Overview

What a cart promotion is

A cart promotion acts like a smart assistant at checkout. It watches what a customer adds to the basket. When the basket matches the rule you set, the system applies a discount or adds a free item. The customer does not need to enter a code or carry a coupon. If they meet the rule—like buying three items—they get the reward instantly.

What it does

A cart promotion performs three actions in real time:

Scan the cart. It reviews the spend amount, item count, brands, or even the time of day.
Check the rules. It compares the basket with the conditions you have defined.
- “Did the customer spend more than $100?”
- “Did the customer buy two shampoos?”
Apply the reward. It updates the bill on the spot.
- Money off
- Free item
- Bundle price

How it works

Brand setup

A marketing manager defines the logic in the system.

Condition: “If the customer buys two shirts…”
Benefit: “…give 20% off the second shirt.”
Limits: “…apply once per customer, only in New York stores.”

Customer experience

The customer adds items to the cart and proceeds to checkout. The system checks the rules and applies the benefit. A line item appears such as “Cart promo: -$15.00,” and the customer pays the reduced amount.

How it differs from other promotions

Promotion type	How it works	The vibe
Cart promotion	Applies automatically when rules are met.	“Nice—this deal just worked.”
Coupon	Requires the customer to enter a code.	“I have a code to use.”
Loyalty points	Gives value for future use.	“I’m saving for later.”
Gift voucher	Works like store credit during payment.	“I’m paying with a balance.”

Real-world examples

The upsell (grocery)

Spend $100 on groceries and get $10 off instantly.

The BOGO (fashion)

Buy two T-shirts and get the third free.

The happy hour (cafe)

Get 50% off pastries from 4–6 PM.

The bundle (snacks)

Buy a Coke and chips together for $5 instead of $7.

Benefits of Cart Promotions

Feature	Brand Benefits	Customer Benefits
Personalized Promotions	Granular Targeting: Rules based on cart value, specific products (SKU/Category), or customer segments.Example :A promotion can target a cart with a subtotal ≥ $100 using a `CartCondition`, or target specific items like "Paint Supplies" using a `ProductCondition` with `entity: CATEGORY` and `values: ["Paint Supplies"]`. Discount Optimization: Automated ranking strategies.Example: The API allows setting a `priority` integer (where 0 is highest). If multiple promotions apply, the system processes them based on this priority to determine the final discount. • Diverse Rewards: The API supports various action types: `CART_BASED` for total bill discounts, `PRODUCT_BASED` for specific item discounts, `FREE_PRODUCT` for buy-one-get-one offers, and `FIXED_PRICE` to set a specific price for items.	Instant Gratification: Real-time application of offers during search or checkout.Example :The `POS` promotion type applies automatically at checkout when conditions are met, providing instant savings without manual intervention. Relevance: Offers matched specifically to current shopping behavior. Frictionless Experience: No need to manually search for or enter coupon codes.
Operational Control	A single API request configures all aspects of a promotion: its basic details (name, dates), rules (condition), rewards (action), and limits (promotionRestrictions).	• Faster Checkout: Automatic discount application streamlines the payment process.
Visibility & Engagement	Performance Monitoring: Track redemptions and cart evaluations in real-time. Example : The system tracks metrics like `REDEMPTION` count and total `DISCOUNT` given, which can be used to monitor the performance of a promotion against its defined limits.	• Loyalty Integration: Opportunities to earn or redeem points directly within cart activities. Example: Promotions can be targeted to specific loyalty tiers (e.g., "Gold Tier Exclusive") using `supplementaryCriteria`. The `EARNING` promotion type allows customers to earn rewards (like points or vouchers) based on their cart activity.

Note

👍
By default, Cart Promotion is not enabled for all the orgs. Raise a ticket to the Product Support team to enable.

Key Features

Real-Time Optimization: Applies the best offer for the customer by automatically evaluating all active offers and picking the one with the highest savings using configured ranking strategies.
Contextual Targeting: Creates tailored offers by checking what's in the cart right now against specific rules, like total spending (CartCondition) or specific items (ProductCondition).
Easy Redemption: Applies discounts automatically at checkout without coupon codes by using 'POS' type promotions that trigger instantly when conditions are met.
Instant Gratification: Gives customers immediate savings while they shop by calculating potential discounts in real-time with every cart update via the evaluation API.
Operational Control: Lets brands manage budgets by setting strict limits on total redemptions or discount amounts using promotionRestrictions at the cart or campaign level.
Strategic Upselling: Encourages customers to buy related items together (like a "laptop + mouse") by using COMBO_PRODUCT rules that reward specific bundles of purchase.
Multi-Dimensional Qualification: Limits offers to a particular time and place by cross-referencing the cart against store location, time-of-day criteria, and the customer's loyalty tier.

Configuring cart promotion redemption strategy

The promotion redemption process supports two strategies for applying discounts to a transaction:

The standard approach involves the promotion engine evaluating a cart and returning a final, calculated set of discounts to be applied.
An alternative strategy offers greater flexibility by separating the evaluation and redemption steps. This flow allows an external system to first request a complete list of all available promotions for the items in a cart. The external system can then apply its own logic to determine the final combination of discounts, and after the transaction is complete, it informs the promotion engine which specific promotions were redeemed.

To configure the cart promotion redemption strategy for your organisation, raise a JIRA ticket to the Capillary Product Support team.

Configuring cart promotion redemption strategy

The promotion redemption process supports two strategies for applying discounts to a transaction:

Redemption with cart validation (REDEMPTION_AGAINST_CART_EVALUATION): The POS system sends the customer's complete and final cart for evaluation. In response, the cart promotion engine returns the available cart discounts along with a secure evaluation ID. To finalize the sale, the POS must submit this ID with the transaction, allowing the engine to validate that the applied promotions are legitimate and untampered before recording the redemption.

Redemption via Post-Transaction Reporting (REDEMPTION_WITHOUT_CART_EVALUATION): Once the transaction is completed and recorded, the POS informs the cart promotion engine of the promotions used by sending the final details to a separate, dedicated redemptions API, which the engine then records asynchronously.

To configure the cart promotion redemption strategy for your organisation, raise a JIRA ticket to the Capillary Product Support team.

Understanding promotion issuance and redemption

Cart Promotion Type	How is it issued?	How is it redeemed?	Does it require evaluation?	Example
Loyalty Promotion	Automatically available to all loyalty members, no specific issue is required.	Applied automatically at checkout when the shopping cart meets the specified conditions.	Requires evaluation to check cart conditions and promotion limits against the customer	"All loyalty members get 20% off on carts above $100."
Loyalty Earning Promotion	Earned when a customer completes a specific action, like registering or finishing a 3rd purchase.	Becomes available to redeem only when the customer makes a future transaction after it is earned.	Requires evaluation for two checks: 1. Did the customer finish the goal? 2. Does the current cart meet the specified conditions?	"Complete 3 purchases to unlock 30% off on your next order."
POS Promotion	Available at the store level, it can be restricted to a specific tier, like Gold or Silver members.	Applied automatically based on the store location, time of day, or membership level.	Automatically applied based on transaction context (store, time, tier). No evaluation is required.	"Gold tier members get a flat 50% off during Black Friday at select stores."
Code-Linked Promotion	Unique codes are created and shared with customers (e.g., via email or ads).	The customer must manually enter the code at checkout.	Requires evaluation to validate promo code and check limits.	"Use code SAVE20 to get 20% off on orders above $50."

Updated 16 days ago