Groups are an intrinsic part of REC+ and are used for 4 separate things:
Allowing tax exemption override
Creating quantity break pricing
Sending emails personalised to different groups
Creating group messages which a user sees on login
Creating User Groups For Tax Exemption Purposes
In Manage Users, you can select a user who can then belong to up to 3 separate types of groups, Group 1, 2 or 3. There is a "Global" group which selects a user if they are in any of Group 1, 2 or 3.
You can use these group types to differentiate users by type (e.g. blank=retail customer, trade, favoured customer etc) and set whether they are exempt from tax or not.
Practical Example - Exempting EU VAT Registered Businesses From Paying Tax
Set up a group called EU VAT Registered Businesses and add this to any one of the user's groups on their user record. Set the Group Type to "global". Set Group Tax Prices Calculation to "Without Tax". When the user goes through the checkout process, they will be recognised as being an EU VAT registered business whose prices are calculated without tax.
Using Groups For Quantity Break Pricing
You can also use Groups for quantity break pricing when adding products. This means when the user signs in to the system, it will recognise which group they belong to and then set their pricing accordingly. You set the group price on the product record. If a user isn't assigned to a group then they automatically default to normal retail pricing and cannot see any other group's pricing.
Using Groups For Personalised Email Campaigns
You can send emails to specified groups, or combinations of groups, via REC's in-built Email Manager.
So for example, Group 1 could be business type eg retail or trade; Group 2 could be geography such as South or Midlands; Group 3 could be Sales Rep, such as Bob or Phil. You could then send an email to all of Bob's retail customers in the Midlands by selecting the right combination in Group 1, 2 and 3.
Adding A Group
1. Go to Manage User Groups and Add New Group
2. Enter the information as required for this group.
Group Name:
Enter the group name
Group Status:
Set it to on or off
Group Type:
Select if this is a Group 1, 2, 3 or Global (meaning users with this Group name in any of the 3 group types will have these group's rules applied to them)
Smart Type:
Select the User Smart Type that this group will be included within.
(The Smart Type is displayed on the User record and used in revenue reports - read more about User Smart Types)
VAT/Tax:
Are users in this group subject to pricing With or Without Tax.
Share Prices From:
If you'd like this group of users to have access to another groups product prices, select the parent group here.
Page Content:
This content will appear specifically on a user's home page who belongs to this group. This is useful for sending out group broadcasts which the users will see when they log in to their user home page.
Payment Methods:
Any payment methods set for this group will be displayed here.
Delivery Methods:
You can optionally disable delivery methods being calculated for this user group, allowing you to manually add delivery after the order's been placed
3. Click Add