Gifts, certificates and loyalty — Paloma365 Classic (Windows POS)

This article is about Paloma365 Classic, the POS application for Windows: selling and redeeming gift certificates, issuing gifts for accumulated points, and the "Loyalty systems" window. The certificate and gift modules, gift levels and discounts are configured by the administrator in the back office — see Clients and discounts.

Overview

• Certificate — a special item type: first sold as an order line, later redeemed as a discount equal to its face value.
• Gifts — a client attached to the order receives gifts in one of three ways: for accumulated points (the "Gift" button showing the balance, e.g. "Gift(150)"), for the quantity of items on a paid order (the window opens by itself), or as a promo item earned by accumulated purchases (a different window, "Add to order:").
• Loyalty systems — a window for external bonus programs, shown at payment when enabled in the POS settings.

All certificate operations are verified on the server, so internet is required.

Certificates: selling and redeeming

Selling. Add the certificate to the order — the POS opens the "Enter or scan the certificate barcode" window. Scan or type the code and press "Accept" ("Cancel" aborts). Rules: only one certificate per order ("Only one certificate can be sold..."), no other items on the same order ("Can not sell the certificate with other items in one order..."), some modes and pending orders block the sale, and offline it fails with "Can not sell a certificate without access to the internet!".

Redeeming. A certificate is accepted through the discount it is linked to: applying that discount asks for the certificate barcode, and after the server check the face value is applied to the order. Paying such an order also requires internet: "Can not process payment via certificate without internet connection!". A rejected barcode (not found, used, expired) produces a certificate error.

Gifts

Gifts are issued in three different ways. Which one a client gets is decided by their discount, configured by the administrator in the back office. The windows and the rules differ, so each way is described separately.

Gifts for points — the "Gift" button

This applies when the client's discount uses accumulated points (deposit). Attach the client — the "Gift" button appears on the sale screen with the point balance in brackets, e.g. "Gift(150)". It opens the gift window: the "Gift level" list (columns "Group", "Price" in points) on the left, "Elements of level" (columns "Gift", "Quantity") on the right, the "Chosen gifts" table and the remaining points below. Only the levels the client can afford are listed — more expensive levels are hidden. Tapping a gift deducts points; "Delete" returns them. "Select" issues the gifts: the POS creates a separate zero-total order closed with the dedicated gift payment type and can print a receipt. If no employee is attached to the order, an employee-selection window opens first; cancelling it aborts the issuance. "Close" exits without issuing.

Points are written off on the server, so internet is required for gifts too, not only for certificates: offline the gift order is rolled back with a save error and nothing is issued.

Gifts for the quantity of items on the order — the window opens by itself after payment

This applies when the client's discount grants gifts while accumulated points are switched off. There is no "Gift" button in this case: right after the order is paid the POS opens the same gift window by itself, bound to that order. Differences from gifts for points:

• the left list holds not point levels but the lines of the paid order that earn a gift; a line appears only once the required quantity has been bought;
• the "Price" column is hidden — no points are spent and the point balance does not change;
• instead of the point balance, the counter at the bottom reads "Осталось подарков" (gifts remaining). One gift is available per such line, and the counter drops to zero once you pick it. Note: as soon as you select a level in the left list, the counter's label switches to "Осталось баллов" (points remaining), but the number still means gifts, not points.

The rest is unchanged: "Select" issues the gifts on a separate zero-total order, "Close" exits without issuing.

A promo item for accumulated purchase quantity

This is a separate mechanism with a different window. When the client's discount grants a promo item for every few units purchased, the POS tracks the running quantity per client and offers the issuance itself:

"Attention! Customer is eligible for auction item." → "With discount: " with the item list → "Issue now?"

The prompt appears after an order is paid, and also when the cashier opens or changes the client on an order. If the purchases are not yet enough, the POS shows a hint instead of the prompt: "When purchasing … or more auction items with discount: … customer will be eligible for bonus item."

Confirming opens the "Add to order:" window — the same one used for upselling (see Upsell offers), not the gift window. In it:

• the rows are the promo items priced at 0, with the columns "Name", "Price (per unit)", "Quantity", "Price (total)";
• the quantity button carries a red badge showing the issuing step — how many units are given out at a time;
• the window header shows the limits, "maximum = " and "gifts quantity = "; the header turns red once the limit is exceeded;
• "Accept" issues the items on a separate zero-total order, "Cancel" declines.

