Set up business rules
A business rule changes a quote or an order by itself. It sets the shipping costs, adds a fee for the way of paying, decides which carriers and payment methods a customer can pick or gives a promotion.
Before you begin
You need Backoffice access and the Configuration role. To create or delete a rule you need Owner access, to change one Editor or Owner access.
Choose the type of rule
All rules are under Shops & Channels > Business Rules. Click All or one type above the list.
| Type | What it decides | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| Shipping costs | What the customer pays for shipping | Charge shipping costs |
| Transaction costs | A fee for the way the customer pays | Charge a fee for a way of paying |
| Carrier rules | Which carriers a customer can pick | Decide which carriers a customer can pick |
| Payment method rules | Which payment methods a customer can pick | Decide which payment methods a customer can pick |
| Incentives | Promotions: discounts and free products | Set up promotions with incentives |
The list shows for each rule whether it is Active and when it is valid, under Valid from and Valid until.
Find an example of what you want
Shipping and payment:
- Ship for free from an order value, with a price per country
- Let your best customers ship for free
- Charge a fee for payment by credit card
- Offer iDEAL only for deliveries in the Netherlands
- Offer payment on account to some companies only
- Offer a parcel carrier only for small orders
Promotions:
- Give a discount from a number of pieces
- Give a higher discount for a larger quantity
- Give a free product with an order
- Buy 3, pay for 2
- Offer a discount code with a minimum order value
- Waive the shipping costs with a code
- Give some companies their own discount
Understand how a rule works
A rule is a list of subrules. Every subrule has an IF part with conditions and a THEN part with one action. The switch first / all decides how the list is read. With first, only the first subrule that is true counts. With all, every subrule that is true counts.
Above the subrules, Rule settings hold what goes for the whole rule: its channels, the period in which it counts and Active. See Build a business rule.
Know what happens when several rules are true
You can have more than one rule of a type. When several of them are true for the same order:
| Type | What counts |
|---|---|
| Shipping costs and transaction costs | The rule created last sets the price |
| Carrier rules and payment method rules | The carriers and payment methods of all rules are offered together. One that two rules offer shows twice |
| Incentives | Every rule counts. Percentages off the order total add up. When two rules discount the same order line, the rule created last wins |
Changing a rule does not change when it was created. For shipping costs and transaction costs, keep one rule and put the alternatives in its subrules.