepts and common questions and answers about pricing. REPORT RPC TUTORIAL provides realistic examples and explains how to enter the information using the Flexible Pricing Screen (second screen of Report RPC). CHANGING PRICES describes all the different procedures available for changing prices depending on the situation. LOOKING UP PRICES provides all procedures available for displaying prices on your system. USING PRICE ROUNDING describes how to use your system s price rounding feature. USING MATRIX PRICES describes how to use your system s matrix price feature. USING QUANTITY PRICE BREAKS describes how to use your system s quantity price break feature. PUTTING ITEMS ON PROMOTION describes the different methods for placing items on promotion so that promotion prices are charged at POS. CHANGING THE PROMOTION FILE describes how to change information in the Promotion File. TAKING ITEMS OFF PROMOTION describes the different procedures for taking items off promotion so that regular retail prices are charged at POS. LOOKING UP PROMOTIONS describes how to look up information in the Promotion File. PRINTING PROMOTION INFORMATION describes how print various information about promotions. Finally, at the back of the manual is an index to help you find information based on a topic. Using This Manual In This Section

10 What This Manual Does Not Contain This manual does not cover inventory control. For more information about this, see the Inventory Item Information Manual. Conventions Used in This Manual You will notice several style conventions in this manual that have been designed to make the information more accessible. They are described below: Convention Description Tasks Keys Entries Messages Tasks you perform are presented in a two-column format. The left-hand column contains the step or specific action you complete. The right-hand column presents additional explanation about the step, such as messages, and warnings. It also contains additional information about that specific step in the procedure. The keys you press to perform a function at the terminal appear with initial caps, bold face, within delimiters (for example, <Enter>). Actual entries you type at the terminal keyboard are shown in bold face (for example, type IMU ). You may type your entries in either upper- or lowercase letters. The messages and prompts you receive from the system are presented in special type. For example: THIS TRANSACTION HAS BEEN CHANGED 12 Using This Manual WhatThis Manual Does Not Contain 1-3

11 Convention Description Footer At the bottom over every page is a footer. Use these as guides when looking up information. Look at the bottom of this page to see an illustration of a footer. On the top line is the name of this section Using This Manual. Underneath the section name is the topic name Conventions Used in this Manual. Next to the topic name is the page number 1-4. On the opposite side of the page is the software release level 12 Below the software release is the manual s part number References Throughout the manual you are referred to different manuals, sections within the same manual, or page numbers within the same section. Here are the conventions for each part of a reference: Manual names are initial caps, italic. Tabbed sections are initial caps followed by a comma. Procedures are initial caps within quotation marks. For example, please see the Manager's POS Procedures Manual, the tabbed section Security and Control, Checking the Cash Drawer. Related Publications The following user manuals are also related to pricing and promotion control: Functions Manual Reports Manual Using This Manual What This Manual Does Not Contain

12 Other Ways to Learn About Pricing and Promotions Customer Education is a good way to learn about pricing and promotion control. Contact your Customer Education Representative (CER) about attending the Inventory Maintenance Class. This manual is your best bet for everyday reference. Always check here first if you have a question or problem. Where to Get Help If you have difficulty with any of the procedures in this manual, contact the Advice Line or your CER. You should call the Advice Line about any error messages, and call your CER for advice about implementing store-specific procedures on your Triad system. 12 Using This Manual Other Ways to Learn About Pricing and Promotions 1-5

13 Introduction About Pricing 2-1 How the System Makes Price Changes 2-2 About Promotions 2-3 Putting Items On Promotion 2-3 Putting Items On Promotion Quickly 2-3 Taking Items Off Promotion 2-4 Taking Items Off Promotion Quickly 2-4 Questions You May Have 2-5 i

14 Introduction About Pricing With your Triad system, you can: quickly change a price, cost or desired gross profit percent for an item. change prices, costs or gross profit percent for a group of different items. change the prices, costs or gross profit percent for a range of items. display the current prices for a range of items and then enter new prices. enter new prices, costs or desired gross profit percent in the system before they take effect. design your own price changes and let the system calculate them. change retail prices and replacement costs during receiving. update the costs and retail prices for kits. look up future price changes. look up current costs and prices for items. preview price changes for a range of items. quickly display current costs and prices. determine how the system rounds prices. assign different quantity break prices to different items. give different types of customers different discounts depending on the type of item they purchase. print price labels and bin labels. print a Price Book. 12 Introduction About Pricing 2-1

