Mix-and-match and multipack deals done right

On this page

1. The common deal types
2. Before you build it
3. Building it at the register
4. Test before the sign goes up
5. Signs and staff
6. While it runs
7. When it ends

A deal is a short set of instructions the register follows on every sale: these items, this many, this price, these dates. It follows them exactly. If the item list misses a flavor, the deal won’t ring for that flavor. If the end date is wrong, the discount keeps running after the vendor stops paying for it. Most deal problems are setup problems, and a short test at the register catches most of them before the sign goes up.

The common deal types

Deal type	Example	What the register needs
Multipack	One item, 2 for $3.00	The item, the quantity and the deal price
Mix and match	Any 2 energy drinks for $5.00, any flavor	A list of qualifying items, the quantity and the deal price
Buy one, get one	Buy one candy bar, get one free	A mix and match where the price for 2 equals the price of 1
Quantity discount	50 cents off when you buy 2	The item list, the quantity and the amount off

The prices in the table are examples. Registers generally build all of these from the same pieces: an item list, a quantity and a price or discount. The screen names differ from one register to the next, but the logic is the same.

Before you build it

Write the deal the way the sign will read

Start with one plain sentence: “Any 2 for $5.00, 16 oz energy drinks, all flavors, through the end of the month.” If you can’t write that sentence, the deal isn’t ready to build. Once you can, it becomes your checklist for the item list, the price and the dates.

Build the item list from the products

Collect every barcode that qualifies: every flavor and every size the deal covers. Scan the actual products on your shelf instead of copying codes from a vendor sheet. A vendor sheet can list codes you don’t carry and miss ones you do, especially after a packaging change.

Then look up each code in your pricebook. Each one should exist, sit in the right department and carry the right regular price. A qualifying item that isn’t in the pricebook can’t trigger the deal.

Do the math

The deal price has to beat the regular price. In a hypothetical case, a drink sells for $2.79, so two cost $5.58 and “2 for $5.00” takes 58 cents off. If the regular price were $2.49, two would cost $4.98, and the “deal” would cost more than buying the drinks without it.

Know who pays for it

If a vendor or manufacturer funds the deal, write down the terms: the items, the dates, the deal price and how they want sales reported. Keep the agreement on file. If you can’t show the deal ran as agreed, getting paid gets harder.

Building it at the register

• Use the item list you built and checked. Don’t add items from memory.
• Set the start and end dates and times to match both the agreement and the sign. A deal that starts a day late annoys customers. One that runs a day long costs you money.
• Put the end date in the deal’s name, such as “Energy 2 for 5 ends Oct 31.” It makes cleanup easy.
• Keep each item in one deal at a time. When deals overlap, the register decides which one wins, and the result may not match either sign.

Test before the sign goes up

Ring a test sale and work through these cases:

1. One qualifying item. It should ring at the regular price.
2. The deal quantity of a single flavor. The deal should apply.
3. The deal quantity with mixed flavors. The deal should still apply.
4. One more than the deal quantity, such as 3 items on a 2-for deal. Two should get the deal price and one should ring at the regular price, unless your deal says otherwise.
5. A look-alike that shouldn’t qualify, like a different size. No deal.
6. Void one item after the deal applies. The discount should come off cleanly.

Read the receipt each time. The discount should be clear enough for a customer to see it. When you’re done, void or cancel the test sale the way your store normally does.

If any case fails, fix it before the sign goes up. Taking down a sign is easier than explaining to a customer why the register disagrees with it.

Signs and staff

The sign should match the deal exactly: quantity, price, sizes and the end date, if it has one. If the sign says “selected flavors,” the item list must match what sits next to the sign. Put deal signs only where qualifying items are.

Tell every cashier what the deal is and that the register applies it automatically. Manual discounts at the counter throw off your reports, and they can break the records a funded deal depends on.

While it runs

Check the deal after its first day. Compare how many times the deal applied with how many qualifying units sold. If units are moving and the deal count is zero, something is wrong with the setup.

Watch for changes that break the math. A regular price change on one item can make the deal worse than the regular price. A new flavor arriving on the shelf needs to be added to the list or kept away from the sign.

Deals move stock faster than usual, too. Order ahead so the shelf doesn’t run empty halfway through the promotion.

When it ends

• Confirm the end date in the register, and check that the first sale after it rings at the regular price.
• Take the signs down the same day.
• Clear expired deals out of the active list so it stays short and readable.
• For funded deals, send the vendor whatever they need to pay you, and keep a copy.

Advantage builds mix-and-match deals and item lists and sends them to the register through Send to POS. Each deal is marked confirmed only when the register’s own reply proves it arrived, and anything unproven shows as Not confirmed.