Because SmartSpace offers a range of tools to book and manage a range of products, services, memberships, programs, events and competitions, it needs to identify each one of these when applying prices.
Different Form of Products
SmartSpace has a number of Product databases. These are:
- Bookings;
- Basic booking of resources.
- Programs/Services;
- Each Program or Service Instance is identified and handled separately,
- Programs can apply to programs, competitions, events, packages, services, courses/classes.
- Reservations;
- Reservations are attached to Program Instances but handled separately, price wise,
- Reservations can be used for nominations, ticketing, expressions of interest, entry fees, and packages.
- Memberships;
- Any form of Membership Type can be created,
- Benefits can be attached to a Membership Type,
- SmartSpace features SmartPricing which will individually price every product according to Membership status and the benefits that membership allows,
- Payment Plans can be attached to Membership Types,
- Payments and membership duration can be monitored.
- Basic Products;
- Any product or service can be placed in the Basic Products database except for those covered above,
- Do NOT duplicate any products which are listed above, in the Basic Products database,
- There is no special treatment for products in this database,
- Any product listed here can be sold on the internet or with the future SmartSpace point of sale system.
- All products listed above will be able to be attached to an account - some are automatically attached already.
- Because SmartSpace is very flexible, how you set up charges for various Products and Services will depend on you.
Contact SmartSpace support for advice on your options.
Prices
Prices are separated from all Products and Services. Any price can be attached to any product or service - the name of the price is not shown to customers - it is only for identification purposes for Trader/Business/Club.
Prices have two elements:
1. The Price Code;
- The Price Code is the persistent identifier attached to a product or service,
- Once created, there is no need to review again except where Specials need to be created,
- Specials are special prices which differ from the normal price for a set length of time,
- To create a Special, edit the Price Code and set the Special Price and the dates to which it applies,
- You do not need to edit Specials again until the feature is next needed. Once the dates have passed, the Special Price will be ignored.
2. Price Instance (Price History);
- The Price Instance is a time based record of actual prices,
- SmartSpace will automatically find the price that applies at any one time,
- You can have a number of Price Instance records set up for the future. Depending on the sale, the system will always find the right price for the time of the sale or in the case of Bookings, the date of the Booking,
- This is very useful when seasonal prices apply,
- The system will warn you when prices are about to expire,
- The systems allows you to make the Price Code time based - this allows you to set a basic price for a set number of time periods,
- Discounts can also be applied when 2 or more units (either time based or otherwise) are purchased.
Product Categories
- Each Product or Service should be attached to a Product Category. This enables SmartPricing.
- SmartPricing allows the system to identify and assign discount prices depending on an individual's Membership status and the Benefits attached (if any).
- If a product is not assigned a Product Category, SmartPricing cannot be applied.
Do not confuse Product Categories with the range of special services which are handled in a different way by SmartSpace (e.g. Bookings, Memberships etc.).