15 How the System Makes Price Changes When you change item prices, the system uses the: Price Change File (temporary work file) Purchasing File (temporary work file) Inventory File (contains item prices) If you want to change prices on a single item: Enter the changes in Function LOD or Function IMU. The system immediately changes the Inventory File. At POS, the system will charge the correct amount immediately after the change. If you want to change prices on more than one item: Enter changes in Function IPC or RPC. The system keeps the changes in the Price Change File. On the day you want prices to change, run Report RPC, Option F. The system moves the price changes from the Price Change File to the Inventory File. NOTE: If prices need to be effective immediately, run Report RPC, Option F after adding the price changes to the Price Change File. As soon as the report finishes printing, the changes will be in the Inventory File the system will charge customers the correct price at POS. You can also change costs and prices during receiving. Enter new costs or retail prices as you post items. The system keeps the changes to the Purchasing File. When you run Report RRP, Option F, the price changes will move to the Inventory File. After the report finishes printing, the changes will be in the Inventory File the system will charge customers the correct price at POS. Introduction About Pricing

16 About Promotions With your Triad system, you can: quickly put an item on promotion. put a group of different items on promotion. put a range of items on promotion (for example, all the items in a department). print sales history for promotions. take items off promotion. return them to regular retail prices. change promotion prices and dates, even after the promotion is underway. look up all the future promotions and promotions underway for a specific item, or a range of items. preview promotion prices for a range of items. display and print all the promotion history from the past year for selected items (Advanced Inventory users only). Putting Items On Promotion Use Function MIP or Report RPD to put items on promotion. On the night before the promotion is scheduled to begin, run Report RUP, Option F. The system moves the promotional prices to the Inventory File. The next day, customers will be charged correctly at POS. Putting Items on Promotion Quickly In a few cases, you may want to begin selling an item at a promotion price immediately. You can add the promotional price on the Pricing Screen of Function IMU. The promotional price will go directly into the system s Inventory File and will be effective immediately. At POS, the promotion price will display automatically, and customers will be charged the correct price immediately. NOTE: You can t use Report RPM to print sales history for items you put on promotion this way. If you re concerned about employees entering promotion prices in Function IMU, you can make adjustments in the security system. For more information, see the Security Guide. 12 Introduction About Promotions 2-3

17 Taking Items Off Promotion It is important to return promotional items to regular retail prices immediately after the promotion. At the end of the promotion, run Report RPM. You can review the promotion sales and keep the report for future reference. After you run Report RPM, run Report RUP, Option F to delete the promotional prices from the Inventory File. Customers will be charged correctly at POS. Taking Items off Promotion Quickly If you decide to take the item off promotion, you can clear the promotion price on the Pricing Screen of Function IMU. Introduction About Promotions

18 Questions You May Have What if I add a price change to the Price Change File and there s already a change for this item in the Price Change File? If there s a change for the specific cost or price for that item already in the Price Change File, the system will replace it with your latest change. If there is a change for a different cost or price for that item already in the Price Change File, the system will add your latest change for the item to the Price Change File. NOTE: The original price change will remain untouched. Example Last week, you added a change in replacement cost for ball pein hammers. The cost change was not effective until later in the month, so you did not move the change to the Inventory File. This week, your vendor informs you that the cost will be different than he originally thought. You now add a new replacement cost for ball pein hammers to the Price Change File. The system will delete the replacement cost you added last week. The new replacement cost for ball pein hammers will be stored in the Price Change File until you move it to the Inventory File. If I don t activate price changes, will they stay in the Price Change File indefinitely? No. When you run RPC, Option F, price changes which do not fall in the From and To ranges and are more than 6 days old (with an effective date more than 6 days earlier than the date when you're running the report) will be deleted. Example If you printed RPC, Option F, on December 8, the system will delete all the price changes which don t fall in the From and To ranges you selected and have effective dates December 1 and earlier. 12 Introduction Questions You May Have 2-5

