Effects of Purchase Timing Under Select Plus

Shifting the timing of purchases can affect the price discount a customer receives on new orders. The illustration above shows the same five purchases as depicted in the illustration “How Point Totals Affect Select Plus Discount Levels” (what is called the base scenario below), albeit with some purchases accelerated so they happen sooner. The shifting causes some purchases to receive superior price discounts and another to receive an inferior discount compared to the base scenario.

Rather than submitting two separate orders in the first half of 2010, the purchase worth 3K points and the purchase worth 8K points are aggregated into one 11K order (a). Since this surpasses the 10K points needed to qualify for discount Level C, the entire 11K point order qualifies for Level C pricing. This is unlike the base scenario, where the portion of the order associated with the 3K points received only discount Level A.

In this example, the order associated with the 15K points shifts from 2011 into late 2010. This brings the point total to 26K (b), thus qualifying this order for discount Level D. In the base scenario, this 15K-point order received Level C.