If more than allowed is selected, nothing is issued and the POS reports "Exceeded quantity of selected bonus items."

Third-party loyalty services (Tuvis, Satty, Smart Plaza, UDS)

Besides the built-in points system, the POS can work with external bonus services. They are connected on the «Плагины» (Plugins) tab in POS settings, and the order is the same as for online cash registers: enable the loyalty module in the dashboard (Settings → Modules, per workplace, paid), restart the POS, and the «Использовать системы лояльности» checkbox on the Plugins tab ticks itself — it is an indicator and cannot be clicked. The «Тест подключения» button next to it opens the "Loyalty systems" window with the available services.

How the "Loyalty systems" window works. At payment the POS shows tiles: "Without discount" plus one per connected service (services are installed as plugins into the Loyalty_Plugins folder next to the program — usually by support). Picking a service opens its own window; the redeemed bonus is applied to the order as a single sum discount, and all manual discounts on the items are reset first. A service failure shows "Error while generating discount". For the Sagi and UDS services the login credentials are entered through the same «Тест подключения» button — the settings dialog belongs to the plugin itself.

Tuvis and Satty (a lottery program) have their own checkboxes on the same tab, each with its own «Тест подключения» button for the service credentials (Satty additionally needs the «ID Товара-лотереи» — the lottery item ID). Unlike the loyalty module and the online registers, these two are switched on directly on the POS.

Tuvis specifics. The Tuvis window appears at payment. It is incompatible with the built-in cumulative (deposit) system: for a client on a cumulative discount the POS refuses — "Customer from deposit system currently in use, failed to work with TUVIS"; a zero bill total is refused too ("Incorrect check sum"). Tuvis points also cannot be spent when a discount or a certificate is already applied to the order. After redeeming Tuvis bonuses the POS resets manual discounts and recalculates the order. If the Tuvis window fails to open, the POS offers to proceed to payment without Tuvis. The Tuvis settings (service address, credentials, point-rounding rules, customer lookup options) are entered via «Тест подключения» and stored locally — on success the POS shows "Settings are saved".

Smart Plaza specifics. With the module enabled the Smart Plaza window opens automatically when payment starts: the redeemed bonuses reduce the bill as a sum discount, and manual discounts are reset. As with Tuvis, redemption is blocked when a discount or certificate is already applied, and on failure the POS offers to continue the sale without Smart Plaza. A dedicated payment type is assigned to Smart Plaza in the settings — the cashier never picks it manually in the payment window.

The settings are local — repeat them on every POS computer. The bonus service itself provides the credentials; if something is missing, message us here — a specialist will join.

Common problems

• "Сертификат нельзя продать в текущем интерфейсе..." (a certificate cannot be sold in the current interface) — certificate sale is not available in every POS interface. Switch to the interface where certificates are sold (usually the cashier one) or ask the administrator to configure the employee's interface.
• Certificate refused offline — certificate operations never work without internet.
• Certificate rejected — barcode not found, already used, or not matching the discount.
• Gift payment type not configured — issuing gifts needs a dedicated payment type; see Order payment and payment types.
• Not enough points — the balance is below the cheapest gift level. The same message appears when a paid order contains no line that earns a gift.
• No "Gift" button — it appears only for a discount based on accumulated points, with the gift module enabled and a client attached. If the discount grants gifts for purchased quantity there is no button — the gift window opens by itself after payment.
• "Exceeded quantity of selected bonus items." — more promo items were selected in the "Add to order:" window than the discount allows; the whole issuance is cancelled. Retry, following the limit in the window header.

FAQ

Can I sell a certificate with other items?

No — a certificate is sold on its own order, one per order.

Do certificates work offline?

No, both selling and redeeming are verified on the server.

How do I see a client's points?

Attach the client — the balance shows on the "Gift" button and in the gift window.

The guest has no bonus program — what to pick in "Loyalty systems"?

The "Without discount" tile; picking a program recalculates the total as a discount.