19 If I change prices frequently, how can I save time? If you change prices almost daily, add Report RPC, Option F to your end-of-day queue. You can change prices the night before they take effect. It saves time during a busy day, and the price changes will move automatically to the Inventory File before business hours. If you do add Report RPC, Option F to your nightly queue, when you add price changes in Function IPC or RPC, enter the date on which the end-of-day queue will be run. Example You want a price change to take effect on Thursday, June 4. Enter June 3 for the effective date. After the store closes on Wednesday, June 3, the system will run Report RPC in the endof-day queue. Then, the new prices will be in effect when the store opens the next morning, Thursday, June 4. If you don t use the date of the end-of-day queue as the effective date, price changes will not move to the Inventory File on time. Is there an easy way to make sure my matrix prices are always up to date? If you do not have any future price changes in the Price Change File, you can: add Report RPC, Option A and Option 4 to your current endof-day queue (use today s date as Date Effective) immediately following the first Report RPC, add Report RPC, Option F (include the same From and To ranges as in the first Report RPC) You can use this queue indefinitely even though Date Effective stays the same. If a customer who has been assigned a Matrix Price buys an item on promotion, what price displays at POS? The system uses best pricing, so the lowest price displays at POS. The system compares the promotion, matrix price, and quantity break price for an item, and displays the lowest price appropriate for that customer and purchase quantity. What costs and prices can I change during receiving? During receiving, you can change replacement cost and retail price. In addition, Lumber/Contractor POS Users can change market cost. Whenever you run Report RRP, Option F to finalize receipts, the system updates average cost. In special cases, the system will update manufacturing vendor cost when you change replacement cost. The system updates certain cost fields depending on the vendor on the purchase order (PO), and the primary vendor and manufacturing vendor assigned to the item in the Inventory File. Introduction Questions You May Have

20 If the vendor on the PO is the secondary vendor, and you change the replacement cost during receiving, the system updates replacement cost only. In rare cases, the vendor on the PO may be a vendor which is not the primary, secondary, or manufacturer vendor for the item. In this situation, if you change replacement cost during receiving, the system updates replacement cost only. See the following table for examples. Primary Vendor (Inventory File) Mfr. Vendor (Inv. File) Vendor on the PO System Updates XYZ XYZ XYZ Mfr Cost Only XYZ ABC XYZ Replacement Cost Only STU XYZ XYZ Mfr Cost Only blank XYZ XYZ Replacement and Mfr Costs Is there an easy way to initially load retail prices and replacement costs, after items have been loaded into the system? Yes. You can use Function FIL (Flexible Loading) to initially load retail prices and replacement costs. See the Inventory Item Information Manual for more information. If you add a retail price and the replacement cost for that item is blank, the system will use the new retail price and desired gross profit percent for that item to calculate a new replacement cost. If you add a replacement cost and the retail price for that item is blank, the system will use the new replacement cost and the desired gross profit percent for that item to calculate a new retail price. The system rounds retail prices for an item based on the Price Rounding field in Function IMU, Screen C. Then, when the system moves the retail price to the Inventory File, it will also add the newly calculated retail price and update matrix prices based on cost. When I load or change costs and prices, will the system update matrix prices? If you change retail prices, or if the system calculates a new retail price based on a new replacement cost, the system will automatically update all (-) type matrix prices (matrix prices which are discounted from retail). The system will never automatically update (+) type matrix prices (matrix prices which are marked up from cost). 12 Introduction Questions You May Have 2-7

21 If I change costs, prices, or desired gross profit percent for a component item, will the system automatically change the kit price? (Advanced Inventory users only) No. The kit price will not be updated automatically. After you change prices for an item in the Inventory File, check to see if it s part of a kit in your store. You can print a list of the kits and the items that make up each kit. If the item is part of the kit, see the tabbed section Updating Retail Prices and Costs for Kits. If I change the cost and price for a Tally 2 component, will the system update the cost and price of its parent tally? No. When you change the cost or retail price of a component tally, the system does not update the cost and price of the parent tally. When you change the cost or retail price of a parent tally, the system does not update the cost and price of its components. When you change the cost or price of a Tally 2 parent or component, you must make any necessary adjustments to the other prices and costs of the Tally 2. In a multistore system, how does the system use desired gross profit percent, price, and cost? If the Cost Used in Calculations field in Function MIC is R (replacement cost), you can enter the following in Functions LOD or IMU: the retail price the replacement cost the desired gross profit percent or enter any two of the three. When you press <Change>, the system fills in the blank field. Example If you enter the replacement cost and the desired gross profit percent, and leave the retail price blank, the system calculates the retail price. If the Cost Used in Calculations field in Function MIC is A(average cost), you can enter the following in Functions LOD or IMU: the retail price the replacement cost the desired gross profit percent or enter any two of the three. When you press <Change>, the system fills in the blank field. Introduction Questions You May Have

