Dynamic Pricing

Dynamic Pricing lets your store adjust prices automatically at checkout. You set the rule once, for example "10% off when a customer buys five or more" or "free shipping on orders over $75", and FluentCart applies it to every cart that qualifies. Customers don't need a coupon code, and you don't have to touch product prices.

Each rule can take money off (a Discount) or add money on (a Fee). It can target a single product line, the whole checkout, or the shipping cost, and you can limit it to certain carts, customers, or dates.

INFO

Dynamic Pricing is a FluentCart Pro feature. The module ships switched off, so you need to turn it on before the menu item appears.

Enabling Dynamic Pricing

Before you can create rules, activate the module in your store settings.

1. Go to FluentCart > Settings in your WordPress dashboard.
2. Select the Features & Addon tab.
3. Find the Dynamic Pricing card and switch it to Active.
4. Click Save Settings.

Once the module is active, a Dynamic Pricing entry appears in the More menu of the FluentCart top navigation. See Features & Addons for the other modules on that screen.

The Dynamic Pricing Screen

Open More > Dynamic Pricing to see all your rules in one table.

• Rule: The rule's display name and its internal name.
• What it does: A Discount or Fee tag (with the amount) followed by the part of the cart it targets: Line Item, Checkout, or Shipping. After that comes a short note with the number of conditions, and a note naming the purchase type when the rule is limited to first purchases, store managed renewals, or upgrades & downgrades. A rule for every purchase gets no purchase-type note.
• Schedule: Until followed by the end date, Starts followed by the start date for a rule that hasn't begun, a start and end date range for a rule scheduled in the future, Ended followed by the date once the window has closed, or No end date. The creation date appears underneath.
• Status: A switch to turn the rule on or off without deleting it.
• Actions: Edit or Delete a rule.

Click Add New Rule at the top right to create one.

Creating a Pricing Rule

Now let's build a rule from the beginning.

1. Open More > Dynamic Pricing and click Add New Rule.
2. Fill in the Basic Information card.
3. Choose where and when the rule applies, using the Applies To and Apply discount to cards.
4. Click Create Rule.

Basic Information

• Name: An internal name only you see, for example summer-sale-10. (Required)
• Display Name: The friendly name customers see on the checkout summary, for example "Summer Sale". (Required)
• Start from a template: Pick a starting point. The choice fills in the fields below, and every field stays editable. (Required)
  • Start from scratch: An empty rule you build yourself.
  • Bulk Purchase Discount: A 10% line item discount when the cart quantity is at least 5, applied on every purchase.
  • Free-shipping minimum: A 100% shipping discount when the cart subtotal is at least 75 in your store currency. This template sets When to Apply to First purchase only.
• Price Type: Discount takes money off. Fee adds money on.
• Apply as: Percentage or Fixed.
• Percent or Amount: The size of the discount or fee. With Percentage you enter a number such as 10. With Fixed you enter an amount in your store currency.

INFO

A template fills in the Apply discount to card for you. The Free-shipping minimum template selects First purchase only, so choose Every purchase if you want free shipping on every qualifying order. See Where and When a Rule Applies.

Where and When a Rule Applies

Every rule answers two separate questions, and each one has its own card on the form. It helps to keep them apart:

Question	What it decides	Card on the Add New Rule page	Card on the edit page
Where does the price change?	The part of the cart the discount or fee is taken from	Applies To	Applies To
When does the rule run?	The kind of purchase that can trigger it	Apply discount to	When to Apply

INFO

The second card has two names. On the Add New Rule page it is headed Apply discount to, with the hint "Choose which transactions this rule should run on." Once the rule exists, the edit page calls the same choice When to Apply. They are the same setting.

You can combine any Where choice with any When choice, with the renewal limits described below. For example, a Shipping rule can run on First purchase only.

Where: Applies To

This card sits at the top right of the form. It decides which amount the rule's percentage or fixed value is worked out against.

• Line item: The rule is calculated on each product line separately. A 10% line item rule takes 10% off every line's subtotal, so it covers every unit on the line. A Fixed amount is taken from each line.
• Checkout: The rule is calculated once on the whole cart subtotal. A discount is spread across the products so receipts and reports stay consistent.
• Shipping: The rule is calculated on the shipping cost. A 100% shipping discount makes shipping free.

When: Apply Discount To (When to Apply)

This card sits below Applies To on the Add New Rule page. It limits the rule to one kind of purchase, so you choose exactly one option.

Option	The rule runs on	Does not run on
Every purchase	Any checkout, including a checkout where a customer changes plans	Renewal invoices issued by your store
First purchase only	The checkout of a customer who has no completed paid order yet	A customer who has bought before, and renewal invoices
Store managed renewals	Renewal invoices that your store creates for a subscription	Normal checkouts
Upgrades & downgrades	The checkout a customer completes when moving a subscription to another plan	Normal checkouts and renewal invoices

A few details for each option:

• First purchase only counts only paid orders. A signed-in customer is checked by their account. A guest is checked by the email typed at checkout, so the discount appears as soon as they enter an address nobody has used before. Until an email is entered, the rule does not apply.
• Store managed renewals is the only option that can change a renewal invoice, and only a Discount can be set for it. See Rules for Renewals and Plan Changes.
• Upgrades & downgrades only runs on the checkout of a plan change. It has no effect on new sign-ups.

