Five of PricePulse’s rule types reduce the price of products you choose in your catalog — one product, everything in a category, everything carrying a tag, a single variation of a variable product, or every product sharing an attribute value such as Red. They differ only in how they choose which products to affect.
All five change the product’s price, so the reduction is visible on the shop page, on the product page, in the cart and at checkout. To discount several products at once, or your whole store, see How to Discount Multiple Products or Your Whole Store. The fields every rule shares are described in Discount Rule Fields.
Choose the Right Rule Type
↑ Back to top- Specific Product – one product, and every variation of it if it is a variable product.
- Specific Category – every product in one category, including its child categories.
- Specific Product Variation – one variation only, such as the red one, leaving the others at full price.
- Specific Tag – every product carrying one tag.
- Product Attribute – every product matching an attribute value, whether it is a variation or a simple product.
Tags are usually the easiest to maintain for a promotion that changes. A tag such as clearance can be added to any product regardless of category, so one rule covers a mixed selection and you change the selection by tagging products rather than by editing the rule.
Percentage, Fixed and Flat
↑ Back to topEvery rule on this page offers the same three choices in Discount based on, and the difference between the last two matters as soon as a shopper buys more than one:
- Percentage discount – a percentage off each item. 10% off a $100 product makes it $90.00, whether the shopper buys one or ten.
- Fixed discount – that amount off the line as a whole, however many items are in it. $20 off a $100 product means one costs $80.00, and two cost $180.00 — $20 off the pair.
- Flat discount – that amount off every item. The same $20 makes one cost $80.00 and two cost $160.00.
The field below is labeled How much ($ Discount) and shows your store’s currency symbol even when you have chosen a percentage. Read it as “how much”, and let Discount based on decide the unit.
Specific Product
↑ Back to topReduces one product. Use it for a single headline deal, or to make an exception to a broader rule — a store-wide sale at a high priority number with one product discounted more deeply at a lower one.
Fields specific to this rule type:
- Select a Product – the product to discount. Start typing to search your catalog.
- Conditions – this rule type offers Category Product Quantity, Category Product Value, Product Quantity and Product Value. It is the only product rule with no cart-total condition.
To set one up:
- Go to: WooCommerce > PricePulse > Dynamic Rules and choose +Add New Rule.
- Give the rule a title. Only you see it — it identifies the rule in the list.
- Rule type: choose Specific Product.
- Select a Product: pick the product.
- Discount based on: choose Percentage discount, and enter 10 in How much.
- Maximum Discount: enter 0 for no ceiling, or an amount to cap the saving.
- Publish your rule.
Example. A $100 Premium Hoodie with a 10% rule sells for $90.00. Set Maximum Discount to 5 and the saving stops at $5, so the shopper pays $95.00 — the ceiling limits the discount, not the price. Switch to a Fixed discount of 20 and the same hoodie is $80.00.
What the shopper sees. The shop page and the product page show the old price struck through beside the new one, with your offer message underneath if you have enabled it. The cart line and the checkout total both carry the reduced price. The deal also appears on the offers page with an Add to cart button.
Specific Category
↑ Back to topReduces every product in one category. This is the usual way to run a seasonal sale on a department — all hoodies, all accessories — because new products added to the category are covered automatically.
- Select a Category – the category to discount. Products in its child categories are included, so choosing a parent covers everything beneath it.
- Conditions – Cart Total Quantity, Cart Total Value, Category Product Quantity and Category Product Value.
Example. A 20% rule on Hoodies, with a $100 Premium Hoodie and a $100 Zip Hoodie in the basket, prices both at $80.00 for a subtotal of $160.00 and a saving of $40.00. Add $10 flat-rate delivery and the checkout total is $170.00.
What the shopper sees. Reduced prices on the shop page and on the category archive, an offer message on each card if enabled, and a Shop the offer link on the offers page that opens the category.
Specific Product Variation
↑ Back to topReduces one variation of a variable product and leaves its siblings alone. Use it to clear a single size or color without marking down the whole product.