22 Example If you enter the replacement cost and the desired gross profit percent, and leave the retail price blank, the system updates average cost. It also uses this new average cost and the desired gross profit percent to calculate the retail price. How does the system fill in desired gross profit percent for a single-store system? If you press <Clear Field> at Desired GP% (in Function LOD or IMU) and then press <Change>, the system will fill in the desired gross profit percent for the item. The system fills in the desired gross profit percent based on: whether the item has a class and whether the item has a retail price and replacement cost If the item has a replacement cost and retail price, the system will fill in desired gross profit percent with the gross profit percent it calculates from the item s replacement cost (or average cost, depending on what is entered in the Cost Used in Calculations field in Function MIC) and retail price. If the item has a class but has either: no replacement cost (or average cost) or no retail price then the system fills in the gross profit percent for that class as it was set up in Function MCL If the item has no class and has either: no replacement cost (or average cost) or no retail price then the system fills in the gross profit percent for the item s department as it was set up in Function MDE 12 Introduction Questions You May Have 2-9

23 How does the system fill in the desired gross profit percent for a multistore system? If you press <Clear Field> at Desired GP% (in Function LOD or IMU) and then press <Change>, the system will fill in the desired gross profit percent for the item. The system fills in the desired gross profit percent based on: whether there is a retail price or a replacement cost (or average cost, depending on the Cost Used in Calculations field in Function MIC) whether the item has a class and the Keep Prices The Same In All Stores field in Function MIC During loading, you set the Inventory constants in Function MIC. At Keep Prices The Same In All Stores, you typed Yes or No. WARNING Keep Prices The Same In All Stores field must be entered once and never changed! The chart below shows how the system fills in Desired Gross Profit. NOTE: The chart assumes that the Cost Used In Calculations field in Function MIC is Replacement Cost. If it is Average Cost, the system uses the average cost to calculate the desired gross profit percent and retail price. Introduction Questions You May Have

24 Keep Prices The Same (Function MIC) Cost (Function IMU, Pricing Screen) Retail (Function IMU, Pricing Screen) Department (Function IMU, Stocking Screen) Class Price (Function IMU, Stocking Screen) What desired GP% the system fills in (Function IMU, Pricing Screen) Yes Item has a replace cost. Item has a retail price. Item has a dept. (as required). Item may or may not have a class. Calculates the GP% from the replace cost (or average cost) and retail. Fills in this GP%. Yes Item has a replace cost. Item does not have retail price. Item has a dept. (as required). Item may or may not have a class. Fills in the GP% from Minimum Gross Profit % field in Function MIC. Uses this GP% and the replace cost to calculate retail price. Fills in this retail price. Yes Item does not have replace cost. Item has a retail price. Item has a dept. (as required). Item may or may not have a class. Fills in the GP% from Minimum Gross Profit % field in Function MIC. Uses this GP% and the retail price to calculate replace cost. Yes Item does not have a replace cost. Item does not have a retail price. Item has a dept. (as required). Item may or may not have a class. Fills in the GP% from Minimum Gross Profit % field in MIC. Replace cost and retail price remain blank. No Item does not have a replace cost. Item does not have a retail price. Item has a dept. (as required). Item does not have a class. Fills in the dept. GP% as set up in Function MDE. Replace cost and retail price remain blank. (continued on next page) 12 Introduction Questions You May Have 2-11

25 Keep Prices The Same (Function MIC) Cost (Function IMU, Pricing Screen) Retail (Function IMU, Pricing Screen) Department (Function IMU, Stocking Screen) Class Price (Function IMU, Stocking Screen) What desired GP% the system fills in (Function IMU, Pricing Screen) No Item does not have a replace cost. Item does not have a retail price. Item has a dept. (as required). Item has a class. Fills in the class GP% as set up in Function MCL. Replace cost and retail price remain blank. No Item does not have a replace cost. Item has a retail price. Item has a dept. (as required). Item does not have a class. Fills in the dept. GP% as set up in Function MDE. Uses the GP% and retail to calculate the replace cost. Fills in this replace cost. No Item does not have a replace cost. Item has a retail price. Item has a dept. (as required). Item has a class Fills in the class GP% as set up in Function MCL. Uses the GP% and retail price to calculate the replace cost. Fills in this replace cost. No Item has a replace cost. Item does not have a retail price. Items has a dept. (as required). Item does not have a class. Fills in the dept. GP% as set up in Function MDE. Uses the GP% and replace cost to calculate the retail. Fills in this retail. No Item has a replace cost. Item does not have a retail price. Item has a dept. (as required). Item does have a class. Fills in the class GP% as set up in Function MCL. Uses the GP% and replace cost to calculate the retail. Fills in this retail. Introduction Questions You May Have

