Promotions

In Parallels H-Sphere 2.4 beta 6 and higher, you can offer promotions (flexible discount or promotion plans) based on the default Constant Percent Discount calculator or on custom calculators. Promotions apply to entire accounts, not individual resources or domians.

This document covers the following issues:

• Promotion Types
• Calculating Promotion Discounts
• Creating Promotions
• Associating Promotions with Plans

Promotion Types

Promotion Codes. At signup, a customer enters a promotion code, the system verifies it, and if it proves valid for the chosen plan, the user is billed with the discount. These promotions apply only to new signups; you can't apply them to existing accounts. An example of this promotion is the Constant Percent Discount that comes with Parallels H-Sphere by default. One account can use only one promo code.

Unnamed Promotions. You can create promotions that don't require promo codes. For instance, you can create a calculator that will apply Christmas discounts to all accounts under the given plan. One account can use multiple unnamed promotions.

Calculating Promotion Discounts

If an account is affected by two or more promotions, each of the promotion discounts is calculated based on the full amount of charge.

Example: An account is affected by two promotions, each offering 20% off. When the user buys $1 worth of resources, the first promotion takes 20 cents off the full amount making it 80 cents. The second promotion will apply to the full amount again, not to the remaining 80 cents, which means the final discounted charge will be 60 cents.

Promotion discounts are rounded to 3 digits after the decimal point, then added, and the final amount is rounded to 2 digits after the decimal point.

Creating Promotions

This procedure explains how to create a promotion based on the default Constant Percent Discount calculator. Promotions based on other (custom) calculators may take a different set of forms.

To create a promotion, you need to have an administrative account with billing management permissons.

1. Select Promo Management in the Settings menu:

   

2. On the page that appears, click Add new promotion.
3. Enter promotion settings and click Next:

   
   Promotion validator - determines if the promo applies to a given account at the given moment in time
   Promotion calculator - calculates the amount of the discount for the given account
   Promotion name - this will appear throughout the control panel
   Billing description - this will appear in invoices/bills and price estimators
   Promotion code - string of alphanumeric characters, analogous to a password

4. On the next page, enter discount percentage and click Next:
   

   

5. Your discount now appears in the list of promotions. Now you need to associate the promotion with target plans.

Associating Promotions With Plans

To take effect, promotions should be assigned to particular plans. One plan can have several associated promotions.

To associate a promotion with a plan:

1. In the list of plans, click Settings for the target plan:

   

2. On the page that appears, scroll down to the Promotions Management, select a promotion, and click Add:

   

3. If the promotion requires a code, make sure to communicate it to the potential customers. They will be able to enter it on the Payment Information page of the signup wizard: