Offer Priority and Stacking

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How Offer Priority Works

Atom evaluates offers in two dimensions:

1. By discount class (stage):
   • First: Item discounts (product/line-level)
   • Next: Order discounts (cart total)
   • Finally: Shipping discounts
2. Within each class, by priority: higher-priority discounts are applied first. If two discounts have the same priority, one is selected deterministically.

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Conflict Resolution

When multiple offers target the same line or total, Atom resolves conflicts using this sequence:

1. Eligibility – Only eligible offers are considered
2. Class, then Priority – Apply by class (item -> order -> shipping); within each class, apply higher-priority offers first
3. Tie handling – If two offers in the same class share the same priority, one is selected deterministically
4. Budget/Cap Checks – If an offer hits a per-order cap or budget limit, the engine may proceed to the next eligible offer in that class

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Setting Offer Priority

To set the priority for an offer in the Atom admin interface:

1. Navigate to the offer you want to configure
2. On the right side of the offer page, locate the Priority card
3. Check the “Set an offer priority” checkbox to enable priority settings
4. Enter your desired priority value in the input field (higher numbers = higher priority)
5. Use the up/down arrow buttons to increment or decrement the value

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Offer Priority and Minimum Order Value

When an offer has a minimum order value, it will only be applied if the order total meets or exceeds the minimum order value. The priority you set determines which order total is used when evaluating these offers.

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How Priority Affects Order Value Calculation

Offers are evaluated in priority order (higher priority = higher number). Each offer sees the order total after all higher-priority offers have been applied, but before lower-priority offers. This means:

• Higher priority offers see the original order total
• Lower priority offers see the order total after higher-priority discounts have been applied

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Example: Priority Impact on Minimum Order Value

Let’s say you have two offers:

1. Spend USD 120, Get a Free Gift (Priority 3 - higher priority)
2. Buy More Save More: 30 percent off all items (Priority 1 - lower priority)

Customer’s cart: USD 150 worth of items

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Scenario A: Current Priority Setup (Gift offer has higher priority)

1. Gift offer evaluates first -> Sees USD 150 order total -> Qualifies (at least USD 120) -> Free gift applied
2. BMSM offer evaluates second -> Sees USD 150 order total -> Qualifies -> 30 percent discount applied

Result: Customer gets both the free gift AND the 30 percent discount

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Scenario B: Reversed Priorities (BMSM has higher priority)

1. BMSM offer evaluates first -> Sees USD 150 order total -> Qualifies -> 30 percent discount applied -> New total: USD 105
2. Gift offer evaluates second -> Sees USD 105 order total -> Does NOT qualify (less than USD 120) -> No free gift

Result: Customer gets only the 30 percent discount, no free gift

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Strategic Priority Planning

Use higher priorities (larger numbers) for offers you want to:

• Apply to the original order total
• Ensure customers qualify for before other discounts reduce the total
• Maximize customer value (like free gifts or shipping)

Use lower priorities (higher numbers) for offers that:

• Can work with discounted totals
• Are percentage-based discounts
• You want to apply after other promotions

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Quick Reference

Priority Level	Sees Order Total	Best For
Higher Priority (90-100)	Original total	Minimum spend offers, free gifts, free shipping
Lower Priority (0-89)	After higher-priority discounts	Percentage discounts, volume discounts

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Discount Combinations

For code-based offers, you can configure which types of discounts can be combined together. This allows customers to benefit from the best possible total discount based on their cart.

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Setting Discount Combinations

To configure discount combinations for a code offer:

1. Navigate to the offer you want to configure
2. On the right side of the offer page, locate the Combinations card
3. Check the boxes for the discount classes you want this offer to combine with:
   • Product discounts - Apply to specific items or collections
   • Order discounts - Apply to cart subtotals
   • Shipping discounts - Modify shipping costs

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Discount Classes

Each discount belongs to one of three classes:

• Product discounts: Apply to specific items or collections
• Order discounts: Apply to cart subtotals
• Shipping discounts: Modify shipping costs

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Types of Valid Combinations

There are five types of discount combinations:

1. Order discounts with shipping discounts
2. Product discounts with shipping discounts
3. Product discounts with other product discounts
4. Product discounts with order discounts
5. Order discounts with other order discounts

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How Combinations Work

• Multiple discounts can apply to the same order when combinations are enabled
• Order discounts are applied on the order subtotal after product discounts have been applied
• Automatic discounts always allow combinations
• Code discounts require explicit combination configuration

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Customer Experience

When customers enter multiple discount codes during checkout:

• Compatible codes: The best discount or combination of discounts automatically applies
• Incompatible codes: The message “Discount couldn’t be used with your existing discounts” displays

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Stacking Rules

Advanced Stacking Rules Coming Soon Atom supports sophisticated stacking controls to protect margins and avoid double-discounting. While the basic stacking behavior is already working, advanced stacking rules will be available in the admin UI soon.

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Current Stacking Behavior

• A product line receives at most one item-level discount
• Order-level and shipping discounts may stack with one item-level discount when allowed by configuration

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Coming Soon: Advanced Stacking Rules

When this feature launches, you’ll be able to:

• Create stacking rule groups to control which discounts can be combined
• Set exclusive discounts that prevent other discounts from applying
• Configure combination rules between different discount types
• Define stacking hierarchies to ensure the most valuable discounts are prioritized

This will give you fine-grained control over how discounts interact, helping you maximize customer value while protecting your margins.

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Examples

1. Buy X Get Y (item-level) + Free Shipping (shipping):
   • Result: Both may apply if the cart qualifies for each rule
2. Two item-level discounts target the same SKU:
   • Result: The higher priority offer applies; the other is skipped on that line
3. Order-level percent-off plus item-level percent-off:
   • Result: Item-level applies to discounted lines; order-level applies to the remaining subtotal

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Practical Guidance

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Recommended Priority Strategy

Since priority is class-specific, plan your priorities within each discount class: Item Discounts (Product/Line-level):

1. Use higher priorities (higher numbers) for mission-critical discounts like GWP or BXGY
2. Group other item discounts by business value, then set descending priorities
3. Remember: only one item discount applies per product line

Order Discounts (Cart-level):

1. Set priorities based on business importance (e.g., loyalty discounts vs. promotional codes)
2. Order discounts apply after all item discounts are processed

Shipping Discounts:

1. Use priority to manage conflicts among multiple shipping offers
2. Shipping discounts apply last in the evaluation sequence

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Priority Planning Tips

• Higher numbers = higher priority within each class (priority values 0-100)
• Item discounts are evaluated first, regardless of priority numbers
• Order discounts are evaluated second, regardless of priority numbers
• Shipping discounts are evaluated last, regardless of priority numbers
• Within each class, higher priority offers (higher numbers) are applied first

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FAQs

Can two BXGY offers apply to the same cart line? No. A line receives at most one item-level discount. If multiple are eligible, the lowest priority number applies. Do order discounts apply before or after item discounts? After. The engine completes item discounts first, then applies order discounts to the remaining subtotal, and finally shipping. How do budgets affect priority? Budgets and per-order caps are enforced after selection. If a cap is hit, the engine can fall back to the next eligible offer based on priority.

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See Also

• Types of Offers
• Creating Offers
• Scheduling