26 Keep Prices The Same (Function MIC) Cost (Function IMU, Pricing Screen) Retail (Function IMU, Pricing Screen) Department (Function IMU, Stocking Screen) Class Price (Function IMU, Stocking Screen) What desired GP% the system fills in (Function IMU, Pricing Screen) No Item has a replace cost. Item does have a retail price. Item has a dept. (as required). Item may or may not have a class. Uses the retail and replace cost (or average cost) to calculate desired GP%. Fills in this GP%. Can I change matrix prices on the Pricing Screen? (Classic, Decorating/ Specialty, and Lumber/Contractor POS Users Only) Yes. However, the only kind of matrix price you can change on the Pricing screen is (*) type (user-defined matrix prices). The only way to change (*) type matrix prices is by changing them on this screen. The matrix prices (Price 1, Price 2, Price 3, Price 4 and Price 5) are on the Pricing Screen.When you were loading inventory, you set up the matrix prices for each product code in Function MPM. For each product code, there are five different matrix prices. You specified how every matrix price should be calculated, either: according to your own specifications [(*) type] by discounting retail prices [(-) type] or by marking up costs [(+) type] You cannot change (+) type and (-) type matrix prices on this screen. Whenever the retail price changes, the system updates (-) type matrix prices. If you are updating costs which the matrix prices are based upon, you must later update (+) type Matrix Prices. If you don t know what type matrix prices are displayed at each Price field, find the product code for this item. It s the number displayed at Product Code, directly under the Price fields. Then look up the product code for this item in Function MPM. In Function MPM, the five matrix prices are listed for each product code. For each product code, (Matrix) Prices 1-5 are listed across the screen. Before each matrix price is (+), (-) or (*). 12 Introduction Questions You May Have 2-13

27 Is price rounding store-specific or master data? During loading, you entered the inventory constants in Function MIC. If you entered No in the Keep Prices The Same in All Stores? field, price rounding is store-specific data. The system can only change the Price Rounding Code in one store at a time. If you entered Yes in the Keep Prices The Same in All Stores? field, price rounding is master data. The system must change the Price Rounding Code for items in all stores which carry them at the same time. If you are unsure what is entered in Keep Prices The Same In All Stores field, check Function MIC. Once the promotion is in the Promotion File, do promotions automatically begin on their start date? No. You need to activate them. See the tabbed section Putting Items on Promotion, Activating the Promotion Prices. Will items automatically return to regular retail on the end date? No. You must end the promotion. When you end the promotion, the system will return the promotion items to their regular retail prices. See the tabbed section Ending Promotions, Returning Items to Retail Prices. What happens if I add an item to the Promotion File and the item is already in the Promotion File? The same items can be in several promotions as long as the type of promotion is not the same. If you try to put an item in the same type of promotion again, the system will not add the item to the Promotion File and will display a message which tells you why. Can a promotion price be higher than the regular retail price for an item? Yes. The system will allow you to add a promotion price on the Pricing Screen of Function IMU which is higher than the retail price. In Function MIP, when you put a price in the Promotion File, you press <Add>. When you press <Add>, if the promotion price is higher than the regular retail price for an item, a warning message displays. Type A, and press <Enter> to add the promotion price. Introduction Questions You May Have

28 Are there any time savers I can use to put items on promotion, or to take them off again? Yes. You can add Report RUP to your nightly queue the night before the promotion begins and the night the promotion ends. However, make sure to fill in both: Start Date From and To Promotion Type From and To Do not leave the screen blank! If you don t remember to remove Report RUP from the queue the next morning, the system may put items on promotion or take others off the following night. By filling in the Start Date and Promotion Type fields, you can eliminate this danger. Multistore users: If you are running a promotion in more than one (but not all) stores, you need to add Report RUP to the nightly queue for each store where you are running the promotion. Can I put items on promotion or take them off promotion for another store? Yes. You can accomplish the whole procedure for another store in your store, by changing the Store field. How can I tell an item is on promotion? To see if an item is currently on promotion, display the item on the Pricing screen of Function IMU. If there is a price at the Promotion field, the item is on promotion. All items which you put on promotion by printing Report RUP, Option F and are currently on promotion have P at the Promo Sales Code field on the Codes Screen of Function IMU. Can I print reports just for the items on promotion? Yes. By typing P at the Promotional field in the Codes and Exclusions fields of a report initiation screen, you can print reports just for items on promotion. For example, you could print a Flex Report to check the stock levels of items on promotion (Report RIS, Report Type F, Flex Report Name SS). Can I easily put a group of items on promotion at a percent off retail? Yes. For example, you could put all the items in a certain class on promotion at 10% off retail. Once items are in the Promotion File, can I change the start and end dates? Yes. See the tabbed section Changing Promotions, Changing Promotion Dates for a Future Promotion. 12 Introduction Questions You May Have 2-15

