Vouchers v. tags

Before we cover different hints and tips on how to offer sub sets of customers differential pricing or benefits, it is worth noting that there are two primary ways in which this functionality can be achieved on the OFN platform:

• Vouchers

• Tags and tag rules

Both features have their benefits and disadvantages. Hence it is balancing all this information, to work out the 'right' method which would allow your enterprise to achieve the desired outcome.

It is worth noting that the Voucher Feature is beta at present and still undergoing development. The scope of vouchers may increase in the future.

Pros & cons of vouchers and tags

Vouchers	Tags and Tag Rules
Shopper does not have to be a registered member of the OFN platform nor a customer of your online shop to use the discount offered by a voucher.	Shopper must have an OFN account, and as enterprise owner/admin, you will need to have added a tag to their customer information for your shop for them to be able to access any offer.
A shopper can take advantage of one voucher only per shop. For example, if you offer volunteers 10% off their regular shopping my a voucher code but then a volunteer also is given a £10 off voucher for their birthday then they would have to pay full price for their shopping when redeeming their birthday £10 off voucher.	A shopper can have multiple tags and hence take advantage of lots of benefits if desired. For example, an elderly shopper may be eligible for a 10% off their regular shop via a 'Caring' tag as well as spend a £10 gift voucher purchased by their son as a Christmas gift.
Vouchers have no expiry date. Hence a voucher is not single use. If you issue a £10 gift voucher then you must deactivate the voucher once spent else the customer could use it repeatedly (and hence end up with much more than £10 worth of free shopping!)	Tags have no expiry date. Hence a discount offered under a tag rule is not single use. If you issue a £10 off discount via a tagged negative payment method fee then you must deactivate the tag and/or tag rule once spent it else the customer could use it repeatedly (and hence end up with much more than £10 worth of free shopping!)
Vouchers can only be used to give customers money off ('Flat rate') or a percentage discount from their shopping. They can not be used to offer other benefits such as free delivery, differential pricing for specific products, etc.	Tags and tag rules are highly flexible and can be used to create a host of customer specific benefits- Free delivery, differential pricing for specific products, and more...

Suggested methods

Therefore we suggest the following to achieve these functionalities:

Functionality	Suggested Method	Reason
Free or discounted delivery for elderly customers	Tags & Tag rules	Vouchers can not be redeemed against shipping methods.
Reward your volunteers	Tags & Tag rules	Volunteers are likely to be existing customers and so the overhead of setting them up with a tag is less involved. They will be willing to log in to their OFN account to shop too! Prevents a discount code being published on the internet and shared/used by shoppers who are not volunteers PLUS they can also take advantage of a birthday/Christmas gift voucher too!
Run a social media campaign	Voucher	You wish to attract new customers and so, by making a discount voucher code publicly available for a limited time period you will attract the most people.
Gift vouchers for shoppers to purchase and give to friends/family	Voucher	The recipient may not be a current customer of you shop and the voucher code is more accessible than using tags.