Create and apply specials

Think of specials as discounts that your customers can unlock when making a purchase from your marketplace.

From the Marketplace menu option, select the Specials tab. From here, a list of your existing specials will appear. By default, the list will be filtered to All specials (in either a Visible, Scheduled, Draft or Archived state), but this can be changed. If your marketplace is brand new, you won’t see anything here until you add your first special.

Before going ahead and creating a special, make sure your marketplace has one or more products available. If you don’t have any yet, see our guide on adding products.

To get started, click on the button called, Add Special.

General

Like other setup pages within CommuniBee Suite, begin by including some general information about the special.

Title: Give the special a name.
Page Slug: A unique web address suffix for your special’s page, automatically generated but this is editable.
Short Description: Provide a summary of the special that will be displayed when shared online or on other pages.
Feature Image: Upload an image that will be displayed when sharing this page on social media or within your community.

Once you are happy with the above details, click Save.

Media

This section is all about the design of the special’s web page. You can upload images or link to a video that act as the banner for this page. The appearance of your banner can then be configured to create a truly stunning landing page.

Media Position: choose where you want your image or video to appear.
- Header & Body Only: No image, no problem. Your page will default to only have header and body text. No image upload necessary.
- Media On Left: If you would like to keep your image and content together within a single section, this allows your image to appear on the left, and your header, body, and details of the special on the right.
- Media Full Width At Top: Like standard web pages, a banner appears at the very top of your page and takes up the full width (commonly referred as the Hero section). The rest of the content then appears below your banner.
  - If using Images, you will have the option to adjust the following:
    - Banner Aspect Ratio: select the general size of your image(s).
    - Banner Max Height: choose how tall your image(s) will be.
    - Image Anchor: determine how your image(s) will be positioned.

- Use Custom Blocks Only: Feeling ambitious and want to build this page from the ground up? Select this option and navigate to the Layout tab to create a unique page using our pre-built page blocks.
Media Type
- If you selected Media on Left or Media Full Width At Top from the Media Position dropdown, you can decide on the media type (Images or Video).
  - Images: you can browse from your community library or upload new images from your device. If you upload multiple images, they will appear on special’s page as a slideshow.
  - Video: only YouTube videos are supported currently. Open the YouTube video you want to link. Click on the Share button, then select the Embed option. Only copy the URL from this screen, then navigate back to your CommuniBee dashboard and paste it in the Video URL field.

Layout

Not only can you preview your special’s page from this tab, but you can also make additional changes to the overall page layout.

To build on this page and add additional sections, follow the steps below:

Under where it says, Choose Another Template or Block to Add, click on the Add Block To End button.
A Page Block screen will appear that lists individual blocks that can be added to your page. For example, a Text Block to include text and an optional button, a Multiple Item Block to feature specific items from your community, and more.
Click the Add button to have the block appear on your page.
Depending on the block type you select, you will have different customization options. As you make changes to a page block, a preview will update live on your screen so you can know exactly how your page will look before you save.
After you finish customizing a page block, be sure to hit the Save button so you don’t lose your work.
For any additional blocks you add, you have the option to edit, duplicate, or delete individual blocks by using the icons on the right side of each block

To rearrange a block, use your mouse and hold left click on it, then drag the block above or below another block. Let go of left click to set the block in place. Learn more about the available page blocks.

Requirements

This is where you can set the criteria to receive this special. Requirements can include products from a specific category, or simply require specific products. Additionally, specials can have multiple requirements if needed.

Require Products In Category

For the Product Category field, select a category that you want to make available for this special.
For the Number of Products Required field, enter the number of products from this category that need to be ordered.
Click the Add button to include this requirement.
Repeat steps 1 to 3 if you want to add multiple category requirements.

Require Specific Products

For the Product field, select a product that will be required for this special.
For the Number of Products Required field, enter the quantity that a customer must order to satisfy the requirement.
Click the Add button to include this requirement.
Repeat steps 1 to 3 if you want to include multiple product-specific requirements.

To remove a requirement from your special, click on the Trash Can icon next to the requirement you wish to remove. Once everything is finalized, click Save.

Stay tuned as our team will be adding additional requirement types to help customize your specials even further. For example, requiring a minimum order amount to qualify.

Rewards

With the requirements now set, you can decide on the type of reward earned when a customer unlocks this special. As of right now, rewards can only come in the form of percent discounts on either products from a specific category, or specific products themselves. In a future release, we will support new reward types such as discounting products by a dollar amount or discounting entire orders by either a percentage or dollar amount.

Similar to setting up the requirements, you will have the option to set rewards from specific categories or specific products themselves.

To start, specify a Number of Products Discounted which is the total number of products that will receive the discounted rate.

Rewards From Categories

For the Product Category field, select a category that you want to make available for this special.
For the Percent Discount field, specify a percent amount that will be discounted.
Click the Add button to include this reward.
Repeat steps 1 to 3 if you want to add multiple category rewards.

Rewards From Specific Products

For the Product field, choose a product that will be made available as a reward for this special.
For the Percent Discount field, specify a percent amount that will be discounted off the product’s original price.
Click the Add button to include this reward.
Repeat steps 1 to 3 if you want to include multiple product-specific rewards.

Visibility

With your special’s page fully designed and ready to share to your audience, the Visibility tab is where you make the page visible.

Status

Draft: The default status for any newly created page. Pages set to Draft cannot be shared or viewed by your audience.
Live: The status given when a page is published. You can share and have your audience view the page from your website.
Archived: For pages that you want removed from your website. Once Archived, the page will be accessible from your dashboard and can be permanently deleted by navigating to its General tab.

You have the flexibility to change the page status at any time. Additionally, you can schedule when a page goes live or set it to archive automatically at a future date and time.

Schedule a Publish Date: Enter the date and time you wish to have the page become visible to your guests. Then set the status to Live and save.

Automatically Hide: Enter a Hide After date and time and your page will be automatically archived once this date is reached. This makes it inaccessible to guests and ensures the content on your website stays up to date.

Tip: To get a comprehensive understanding of the many settings and options available, consider setting your page status to Live after you’re done with the General tab. This action unlocks the ability to click on the Preview tab just below the Visibility tab. Additionally, an Overview tab will appear which includes a View option. Both of these options will allow you to see your page as it would appear to your website visitors. Continuously reviewing your page from a guest perspective whenever you make a change is the simplest and most effective way to ensure your page looks just right!

Applying Specials

Now that your special is created and live, a subcategory on your marketplace’s home page, called Specials, will be available to your customers. When a customer clicks on this subcategory, they will be brought to a dedicated page which showcases clickable tiles for all your available specials.

When a customer clicks on a specific special, they can proceed to add the necessary products to their cart to satisfy both the requirements and rewards for the special.

Create and apply specials

General

Media

Layout

Requirements

Rewards

Visibility

Applying Specials

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