29 If I use the Price Matrix and/or the Quantity Break Table, which price will display for promotion items at POS? The lowest price displays at POS. That way, the customer will get the best price. Will the system keep a separate record of promotion sales history for an item? Advanced Inventory users only: The system will only keep promotional sales history for an item until you take the item off promotion. It is important that you print the sales history before you take the item off promotion. To track promotion history, print Report RPM and keep it in your file folder for later reference. You can decide if the system should keep expanded promotional sales history for items. During loading, you entered the Inventory constants in Function MIC. If the Keep Expanded Promotion Data? field is Yes, the system will automatically keep promotional sales history for an item for the past fiscal year. If the Keep Expanded Promotion Data? field is No, the system will not keep promotional sales history for an item. Since promotional history takes up a lot of room in the computer, it s best to set the Keep Expanded Promotion Data? field to No. Then, you can select which items you want to keep promotional history. For those items, change the Keep Promo History field to Y on the Codes Screen of Function IMU. To see promotional sales history, display the items in Function ISH. To print promotional sales history for the items, run Report RSH. If I plan to run the same promotion again, is there any way to save the promotion in the system? Yes. If you plan to run this promotion again later, you should: print promotional sales history print Report RPD with Option F and Update Type C change the Start and End Dates to the dates when you plan to run the promotion again All the items and promotion prices will remain in the Promotion File. Then, when it is time for the promotion to begin again, activate it by printing Report RUP with Option F. Introduction Questions You May Have

30 Will promotional sales history be included in the sales history for an item? You can include or exclude promotion history in an item s sales history. NOTE: Advanced Inventory users, the sales history will help the system determine the order quantity. You should think carefully about whether you want it included. During loading, you entered the Inventory constants in Function MIC. If the Count Promo Sales In Sales History? field is Y, the system will automatically include promotional sales history in the sales history for an item. If the Count Promo Sales History In Sales History? field is N, the system will automatically exclude promotional sales history from the sales history of an item. If you want to make an exception, you can display the item on the Codes Screen of Function IMU. At the Count Promo Sales field, change the Y or N which defaults from Function MIC. What sales history does the system use to calculate order points? (Advanced Inventory users only) Use the chart below to see how the system calculates order points. Count Promo Sales History In Sales History? (Function MIC) Keep Expanded Promotion Data? (Function MIC) How the System Calculates Order Points Y Y The system will keep promotional sales history in the item s regular sales history. It will also keep a separate record of the promotional sales history in the Inventory File. Whenever you order, the system will always use the promotional sales history in its order point calculation. N N The system will not keep promotional sales history. When the system calculates order points, it will never use promotional sales history. So when you order for promotions, you can consider the sales history from the last promotion of these items using Report RPM. (continued on next page) 12 Introduction Questions You May Have 2-17

31 Count Promo Sales History In Sales History? (Function MIC) Keep Expanded Promotion Data? (Function MIC) How the System Calculates Order Points N Y The system will not keep promotional sales history in the item s regular sales history. But, it will keep a separate record of the promotional sales history in the Inventory File. When you are not ordering for a promotion, print Report ROP, Option E to exclude expanded promotion history. When you order for a promotion, print Report ROP without Option E, and the system will include promotional sales history in its order point calculation. Y N The system will keep promotional sales history in the item s regular sales history. But, it will not keep a separate record of the promotional sales history in the Inventory File. When the system calculates order points, it will always include promotional sales history. Introduction Questions You May Have

32 Report RPC Tutorial About This Tutorial 3-1 Overview 3-1 Tutorial Exercises 3-7 Exercise 1 Making Independent Changes 3-7 Marking Up Manufacturing Vendor Costs by 5% 3-8 Discounting List Prices by 10% 3-9 Changing Desired GP% for all Items in a Department to 30% 3-9 Other Examples You Can Use for Practice 3-10 Exercise 2 Making Related Changes 3-10 Making Related Changes Example Making Related Changes Example Marking Up List Prices by 10% 3-13 Having the System Calculate New Replacement Costs 3-14 Having the System Calculate the Retail Prices from New Replacement Cost 3-16 Other Examples You Can Use for Practice 3-17 Exercise 3 Copying One Price to Another 3-18 Other Examples You Can Use for Practice 3-19 Screen Samples For Practice Examples 3-20 i

