Advanced Redeemables: Discounts, Vouchers, Prepaid Tabs and Parties
Advanced Redeemables are the codes your customers use to get money off, spend a balance, or claim items included in a package. You decide exactly what each code is worth, when it works, what it can be spent on and which of your venues accept it. Customers can show their code as a QR code at the till, and you can also choose to make an offer available for staff to select at checkout.
With Advanced Redeemables, you could run a happy hour at the bar on weekday evenings, email a batch of Vouchers to your regulars, or give a corporate group a shared Tab and a set of free drinks each.
This guide is split into two sections. The first explains what Advanced Redeemables can do. The second walks you through setting everything up in the Organisation Dashboard, which you can reach in a browser at organisation-dashboard.dines.co.uk.
Advanced Redeemables are managed entirely through your Organisation Dashboard, so please sign in there to set them up, even if you usually use the Partner Dashboard for your venues.
Section 1: What Advanced Redeemables can do
Section 2: Setting up and using Advanced Redeemables
Section 1: What Advanced Redeemables can do
The three types of Redeemable
Every Redeemable is either a Discount, a Voucher or a Prepaid Tab.
Discount | Takes a percentage or a fixed amount off the order, such as 20% or £5 off. |
Voucher | A balance you give your customer to spend, such as £20. |
Prepaid Tab | A balance your customer pays for up front, then spends down. |
The type also decides how the Redeemable shows in your reports. For example, a Discount lowers the sale price, so it is specifically reported as a Discount. Vouchers and Prepaid Tabs leave the sale price as it is, and are reported as Voucher or Tab spend instead.
This keeps your reports clear, so you can see exactly how much was taken off in Discounts and how much was spent from Vouchers and Tabs. If you run several venues or work with traders at an event, it also means that spend can be tracked against each one.
How it all fits together
Every Redeemable is built from the parts below.
Redeemable configuration | The template for your offer. It holds the type, value, dates, times and any limits. Everything set here applies to every code that is linked to it. |
Item package | An optional list of products the offer can be spent on, such as every drink at your bar, or a desserts menu. |
Venues | The venues in your organisation that accept the offer. |
Linked codes | The individual codes your customers use, each with its own QR code and digital link. |
Party | An optional bundle of configurations for a group booking, with a guest link for each person. |
Discounts
Discounts are made for promotions. You could offer 20% off drinks at the bar, run a happy hour only on Tuesdays between 2pm and 4pm, or give members 10% off for a year from the day they join. You choose whether a Discount covers all orders, or only on-premise, collection or delivery orders, and also whether it applies to the service charge.
Linking an item package keeps a Discount to the products you choose. With a drinks package, for example, a customer ordering food, desserts and drinks would only receive the Discount on their drinks. You can also cap how many times a Discount is used each day, or how much a single use can take off.
Discounts can create set-price deals, too. If your pints range from £6 to £9, a Discount linked to an item package can bring every one of them down to £5, perfect for a happy hour.
When more than one item qualifies, the most expensive one is always covered first. With a code for two free pizzas and pizzas at £12, £10 and £8 in the basket, the £12 and £10 pizzas are covered and the £8 pizza is charged as normal.
The digital link your customer sees for a Discount.
Vouchers
Vouchers give someone a set amount to spend. They work well for staff meals, marketing giveaways and food tokens at events. You can generate a whole batch at once, each carrying your venue's name, such as BLUEBAR2B0 and BLUEBAR48C, and have them emailed out as soon as they are created.
You also choose where each Voucher is accepted:
A restaurant group could make a Voucher that works at every site, or only at one.
A food hall could limit it to certain stalls.
An event or festival could keep a meal Voucher to its food traders.
You can control what a Voucher buys, too. A £100 bar Voucher can be set up so it cannot be spent on alcohol, while a £20 staff meal Voucher can be kept to mains and soft drinks only. It's all up to you.
Prepaid Tabs
A Prepaid Tab is paid for up front and spent down over time. You set each Tab's value - for example £10, £20 or £30 - add your customer's email address, and choose its start and end dates. Your customer will receive an email with a link to pay, and once they have paid, the Tab can be spent from its start date. So a Tab paid for today could start next week, ready for a booking or event.
