In SAP Commerce Cloud, the Price Factory manages product prices through the concept of price rows. A price row represents a specific Pricing configuration within a particular context. Price rows can be created in various ways, even imported via ImpEx files.
An overview of all existing price rows can be found by navigating the steps of the following diagram:
The Administrative Cockpit in the Backoffice Displaying Price Rows
In SAP Commerce Cloud, the Price Factory calculates product prices using price rows. A price row represents a pricing configuration for a particular context. Let’s identify some of a price row’s key components. Mandatory attributes include:
- The currency field defines the currency in which the price is expressed. SAP Commerce Cloud supports multiple currencies, allowing you to set prices in different monetary units based on your target markets.
- The price field represents the actual amount, in the specified currency, of the configuration represented by that price row.
- The Scale field allows you to define different prices based on the quantity of a product being purchased. For instance, you can set different prices for buying 1,2,3, and so on, in units. This feature enables volume-based Pricing strategies. This field defaults to a value of 1.
The following attributes are optional:
- The product field in a price row indicates that this price is for a specific product by providing a link to that product in your catalog.
- The customer field in a price row indicates that this price is for a specific customer by identifying that customer.
- The Customer Price List field associates the price row with a price list. Price lists can be referenced by individual customers and customer groups. This allows you to provide targeted pricing to certain users, for example, users who share the same loyalty status, membership level, or location.
- The Product Price Class field indicates that the price row applies to products assigned to a given Price Class. Using a price class allows you to avoid creating individual price rows for those products; they’ll all be priced the same. Product Price Classes help simplify price management across your product catalog.
- The Validity period field allows you to set time-limited prices. You can specify a start and end date for the price row, enabling you to run promotions or change prices for a specific period. After the end date, the price reverts to the default or the next applicable price configuration. If this field is blank, the price is always valid.
- The channel can be used to price products differently depending on how a customer is accessing your storefront. For example, a product might be priced differently when viewed on a smartphone than when viewed on a desktop computer.
By combining these elements, you can create price rows that address different pricing scenarios. For example, you can have multiple price rows to account for different currencies, customer groups, time periods, and quantities. The Price Factory consults these price rows to produce an accurate and relevant product price, before adjusting that price by applying applicable discounts.
Sorting
In SAP Commerce Cloud, the Price Factory evaluates all price rows in order of priority. The row with the highest priority that also matches the current context (product, customer, currency, time period, and so on) is used to determine the product’s price. Other matching rows with lower priority are ignored.
Let us look at a video demonstrating how price rows are prioritized by the Price Factory to select the best matching price row out of several candidates. For the purpose of this demonstration, Milly created a price row for every context checked by the PriceFactory. The price specified in each row corresponds to its priority, to make things clearer. She envisioned a site that included a book product titled A Polyglot in London, the user Marcel Duchamps, the "On Special" Product Price Class, and the "Hybrids" Customer Price List.
Understanding Price Row Prioritization: A Comprehensive Guide to Selecting the Correct Price
SAP Commerce Cloud selects the price row with the highest priority that matches the current context.
Let’s summarize how that priority is evaluated:
Price Factory – Price Row Prioritization
| Priority | Rule, applied when a price row exists for a combination of: |
|---|---|
| 1 (highest) | This specific product and the current customer. |
| 2 | A product belonging to a specific Product Price Class and the current customer. |
| 3 | This specific product and the current customer is associated with a matching Customer Price List. |
| 4 | A product belonging to a specific Product Price Class and the current customer is associated with a matching Customer Price List. |
| 5 | This product and any customer. |
| 6 | A product belonging to a specific Product Price Class and any customer. |
| 7 | Any product and the current customer. |
| 8 | Any product and the current customer is associated with a matching Customer Price List. |
| 9 (Lowest) | Any product and any customer. This is the default price for any otherwise unpriced product. |