33 Report RPC Tutorial About This Tutorial This tutorial consists of two parts. The first part is an overview of the report initiation screen, and guides you through the fields with brief explanations. The second part provides exercises you can complete to help you learn the basics of changing prices. You should follow this tutorial step-by-step to learn more about Report RPC and all the flexibility you have for changing prices on your system. Overview As you move the cursor, you will learn about the Flexible Pricing Screen. 1 At any menu, type RPC and press <Enter>. The system displays the Price Change Report Screen: 12 Report RPC Tutorial Overview 3-1

34 You may be asked if your affiliate s costs should print instead of List Prices on Report RPC. This question displays only for Cotter members and Ace dealers. Type Y and press <Enter>. or Type N and press <Enter>. Multistore Users: If prices and costs are master data: Press <Home>. At Store, press <Clear Field>. 2 At Printing Sequence, press <Enter> to accept the default. Since this is a tutorial, you will not be printing your work. The printing sequence is not important. 3 At Options, type B and press <Enter>. 4 Leave the From and To fields at the bottom of the screen blank. Ordinarily, you would fill in the From and To fields with the range of items for which you are making changes. 5 Press <Run>. The screen changes. The system displays the second screen of Report RPC: Price Change Report (RPC) Please Select an Option: _ 1. Change any combination of Price, Cost or Desired GP% (Flexible Pricing Screen). 2. Change Cost. This report will then change the retail price based on the New Cost and the Desired GP% from the Inventory File. 3. Change Desired GP%. This report will then change the retail price based on the new GP% and the cost that you select. 4. Update Matrix Prices - (No Other Changes). Report RPC Tutorial Overview

35 This screen displays only when you select options A or B. The four changes available with options A and B display on this screen. 6 At Please Select an Option, type 1 and press <Enter>. The system displays the Flexible Pricing Screen: Flexible Pricing Screen Option 1 Date Effective: / / Price Change Report (RPC) Store: 1. Calculate Price, Cost, or Desired GP% Changes Using: Current Price, Cost or GP% _ GP, Markup or Discount % (_) % (_) % (_) % (_) % (_) % New Price, Cost or GP% _ 2. Calculate Desired GP% Using: Cost _ Price _ 3. Change Desired GP% To 4. Increase Desired GP% By : : 5. Decrease Desired GP% By : The Flexible Pricing Screen consists of two work areas: the General Work Area and the Desired GP% Work Area. In the work areas, you decide how the system should calculate the change you want. In the General Work Area, you can - Make changes to prices, costs or desired GP%. - Enter up to five changes (the changes can be built on each other, or can be independent). In the Desired GP% Work Area, you can enter only one change in the Desired GP% Work Area. You can use one work area or both work areas. The area you use depends on the changes you want to make. As you complete the steps in the overview, you will become acquainted with each work area. 12 Report RPC Tutorial Overview 3-3

36 7 At Date Effective, type today s date and press <Enter>. At Date Effective, you will always type the date that the prices should take effect. After you type the date, the cursor moves into the General Work Area, under Current Price, Cost or GP%. Use the Current Price, Cost or GP% field to specify the cost, price or GP% the system should use to calculate the new price, cost or GP%. The system will calculate the new prices, costs or desired GP% from other prices, costs or desired GP%. You can use: any of the prices or costs listed at the bottom of your screen or the current desired GP% for each item in the Inventory File 8 Press <Enter> to leave the Current Price, Cost or GP% field blank. For the purposes of this tutorial, you can skip this field. When you press <Enter>, the cursor moves under GP, Markup or Discount %. It is between the parentheses. Use the GP, Markup or Discount field to specify what the system should do to the specified price, cost or GP%, in order to calculate the new GP%, price or cost. The system can: markup or discount the price, cost or GP% to calculate a new price, cost or desired gross profit percent. use a desired gross profit percent to figure a new cost or price. The letter you type in the parentheses under GP, Markup, or Discount % determines what the system will do to the price, cost or GP%. If you want the system to markup the cost, price or GP%, enter M in the space between the parentheses. If you want the system to discount, enter D. If you want the system to use a GP%, enter G. Report RPC Tutorial Overview