Tabs work well whenever someone wants to pay in advance. A customer booking a birthday party could pay £200 ahead of the night for their group's drinks, or a company could cover its team's spend at a summer social before anyone arrives. On the day, the Tab is used at the till by scanning its QR code, and whatever is spent comes off the balance until it runs out.
You can check any Tab's balance at any time. If a customer asks how much is left on a £100 Tab, a quick search on the Code Lookup tab will show you that £20 remains, along with who the Tab belongs to. On top of that, they can check the remaining balance themselves through their digital link.
A party can also have a shared Prepaid Tab. The organiser simply tops it up from the party link, for example with £1,000, and every guest in the party can spend from it.
Parties
A party brings several Redeemables together for one group, such as a corporate booking or a private party at an event. Say "Dave" from "Business Ltd" is bringing a team of ten for the day. You could give the group a shared team Tab, two free drinks each and a £20 food Voucher, all in one party.
Every guest gets their own guest link. On their phone, each Redeemable sits in its own section, with Vouchers and Tabs showing their remaining balance, and a tap opens its QR code ready for the till. Guests can also open their usage history in a new tab to see everything they have used so far. Once guests have been assigned, the party's Redeemables are fixed, so everyone receives exactly what was agreed with the organiser, just like a hospitality package.
A guest link, as your guests see it on their phone.
Section 2: Setting up and using Advanced Redeemables
Where to find Advanced Redeemables
Advanced Redeemables is a feature that can be enabled by our team. To activate it, please email care@dines.co.uk from the email address you use to sign in to your Organisation Dashboard, and we will set it up for you.
Once it is active, select Redeemables in the Manage section of the left-hand menu. You will see five tabs along the top of the page.
Code Lookup | Search for any code to see its full details, including its balance and who it belongs to. |
Redeemables | A list of every code you have created, with its type, status and dates. |
Redeemable Configurations | Where you create and manage your configurations. |
Item Packages | Where you create and manage your item packages. |
Parties | Where you set up group bookings and invite guests. |
The Redeemables page and its five tabs.
Creating a Redeemable configuration
A configuration is the template your codes are built from. Everything you set on it applies to every linked code, so you only need to set things up once.
On the Redeemable Configurations tab, select Create New Redeemable Configuration. A window opens asking for the details below.
Redeemable Configuration Name | The name you will know it by internally, such as "Summer Drinks Offer". |
Redeemable Type | Discount, Voucher or Prepaid Tab. The type is fixed once the configuration is created, so please double-check it. |
Title | Labelled Discount Title, Voucher Title or Prepaid Tab Title depending on the type. This is the name of the offer itself, such as "20% Off Drinks" or "£20 Food Voucher". It appears on receipts, orders and reports, so you and your customer can both see what was used. |
Customer Message | Shown to your customer when they open their digital link, such as "Please enjoy 20% off your drinks". |
Daily Redemptions Cap | How many times it can be used in one day. Leave it as No limit if you don't need one. |
Start Date and End Date | The start date is automatically set to today, but you can change either date by selecting the calendar icon. |
The Create New Redeemable Configuration window.
For a Discount, the Discount Details section comes next. You can choose the Applicable Order Type: whether it's for all orders, on-premise, collection or delivery orders. Then, choose whether the Discount Type is a percentage or a fixed amount, and enter its value, such as 20% or £5 off. Service Charge Handling lets you choose whether the Discount also applies to service charge. You can then add a Recipient Email and Recipient Name if the Discount is for a particular person. For a Voucher or a Prepaid Tab, you are asked to set its value instead, which can be any amount you like.
Finally, the Hide from iOS app switch decides whether the Redeemable appears in the list of Discounts on the checkout screen in the Dines app. Every code can still be scanned using its QR code, so it's recommended to enable this option for codes designed for one person or group. This keeps it off for general offers that staff are able to select at the till.
Once you are happy, select Create.
Your new configuration will then open on its own page, with four tabs along the top: Details, Item Packages, Venues and Linked Codes. The sections below will use a Discount as the example.
Until you link at least one venue, you will see a yellow banner saying the configuration won't apply anywhere yet. It disappears as soon as you add a venue on the Venues tab. More on that shortly!
