Happy Hours and Price Types — Paloma POS 2

This article is about Paloma POS 2, the new Paloma register app. It covers scheduled pricing (“happy hours”) and price types: how to set a time-based price on selected items, how the register applies it automatically at the right time, how to pick a price type in an order or at packing, and how a customer’s price type reprices the order. If you’re not sure which product you have, start with “How to tell you have Paloma POS 2”.

Overview

• Happy hours — a time-price rule: selected items get their own price that applies on a schedule (days of week, time, date range) and at selected sales points. When the schedule window is open, the register substitutes this price for the normal one.
• Price type — a separate price list: an item can have several prices under different types (for example, “wholesale” or “delivery”). A price type is picked manually in an order, can be applied by customer, or used at packing.
• The normal (base) price of an item always applies when no time-price rule is open and no other price type is selected.
• Everything works offline: rules and price lists arrive from the cloud on sync, and price substitution is computed on the register itself.

Happy hours and price types are set up in advance — on the register or in the web dashboard. During a shift, a cashier usually only picks a price type in an order; time prices are applied automatically.

Happy hours: how it works on the register

When you add an item to an order, the register checks the time-price rules and, if the item has a rule that is open right now, uses the rule’s price instead of the normal one. Conditions:

• Schedule is open. The current date, day of week, and time fall within the rule’s window.
• Sales point matches. The rule is linked to your sales point.
• The item is in the rule. A time price is set for the item in the rule.

If these conditions aren’t met, the item’s normal price applies — this is not an error. When several open rules cover the same item, the register takes the lowest price (in the guest’s favor). Custom line items with a manual price are not affected by time prices.

Setting up a happy hour (back office, on the register)

1. Open the side drawer and tap «Happy Hours» (or go to «Settings» → back-office section → «Happy Hours», subtitle «Schedule price rules»). The rule list opens.
2. Tap the add button (tooltip «Add happy hour») — the «New happy hour» screen opens.
3. Fill in the fields:
   • «Name» — required.
   • «Start date» and «End date» — the active period.
   • «Start time» and «End time» — time within the day.
   • «Days of week» — which days the rule works.
   • «Sales points» — which points the rule applies to.
4. In the «Time-price items» block tap «Add item», choose an item, and set «Price» — its time price. While there are no items, «No items yet» is shown.
5. Save. While saving, the register shows «Saving…».

To edit a rule, tap it in the list — the «Edit happy hour» screen opens. Delete a rule with the delete icon: the register asks «Delete happy hour?» and warns «The rule disappears from the list immediately. The change syncs to the cloud when online.». If you leave with unsaved changes, «Discard changes?» appears.

In the list, each rule shows whether it works now: with no active days it shows «No active days», with no active time — «No active time».

Price types in an order

If your venue has price types configured, you can choose which price list to charge the order lines by:

1. On the order card open the actions and tap «Price type» — the «Order price type» dialog opens.
2. Pick a price type from the list. The «Default (by customer)» option means the type is taken from the attached customer (or the normal price if the customer has no type).
3. Confirm — menu items are repriced by the selected type.

When a specific type is selected for the order, its name shows in the tooltip «Active price type: {type}», and the action itself reads «Price type: {name}». If an item has no price under the selected type, it keeps its normal (base) price.

Repricing by a customer’s price type

If the attached customer has a price type, the register does not change prices silently on attach — it asks for confirmation in the «Reprice items?» dialog with text like «Apply «…» pricing to N items?». Tap «Reprice» to apply the customer’s price list to the order’s catalog items. Repricing affects only menu items — custom lines with a manual price don’t change. For more on working with a customer and this dialog, see “Customers”.

Price type at packing

The packing screen (weighing an item and printing a label) has its own price-type choice «Price type». It applies on this device for the current packing session:

• The «Base price» option is the item’s normal catalog price.
• Another price type reprices the label total by that price list; if the item has no price under the selected type, the base price stays.
• If the venue has no price types configured, the «Price type» choice on the packing screen is hidden — the base price is printed.

Common problems

• «Couldn't load happy hours. Pull to refresh from cloud.» — the rule list didn’t load. Pull the screen down to refresh and check your connection.
• «No happy hours yet. Tap + to add one.» — there are no rules yet. Create the first one.
• «Name is required.» — the required «Name» field is empty. Enter a name and save again.
• «Couldn't save. Try again.» — the rule didn’t save. Retry; if it still fails, check your connection.
• «This happy hour is not available locally.» — the rule hasn’t synced to this device yet. Refresh the list from the cloud.
• «No active days» / «No active time» — the rule has no days selected or no time set, so it doesn’t fire. Open the rule and fill in «Days of week», «Start time», and «End time».
• A time price wasn’t applied — the rule is outside its schedule, isn’t linked to your sales point, or the item isn’t added to «Time-price items». Check the rule.
• The «Price type» choice didn’t appear — the venue has no price types configured. This is normal: the normal price applies.
• The «Reprice items?» dialog didn’t appear — the customer has no price type, or price types aren’t configured. The customer attaches without changing prices.

FAQ

How do happy hours differ from a price type?

Happy hours apply automatically on a schedule (day, time, sales point) to selected items. A price type is a separate price list that you pick manually in an order or at packing, or that is applied by customer. One is about timing, the other about choosing a price list.

Why wasn’t a time price applied to the order?

Check three conditions: whether the rule’s schedule is open now (date, day of week, time), whether the rule is linked to your sales point, and whether the item is added to the «Time-price items» block. If any one fails, the normal price applies.

Two happy hours match an item — which price wins?

The register takes the lowest of the matching time prices — in the guest’s favor.

I picked a price type, but one line’s price didn’t change. Why?

That item has no price under the selected type. In that case it keeps its normal (base) price, while the other lines are repriced.

How do I return the order to normal prices?

Open the «Price type» action and pick «Default (by customer)». If no customer is attached or the customer has no price type, lines are charged at the normal price.