37 9 Press <Enter> to leave the parentheses for the GP, Markup or Discount% field blank. The cursor is still under GP, Markup, or Discount %, but it moves into the space in front of %. In the space in front of %: Enter the percentage that the system should markup or discount the price, cost or GP%. or Enter the percent you want the system to use as a desired GP%. 10 Press <Enter> to leave the GP, Markup or Discount% field blank. The cursor moves under New Price, Cost or GP%. The system calculates the New Price, Cost or GP%. You select the appropriate letter from the list which displays at the bottom right corner of your screen. At New Price, Cost or GP%, type the letter for what the system should calculate: the new price the new cost or the new GP% 11 Press <Tab>. The cursor moves into the Desired GP% Work Area, to Calculate Desired GP% Using: Cost_ Price_. In this section, you can only design changes for GP%. Depending on how you want to change the Desired GP%, use one of the following: 2. Calculate Desired GP% Using: Cost_ Price_ 3. Change Desired GP% To:_ 4. Increase Desired GP% By:_ 5. Decrease Desired GP% By:_ The system will calculate a desired GP% based on the cost and price changes you enter in the General Work Area. If there are no changes in the general work area for the specified cost and price, the system will use the cost and price in the Inventory File to calculate desired GP%. 12 Report RPC Tutorial Overview 3-5

38 At the Calculate Desired GP% Using: Cost_ Price_ field, you specify the cost and the price that the system should use to calculate the new GP%. When the cursor moves to Cost, a list of the costs available displays in the bottom right corner of the screen. At Cost, type the letter for the cost you want the system to use. When the cursor moves to Price, a list of the prices available displays at the bottom right corner of the screen. At Price, type the letter for the price you want the system to use. 12 Press <Enter> twice. The cursor moves to Change Desired GP% To. Instead of calculating a desired GP% from cost and price, the system can change the desired GP% to a specific percent. At Change Desired GP% To:, type what the Desired GP% should be. 13 Press <Enter>. The cursor moves to Increase Desired GP% By. The system can increase the Desired GP% by percentage points. At Increase Desired GP% By, type the number of percentage points to increase the desired GP%. 14 Press <Enter>. The cursor moves to Decrease Desired GP% By:. The system can decrease the Desired GP% by percentage points. At Decrease Desired GP% By:, type the number of percentage points to decrease the desired GP%. 15 Press <Clear>. The cursor returns to Date Effective. This was a brief overview of the two screens for Report RPC. Use the second part of this tutorial to practice changing prices. Report RPC Tutorial Overview

39 Tutorial Exercises This section contains three exercises. You will: Make a number of independent cost, price or desired gross profit percent changes. (Exercise 1) Make a change in cost, price or desired GP%, and make other changes which are based on the first change. (Exercise 2) Copy one price to another. (Exercise 3) Once you have learned how to use these procedures, you can use them separately or combine them, depending on the changes you want to accomplish. Exercise 1 Making Independent Changes Here are two examples of when you can use this procedure: Example #1 You want to: calculate a new replacement cost discount the replacement cost in the Inventory File by 5% to get a new retail price markup the retail prices in the Inventory File by 10% Example #2 You want to: markup manufacturing vendor costs by 5% discount list prices by 10% change the desired GP% for all items in a department to 30% 12 Report RPC Tutorial Tutorial Exercises 3-7

40 These changes are independent; the second change is not based on the first change. The following procedure uses information from the second example. Marking Up Manufacturing Vendor Costs by 5% Do the following: 1 At Date Effective, type today s date and press <Enter>. Normally, you enter the date the changes take effect 2 At Current Price, Cost or GP%, type M for Manufacturing Vendor Cost and press <Enter>. A list of the current prices, costs and GP% available displays at the bottom right corner of the screen. For this exercise, you want to use the manufacturing vendor costs in the Inventory File to calculate the new costs. 3 In the parentheses at GP, Markup or Discount %, type M for Markup, and press <Enter>. To calculate the new price, cost or GP%, the system can markup, discount or use a GP% you specify. They are listed on your screen. In this exercise, you want to markup the current manufacturing vendor costs. 4 At %, type 5 and press <Enter>. In this exercise, you want to markup the current manufacturing vendor costs by 5%. 5 At New Price, Cost or GP%, type M and press <Enter>. A list of your choices displays at the bottom right corner of the screen. In this exercise, the markup will give you new manufacturing vendor costs. You have finished entering the first price change and are now ready to add the second independent price change. Report RPC Tutorial Tutorial Exercises