Choosing the Right Combination

Use these examples when you aren't sure which options to pick.

You want to	Price Type	Applies To	When to Apply
Take 10% off every item when a customer buys five or more	Discount	Line item	Every purchase
Offer 15% off a whole order for a limited time	Discount	Checkout	Every purchase, with a schedule
Give free shipping above a set subtotal	Discount	Shipping	Every purchase
Welcome new customers with $5 off	Discount	Checkout	First purchase only
Add a handling fee to specific orders	Fee	Checkout	Every purchase
Give subscribers 10% off each renewal	Discount	Checkout or Line item	Store managed renewals
Make a plan change cheaper	Discount	Checkout	Upgrades & downgrades

Editing a Rule

Click Edit on any rule to open the editor. The top bar summarizes the rule in a sentence and holds the Active switch. As soon as you change something, a bar with Discard and Save buttons appears.

The editor has these cards:

• Details: The name, display name, price type, apply-as, and amount.
• Display Conditions: The rules that decide which carts qualify. See Display Conditions.
• Applies To: Line item, checkout, or shipping.
• When to Apply: Every purchase, first purchase only, store managed renewals, or upgrades and downgrades.
• Schedule: When the rule starts and stops.

Scheduling a Rule

Use the Schedule card to run a promotion for a limited time.

• Start Date & Time: When the rule begins applying at checkout. Leave it empty to start Immediately.
• Set end date & time: Tick this box to reveal an End Date & Time field. Leave it unticked and the rule runs until you turn it off (Never).

The end date must be after the start date, and you need a start date whenever you set an end date.

INFO

A rule that is switched on but outside its schedule does nothing. It starts applying the moment its window opens and stops the moment it closes, with no extra step on your side.

What Customers See

When a customer's cart qualifies, the rule shows up automatically on the checkout page.

• Discounts appear as their own line in the checkout summary, labeled with the rule's Display Name and the amount taken off.
• Fees appear as an extra line using the same display name.
• Original prices stay visible. A discounted item shows its original price struck through next to the price it now costs.
• Shipping rules leave the Shipping line at its full price. The rule gets its own row, labeled with its Display Name, showing the amount taken off, followed by a Shipping after discount row with what shipping now costs.

The discount is carried into the placed order. On the thank-you page and in order emails, a discounted item keeps its original price struck through, and a shipping discount appears as its own Shipping Discount row.

How Rules Combine

• Every active rule that qualifies is applied, oldest rule first. Rules do not replace each other, and they work alongside coupons.
• A discount never takes a price below zero. A 120% rule, or a fixed discount larger than the line, stops at the amount that is there.
• Several shipping discounts together never exceed the shipping cost.
• A rule that would adjust by zero is skipped, so you never see a "0.00 off" line.

Rules for Renewals and Plan Changes

Subscription rules behave a little differently, because a renewal is an amount your customer already agreed to pay.

• A renewal invoice created by your store is only changed by rules set to Store managed renewals. Every other rule is ignored for it.
• A Store managed renewals rule can only be a Discount and cannot apply to Shipping. The editor disables those choices when this option is selected.
• A renewal invoice has no checkout cart, so conditions on coupons, user role, product, payment method, and checkout fields do not match. Quantity and Subtotal use the invoice, and customer conditions use the subscription's customer.
• Upgrades & downgrades rules apply to the checkout a customer completes when switching plans.

Learn how subscriptions work in Managing Subscriptions.

Order History

FluentCart stores the rules that priced each placed order, with the amount each one took. The stored record keeps the rule name as it was when the order was placed, so renaming or deleting a rule later does not change it. If a payment is retried and the cart no longer qualifies for a rule, the stored record is replaced with the new result.

Permissions

Access to Dynamic Pricing is controlled by two permissions on the Roles & Permissions screen:

• View Dynamic Pricing: See the rules list. Managers and workers have this by default.
• Manage Dynamic Pricing: Open the create and edit screens, and create, edit, switch on or off, and delete rules. Managers have this by default.

Learn more in Roles & Permissions.

Common Rule Recipes

Here are a few starting points you can build with the tools above.

1. Bulk discount: Line item, Discount, Percentage 10, condition Cart > Quantity is at least 5.
2. Free shipping over $75: Shipping, Discount, Percentage 100, condition Cart > Subtotal is at least 75.
3. Welcome offer: Checkout, Discount, Percentage 15, First purchase only.
4. Wholesale pricing: Checkout, Discount, Percentage 20, condition User > Role is Wholesale.
5. Card payment discount: Checkout, Discount, Fixed 2, condition Payment > Payment Method is Stripe.
6. Rush handling fee: Checkout, Fee, Fixed 5, condition Product > SKU is RUSH-01.
7. Weekend sale: Any rule above with a Schedule from Friday evening to Monday morning.

Your pricing rule is now live and applies to every qualifying cart automatically.