How do rules work within tiers?

A rule describes the actions that loyalty program members perform to achieve outcomes. For example, a rule could specify that members who buy $100 worth of gas in June receive a $20 discount when buying gas in July. The purpose of a rule is to link actions that members perform with rewards that members receive for performing that action. You use rules in a loyalty program to drive specific member actions.

A rule consists of conditions and outcomes.

Condition

A condition indicates what the member must do to earn the outcome. SessionM evaluates the condition when an event triggers the evaluation of a rule. A single rule can have one or more conditions. In the example above, the condition is buy $100 worth of gas in June.

Conditions have constraints that further qualifies the action indicated by the condition. For example, for a current purchase condition, a constraint could specify the minimum dollar amount of the purchase, or the date by which the purchase must be completed.

Outcome

An outcome is what a member receives for satisfying the conditions of a rule. For example, the outcome could be a points reward, receiving an offer or graduating to a new tier.

A rule can contain multiple outcomes. add example]

The Loyalty Programs module uses a rule template to reduce the complexity of defining rules. A rules template contains a library of reusable, configurable rules components, including qualifiers, constraints, and outcomes. During system implementation, the SessionM Delivery team builds out a rules template tailored to your program. Building rules is then a simple process of selecting components from drop-down lists. This approach reduces the time needed to define rules, and makes is less likely that the rule contains an error.

As you evolve your loyalty program, contact your SessionM Customer Success representative to define additions to the rules template.

Condition types

The following table lists the available condition types.

Condition	Description
Purchase Event (Current)	Earning outcome associated with rule occurs when member makes purchase that satisfies conditions of rule (for example, specified dollar amount, selected item, or designated store). By default, purchase event condition is automatically included in all purchase rules.
Purchase Events (Past)	Earning outcome associated with rule is determined by attributes of past transactions. For example, if member has spent more than $1000 in past six months, earns “buy one, get one free” offer.
Points\Other Events (Past)	Earning outcome associated with rule is determined by Points: Number of points issued to member over specified timeframe. For example, if member has been issued more than 10,000 points since joining loyalty program, earns 50% discount on next purchase. Other Events (Past): Earning outcome associated with rule is determined by past actions member has performed over set period. For example, if member has renewed membership in past six months, receives 10% discount on the next purchase.
Total Points	Earning the outcome associated with the rules is determined by: Current points: Number of (unused) points currently issued to member's point account. For example, if member currently has more than 1000 points, earns a 50% discount on next purchase. Points deposited past: Number of points member has deposited in past period. For example, if member has deposited more than 1000 points in past six months, earns a 50% discount on next purchase. Points spent (past): Number of points member has spent in past period. For example, if member has spent more than 1000 points in past six months, earns a 50% discount on next purchase.
Audience	Earning outcome associated with rule depends on whether member is or is not part of specified audience.

Each condition has a corresponding set of key phrases. The key phrase identifies what object is evaluating, for example, the total dollar amount of a purchase or a set of items in your catalog. Examples of key phrases for the Purchase Event (Current) condition include:

Number of items purchased is
Items/categories in purchase include
Total spend in purchase is

You complete the key phrase by supplying values for that key phrase's variables. For example, the following image shows a past purchase event key phrase with two variables: unit and timeframe.

SessionM supports two types of key phrases: standard and custom:

Standard key phrases are configured by default by the SessionM platform and apply to all loyalty programs.
Custom key phrases are defined by the SessionM system administrator and are specific to your loyalty program.

Constraints

Conditions can have constraints that further qualifies the action indicated by the condition. For example, for a current purchase condition, a constraint could specify the minimum dollar amount of the purchase, or the date by which the purchase must be completed. A condition can have none, one or multiple constraints. All specified constraints apply to the condition.

Grouping conditions using Boolean logic

When a rule has multiple conditions, you use Boolean logic to indicate how the rule should be evaluated by SessionM. You can indicate that all conditions need to be true for the condition to take effect, or some combination of conditions need to evaluate to true for the condition to take effect.

The following image shows a rule with three conditions.

The conditions are grouped into two groups. The inner group consists of the Total Points and Point/Other Event (Current) conditions and are joined by an Or operator. So if either condition is True, this group evaluates as True. The outer group consists of the Audience condition and the inner group, joined by the And operator. Therefore, both must evaluate as True for this rules to take effect.

Outcome types

The following table lists the available outcomes.

Outcome	Description
Points (Variable)	Awards or deducts points for each unit purchased in transaction (for example, unit could be number of dollars spent or number of items purchased).
Points (Fixed)	Awards or deducts specified number of points from/to specified account.
Point (Expiration)	Expires percentage of points from member’s account if member has not satisfied conditions of rule. Used for year-end tier maintenance.
Add Tags	Drops tag on member’s profile when member satisfies condition of rule. For example, add “high spender” tag to member who exceeds $1000 in spending.
Trigger Event	Triggers specified event when member performs action specified by conditions in rule.
Issue Offer	Issues specified offer to member who satisfies conditions of rule. For example, registering in loyalty program triggers a 20% discount on member's first purchase.
Auto-Purchase	Automatically purchases offer on behalf of member when point balance reaches designated threshold. For example, member receives $10 discount offer every time they accumulate 200 points.
Reward Store	Grants or revokes access to reward store that contains offers targeted to specific members.
Tier Change	Changes member's tier level in designated loyalty program.

Rule types

Tiers in a loyalty program are governed by a set of rules. SessionM supports four types of rules.

Rule type	Description
Tier entrance	Determines when members qualify to graduate to a higher tier in a loyalty program. Members must satisfy the conditions in the rule to enter the tier and receive the specified outcomes. Examples include: Members must complete a set number of transactions over a set period: 10 transactions in 90 days. Members must earn a set number of points over a set period: 500 points over 6 months. Members must spend a certain amount of money over a set period: $1000 over 1 year.
Tier maintenance	Determines what members must do to remain in the current tier in a loyalty program. Tier maintenance rules run during the maintenance evaluation period. Members who satisfy the conditions remain in the tier. Members who do not satisfy the rules are demoted to a lower tier. Examples include: Members must spend a certain amount over a set period. Members must complete a set number of transactions over a set period. Members must earn a set number of points over a set period.
Purchase	Runs when members make purchases that satisfies the conditions of the rule (for example, a specified dollar amount, a selected item, or a designated store) and, in return, earns the specified outcomes. Examples include: Earn 1 point per dollar spent on a purchase. Earn 100 points for a purchase at a designated store. Receive a 10% discount on selected items.
Event	Runs when a designated event occurs. Examples include: The “cancel credit card” event expires all points in a Credit Card point account. The “profile complete” event awards the member an offer.

How do I define rules?

The SessionM platform supports two rule building engines:

The Loyalty Programs module, SessionM's advanced rule building engine for new loyalty program implementations.
The legacy Economy Rules module. Contact your SessionM Customer Success team for more information on implementing the Loyalty Programs module in your program.

When using Loyalty Programs, you can define rules directly in the Loyalty Programs module or in its supporting Rules Management module.

The Loyalty Programs module provides a simplified interface for defining rules. This interface is ideal for brands with a strait forward implementation with relatively few rules that are not re-used across programs. See Build loyalty program for more information.
The Rules Management module provides a comprehensive interface for brands with complicated implementations with large rule sets that are re-used across programs. See Create rule for more information.

When using Economy Rules, you define behaviors (rules) directly in that module. See Configure behaviors for tier level