What does the discount card functionality do in RetailVista?

The discount card functionality allows for the issuance of cards (whether in digital form or not) that can be used to grant discounts. This differs from the issuance of gift cards, which must be used as a form of payment. Gift cards are not discounts, and discount cards are not payment methods.

Discount cards are also often used in the checkout process of webshops to still receive a certain discount, in the form of a 'coupon' code. To prevent fraud with discount cards, an alphanumeric discount card 'number' is used, which is essentially a code. In RetailVista POS, the barcode of a discount card can also be scanned to receive a discount on a transaction. After using a discount card, the monetary amount of that card is reduced by the obtained discount. In that sense, a discount card is similar to a gift card, except that it is processed as a discount and not as a form of payment. This leads to a reduction in the VAT to be paid, and in the accounting, it leads to a decrease in revenue. This is in contrast to gift cards, which result in a change in the balance position.

Within RetailVista, the reason for discount cards was the desire to reduce the balance of loyalty cards. Therefore, a routine has been developed to convert a certain amount of loyalty card balance into discount cards. This reduces the point balance of the loyalty cards and creates a discount card with the monetary value of the points deducted from the loyalty card.

The discount card can have a short validity period and requires consumers to make purchases in the store. If these purchases are not made, the validity of the discount card will eventually expire. 

Of course, it is also possible to manually create discount cards, but that may not be the most convenient option for large quantities.

The value of a discount card is not linked to specific products that can be purchased with it. If that is important, then a cashier should pay attention to it when applying the discount card.

A corresponding license is necessary to use discount cards.