- Select a Variation – the variation to discount, listed under its parent product’s name.
- Conditions – Cart Total Quantity, Cart Total Value, Product Quantity and Product Value.
Example. A $100 Zip Hoodie comes in Red and Blue. A Fixed discount of 20 on the Red variation prices it at $80.00, while Blue stays at $100.00. Both can sit in the same cart at their two different prices.
What the shopper sees. The product page shows the full price until a variation is chosen; choosing Red switches the price to $80.00, and switching back to Blue restores $100.00. The offers page lists the deal with an Add to cart button for that variation.
A variation rule does not put an offer message on the shop or category listing, because a listing card sells every variation and only one of them is reduced. The price is correct everywhere it is shown, and the deal appears on the offers page and on the product page — it is simply not advertised on the listing. If you want it promoted there, use a Product Attribute rule instead.
Specific Tag
↑ Back to topReduces every product carrying one product tag. Because a product can be tagged regardless of its category, this is the most direct way to run a promotion across a hand-picked mixture of products. Many stores also use tags as brands, which makes this the rule for a brand-wide discount.
- Select a Product Tag – the tag whose products are discounted.
- Conditions – Cart Total Quantity, Cart Total Value, Product Quantity and Product Value.
Example. A 10% rule on the tag bestseller, applied to a $100 Premium Hoodie and a $20 Classic Tee, prices them at $90.00 and $18.00. A $30 Wool Beanie that does not carry the tag stays at $30.00. Add a Maximum Discount of 5 and the hoodie becomes $95.00 while the tee is untouched at $18.00 — its 10% saving of $2 was already under the ceiling.
What the shopper sees. Reduced prices wherever the tagged products appear, including the tag archive, and a link to that archive from the offers page.
Product Attribute
↑ Back to topReduces every product matching an attribute value — every red item, every large one. This is the only rule type that reaches a variation of a variable product and a plain simple product with the same attribute, in one rule.
- Select Product Attribute – the attribute, such as Color. It must be a global attribute created under Products > Attributes; attributes defined on a single product are not listed here.
- Attribute Value – one or more values of that attribute, such as Red. The list is rebuilt when you change the attribute.
- Conditions – Cart Total Quantity, Cart Total Value, Product Quantity and Product Value.
Example. A 20% rule on Color: Red prices the red variation of a $100 Zip Hoodie at $80.00 and a $30 Wool Beanie that is simply a red product at $24.00. The blue variation of the same hoodie stays at $100.00, and products with no color at all are untouched. A Maximum Discount of 5 caps both savings at $5, giving $95.00 and $25.00 — the same ceiling biting very differently on a $100 and a $30 product.
What the shopper sees. Reduced prices on the shop page for every matching product, the rule’s own offer message on those cards, the right price as the shopper switches between variations on the product page, and an Attribute Deal card on the offers page linking to the shop filtered to that value.
If you set a Product Quantity or Product Value condition on an attribute rule, only the cart items carrying that attribute are counted towards it. A cart of three unrelated products does not satisfy a minimum of three.
How Variable Products Are Treated
↑ Back to topVariations inherit the categories and tags of their parent product. A rule targeting the Hoodies category therefore discounts every variation of a hoodie, even though the variations themselves are not filed under that category. In practice:
- A category or tag rule covers the whole variable product.
- A Specific Product rule on a variable product covers all of its variations.
- To reach one variation only, use Specific Product Variation or Product Attribute.
If a Rule Does Not Seem to Apply
↑ Back to topWork through these in order — they account for most reports:
- The rule is a draft. A rule only takes effect once it is Published.
- Another rule won. Under First Matched only the highest-priority rule applies, and the highest priority is the lowest number. See How Matching Rules Combine.
- A condition is not met. Check Minimum and Maximum, remembering that blank or 0 means no bound.
- The product is already on sale and the rule has Exclude products that are already on sale ticked.
- The rule’s Start Date is in the future or its End Date has passed.
- The shopper does not match User Role.
