Defining validations and overrides for pricing

You can establish validations for coupons and discounts, specify rules for these validations, and then set up conditions under which an override is automatically disallowed, automatically allowed, or allowed with manager approval.

For example, you can configure a validation rule for expired coupons that defines a grace period, such as 4 days. You could then define an override rule that specifies the conditions under which a violation of the grace period is allowed. The override rule is invoked only if the original validation is violated.

Validation rules and override rules work in pairs; that is, for every validation rule or condition, there must be at least one override rule that specifies what to do about that condition. This pairing is a requirement. Otherwise, an order can have unexpected pricing results.

For example, you define a validation rule that specifies that no more than 4 coupons are allowed on an order, but do not specify override rules to handle orders with more than 4 coupons. The system allows unlimited coupons and does not record any violations. However, if you define an override rule that allows more than 4 coupons to be applied if approved by a manager, the order goes forward pending manager approval. If you define an override rule that allows a gold customer to use unlimited coupons, the order is accepted and goes forward without manager approval.

You must configure validation rules and manager overrides for every validation rule that you want to use, with exceptions. Sterling Order Management System Software provides several system-defined validation rules. You cannot modify or delete system-defined validation rules, and they still require override rules to work. These system-defined validation rules are noted in the list that follows.