How does the new advanced discount feature work with open tickets?

[Amanda_Bierock]

I run a bar/restaurant and we use the open ticket feature. We offer a happy hour special, which we were managing by having different variations on items (one regular price, one happy hour). I now see that Square offers an advanced discounting feature where you can apply a discount for a certain date/time. My question is, if you have a customer that opens a ticket and an item is added during the discount time frame but the ticket is closed after the discount time frame (i.e. happy hour is 3-6pm, customer comes in, orders a drink at 4pm, leaves ticket open, then closes their ticket at 6:30 pm) is the discount applied?

TL;DR: Do timed discounts only apply at the time of payment?

[Tom]

Great question—thanks for bringing this up, @Amanda_Bierock! I need to test this out a bit and I'm going to run your post by a product specialist for further insight. We'll be back with more clarity as soon as possible. Appreciate your patience! 🙃

[Tom]

Update:

Thanks again for your patience! I was able to sync up with the product specialist and timed discounts only apply at the time of the payment (when the check is closed).

For now, your restaurant would need to add the discount manually for tickets that extend beyond the happy hour pricing period.

Hope this helps clear things up for now. I can see how having the option to apply the discount based on when the item was added to the ticket versus when the ticket is closed would help streamline the checkout flow.

Please keep in touch for updates and don't hesitate to let us know if any other questions come up.

[bruwench]

It's encouraging to see that they've included the advanced discount feature, but if what Tom is saying is true, and the discount only applies to the time of ticket closing and not to the time the item was added to the ticket... well that renders this feature virtually useless to most bars and all table-service restaurants. What were they thinking?

[Amanda_Bierock]

Yep. I was excited when I first saw this feature was live but based on the current functionality won't be able to use it. : (

[Tom]

Thank you for taking the time to raise this issue. This is a newly released feature and I'll be sure to surface your restaurants' needs to the appropriate team members. We want to make sure we're hitting the mark and your insight will help us improve as we continue to iterate.

Hopefully the suggested workaround helps for now, and please do keep in touch for updates.

[Tom · Accepted solution]

CORRECTION:

There was some initial confusion about when this advanced discount feature applies (not to worry, @Amanda_Bierock and @bruwench, this is good news 😉). Limited Time Discounts apply when the item is added to the Open Ticket regardless of when the ticket is closed out.

Learn more about the new discount options in this section of our Support Center: Create Automatic Discounts.

Sorry for the misunderstanding earlier—and I hope this helps clear things up. Please feel free to give it a try and let us know what you think. Cheers! 🍻

[bruwench]

That is fantastic news, thank you Tom! 

[Amanda_Bierock]

Yes, great! Thanks 🙂