Sales, returns and credit vouchers

As sales and returns are processed at the POS or via the direct marketing interface the total un-rewarded points are adjusted accordingly.

Note: Points for credit vouchers are awarded to the purchaser of the voucher, not the recipient.

Returns are recorded as negative points. Note: this can cause a member’s un-rewarded points to date to be negative. This occurs if a credit has already been raised and an item is subsequently returned.

Awarding of Credits

When the threshold is crossed due to a sale, a credit is raised against that customer’s record for the award amount. Rewards are processed in units equal to the threshold. If the un-rewarded points at that point are greater than the threshold (and less then the next multiple of the threshold) the points over the threshold are carried over to the new accumulation period. This ensures that these points are included in future calculations. A corresponding negative entry is recorded for the period before this reward to ensure that the total points over time is correct.

For example if a customer has 180 points and makes a purchase that earns another 50 points their total is now 230. If the threshold for awarding a credit is 200 points and the award rate is 10%, a credit is raised for $20 against the customer. The last reward date is recorded at that instant.

To ensure that the 30 points over the threshold are included in the next calculation period, 2 award records are raised. One has a date and time stamp few seconds before the date/time the credit was awarded and is for –30 points, the other has a date and time stamp a few seconds after the award date time and is for +30 points. This ensures that the sliding window of validity takes the new point into consideration and the overall total is correct.

If you view the Details of points awarded you will see records that represent these adjustments. They do not affect the overall totals but ensure that, if a sliding window is used to determine validity, that the totals are correct.