The Details tab
This tab holds everything you entered when creating the Discount, along with a few extra settings for timing and limits. When you have made your changes, please select Save on the bar at the bottom of the screen. For peace of mind, once the bar reads "Your changes are up to date", everything has been saved. In this tab, you will see the following headings:
Basic Information | The name, type, title, customer message and daily redemptions cap. |
Discount Details | Everything from the creation window, plus a Max Discount Value (£) to cap how much one use can take off. |
Active Period | The start and end dates, along with a Start Time and End Time, so a Discount could run only between 2pm and 4pm if you wish. |
Active Days of the Week | Tick the days the Discount can be used. For example, it could run only on Tuesdays if you wish. |
Advanced Time Windows | Extra time windows that take priority over the days and times above. Select Add time window to create one. |
Advanced Time Windows are useful when your offer runs at different times on different days. For example, an offer that is available from 2pm to 4pm on Tuesdays, and also from 7pm to 9pm on Fridays can be set up this way.
The Item Packages tab
Item packages let you limit a Discount to certain products. With a drinks package, for example, a customer ordering food, desserts and drinks would only receive the Discount on their drinks. Without a package, the Discount can be used across the whole menu.
Select Link Item Packages to attach a package you have already made, or to create a new one straight from here. Each linked package is listed with how many items it holds and its usage limit, and you can remove one at any time with Unlink.
Not built a package yet? No bother, building a package is covered in Creating an item package below.
The Venues tab
This is where you choose which venues accept the Discount. If your organisation has ten venues and you only want it to work at five of them, you can do exactly that. Select Link Venues, tick the venues you would like, or use Select All, and confirm with Link Venues. Each venue is then listed with its Organisation access level, and you can remove one at any time with Unlink.
Linking venues to a configuration.
Please make sure at least one venue is linked, as a configuration with no venues will not apply anywhere. Any venue your organisation owns, such as your restaurants, bars or sites, can be linked at any time.
Some organisations also work with third-party venues: businesses linked to your organisation for a set period, such as traders at a festival. These can be linked while their access dates are active, so if their dates haven't started yet, please link them once they begin.
The Linked Codes tab
This is where your customers' codes are made. To get started, select Generate/Export Codes and choose from three options.
Generate | Creates a batch of unique codes for you. |
Upload Codes via CSV | Adds codes you have already made in a spreadsheet. The CSV can also give each code a customer name, an email address and its own start and end dates, which suits memberships that run for a year from each joining date. |
Export as CSV | Downloads all of your existing codes linked to this Redeemable Configuration as a spreadsheet, including each code's digital link and the date it was created. |
Using Generate is especially handy for Vouchers, where you might want a batch named after your offer. When using this option, the Code Prefix is the start of every code, which can be "20FOODVOUCH-" for example. The Total Length is the number of characters in each finished code, and the Quantity is how many codes to make. With a prefix of 20FOODVOUCH-, a length of 20 and a quantity of 8, you would receive eight codes such as 20FOODVOUCH-5EF0E712 and 20FOODVOUCH-67914E53, each finished with its own random mix of letters and numbers.
You can enable Email codes out when created to send each code to the Recipient Email on the configuration, then select Create Codes. The codes are created in the background. Generally it shouldn't take longer than 30 seconds, but larger batches will of course take a little longer.
The Linked Codes tab, showing a batch of generated codes.
Each code is then listed with its status, created date, guest details and current balance. The Actions menu next to a code lets you disable it, send its email again, or delete it.
Creating an item package
Item packages decide which products a Redeemable can be used on, and they work with all three types. You can create one from the Item Packages tab at the top of the Redeemables page by selecting Create Item Package, or from within a configuration, as described above. Either way, a window opens asking for the details below.
