Qualification Evaluation Level

When you create an offer, you have the option on the Qualify & Award page to either select all basket contents or each line item in basket for each transaction.

The type of evaluation you choose determines how CRMS calculates the points awarded from a transaction.

The effect depends on the following factors:
  • The cost of the items purchased
  • Redemption limits
  • Type of award: “points per monetary unit”, points” or something else.

Points per Dollar Offer Differences

When you set up a Points per Monetary Unit Offer, differences in point calculation can impact the number of points awarded. Under certain circumstances these differences can be significant.

When the system evaluates each line item in basket, the system assigns points for every qualifying item in the transaction.

When the system evaluates all basket contents, it still looks at each item in the basket, but points are calculated on the total of the qualifying items in the transaction.

In this example, all items qualify.

Notice that you end up with slightly different point totals. This is because CRMS rounds up to the nearest whole number when calculating points.

When you evaluate at the Basket level, that rounding happens once, on the basket total. When you evaluate at the Line Item level, the rounding happens on every item. While two points is not a big difference, it is still a difference of about 3% -- extend that to a million transactions, and it is a 2,000,000 point difference.

The point calculation differences are even more pronounced when the items are relatively low-priced.

In this case, the difference is about 33%! This is a big difference.

Points per monetary unit and Redemption limits

If you set up an offer that awards points per monetary unit and that has a redemption limit, each item in the basket that qualifies for an award counts as a redemption.

Consider the offer "purchase any number of select products" that awards "points per monetary unit", that has a redemption limit of 2, where the qualifying products are Item A & Item B.

In this scenario, under basket level evaluation, the system awards 108 points and records a single redemption against the redemption limit of 2.

If the same offer is configured with line item evaluation, the system awards 29 points and records two redemptions against the redemption limit of 2. In addition, the system awards the first two qualifying items and hence the order in which the items are listed when we import them matters. Note in the following image that if item C and item E are listed first in the transaction, those are the items that qualify. The difference, if points earned, is 67 points versus 29 points.

Fixed Point Offer Differences

When you set up a Fixed Point Award, whether you choose to evaluate each line item or all basket contents can make a significant difference in points awarded. A Fixed Points Award configured to evaluate each line item in basket awards points for every qualifying item in the basket.

Offer Use Case

Buy a pair of binoculars and get a flat 300 points, with no redemption limit.

If the offer is configured to evaluate all basket contents, the system awards 300 points if there are one or more pairs of binoculars in the transaction.

If the offer is configured to evaluate each line item in basket, the system awards 300 points for each pair of binoculars in the transaction.

Assume that the member purchases two pairs of binoculars. In this case, the offer evaluating at the line item awards 600 points, while the offer evaluating at the basket level awards 300 points.

Fixed Point Offers with Redemption Limit

Setting a redemption limit of 1 on the Schedule & Rules page in CRMS mitigates this issue.

However, setting a redemption limit of two (or more) results in the following:
  • Given an offer that evaluates all basket contents, a member has to complete two independent qualifying transactions. That is, buy at least one pair of binoculars in two separate transactions, to reach the redemption limit for the offer.
  • Given an offer that evaluates each line item in basket, a member can make a single transaction containing two pairs of binoculars and reach the redemption limit, and earn 600 points.

Implications on the Microsite and in the CSR Tool

Offers configured to evaluate all basket contents display rewards for the entire transaction on the microsite and in the CSR tool.

Offers configured to evaluate each line item in basket display each item in the transaction and the points awarded for that item.