This section covers the process of pricing PLUs and promotions in the Fusion cashless catering system. Depending on the set-up of your system, the process of pricing may be very simple, to a little more complex. For example, if your system contains a single school and all users are to pay the same price, then against each PLU/promotion there will be a single price set and that is it. However, in a multi-school environment where the same PLU/promotion is priced differently depending on the school the user is at and also their user type, there can be multiple prices set.
Before we cover how to price PLUs/promotions, let’s quickly provide an overview of the pricing system
Price lists
Put simply, a price list is a list of all the prices to be charged for each PLU/promotion. A price list has a name (e.g. Autumn term 2023) and a start date. There will always be an active price list, and the system uses the start date to determine if the price list is the active one, or a past/future one. When opening the PLU screen, you will always be presented with the Active price list.
For more information on price lists, read here: Price lists
Price bands and price rules
A price band is used to specify the different prices to be charged for that item, and price rules are used to determine which price the user will pay depending on their user type and/or their allowance eligibility. A system may just have a single price band set, or alternatively may have two or more. Typically, most schools/colleges will operate with a ‘Students’ (or ‘non-VAT’) price that a student user will pay, and a ‘Staff’ ( or VAT) price that staff will pay. However, sometimes a staff member may pay the ‘Student’ price if they are eligible for a supervisory allowance.
In the below example, there are three price bands, a ‘Students’ price, a ‘Staff’ price, and a ‘Community & Visitors’ price.
Cost price
Lastly, against each PLU you can specify a cost price. Entering this price is completely optional and often ignored. However, when it is used, this allows the system to calculate simple profit/loss margins on some reports.
Post your comment on this topic.