Package Name and Description | A name and short description for your reference, such as "Drinks Package" and "All drinks available at the bar". |
Message When Redemptions Run Out | What your customer sees once the package can no longer be used, for example when it reaches its end date or, for a Voucher or Prepaid Tab, once the balance has been spent, such as "This offer has now been fully used. We hope you enjoyed it!" |
Redemption Type and Redemption Limit | Whether the package can be used an unlimited number of times, or a set number of times per code, such as 10. |
Daily Cap | How many times the package can be used each day. Leave it at 0 for no daily limit. |
Basket Redemption Cap | The most times the package can be used within a single basket. Leave it empty for no limit. |
Price Override (£) | Sets every item in the package to this price, in place of the Redeemable's usual discount. For a £5 pint happy hour, for example, add your pints to a package with a £5 price override. Leave it empty if you don't need one. |
The Redemption Type, Redemption Limit and Daily Cap are fixed once the package is created, so please decide on them before you select Create Item Package.
Next, select your new package to open it. It has three tabs: Details, Items and Redeemable Configurations. On the Items tab, select Link Items. This looks through the menus of every venue in your organisation, so you can tick the products that belong in the package on the left-hand side, such as each of your soft drinks, then select Link Items at the bottom. The items are linked and saved automatically, and each one is listed with its category, venue and price.
The Items tab of an item package.
The Redeemable Configurations tab shows every configuration the package is attached to, and Link Redeemable Configurations lets you attach it to more from here.
Finding and managing your codes
There are two tabs that help you keep track of your codes once they are in use.
The Redeemables tab
This tab lists every code you have created, with its type, status and valid dates. It can grow to several pages, so the search bar and filters help you find what you need quickly.
Search | Find a code by typing all or part of it. |
Types | Show only Discounts, Vouchers or Prepaid Tabs. |
Status | Show codes that are enabled or disabled. |
Valid Dates | Show all codes, or only those that are currently active, upcoming or expired. |
Select a code to open it and make changes. Codes marked Batch, such as the 20FOODVOUCH codes generated earlier, are created automatically from their configuration, so they aren't editable individually.
The Code Lookup tab
Code Lookup is the quickest way to answer a customer's question about their code. Search for the code, or use Filter by party, then select it to see its full details.
You will see what type of Redeemable it is, the name and email address of the person it belongs to, and, for a Voucher or Prepaid Tab, its total value and how much is left, so a Tab's remaining balance is clear at a glance. You can also open the code's digital link, the page your customer sees with their QR code and details.
Looking up a code on the Code Lookup tab.
Setting up a party
On the Parties tab, select Create New Party at the top right. A window opens asking for the details below.
Party Name | The name you will know the party by, such as "Business Party #1". |
Company Name | The company the group is from. |
Organiser Name, Organiser Email and Organiser Phone | The contact details of the person organising the booking. |
Start Date and End Date | When the group is visiting. For a one-day booking, choose the same date for both. |
Guest Count | How many people are in the party. |
The Create New Party window.
Select the green Create Party button, and the party opens on its own page. Here you can edit any of the details above, and you will find the party link. This is the pay.dines.co.uk page for this particular party, where the organiser can see everything the party includes, top up any shared Tab and assign guests.
Adding Redeemables to a party
Once you have selected a party, head to the Linked Configurations tab, and then select Add Configurations to pick what the party receives. You can link configurations you have already made, though most of the time you will likely require something made specially for the group. Creating a new configuration from here gives you exactly the same options as the Redeemable Configurations tab, so you don't need to leave the party to set it up.
Each configuration you add follows the party's dates and also appears on the Redeemable Configurations tab. If you enable a shared Prepaid Tab, the organiser will see a button on the party link to top it up, if need be.
Please note: only the organiser can add funds to the Tab.
Inviting guests
To invite someone, assign them to the party with their name and email address, and they will receive their own guest link holding everything the party includes. You can also share a guest's link directly by simply copying and pasting the given URL.
Before inviting any guests, please check that every configuration, item package and venue in the party is exactly as you would like it. Once the first guest link is assigned or shared, configurations can no longer be added or removed, and a party cannot be deleted while its guests still have Redeemables to use.
Setting up your first configuration
The easiest way to get started is with one simple offer, such as a Discount on drinks at a single venue. Once you have seen how the configuration, item package, venues and codes come together, you will find that Vouchers, Prepaid Tabs and Parties all follow the same steps, so building your next offer will feel familiar.
If you would like a hand setting up your first configuration, please email care@dines.co.uk and we will be happy to walk you through it.
If you have any questions or feedback, or a Knowledge Base article you would like to see, please get in touch.
