Discounts in ZeroPOS

June 29, 2026 09:52

Discounts are often used in retail to discount overstocked or end-of-season merchandise and can be used to appreciate your customer base, especially if it is designed around your CRM builder and customer categories. It is also a good way to clear back stock or seasonal items that may be taking up space on the sales floor, so that other relevant items that could generate revenue could be stocked.

Creating Discount Codes

Discounts are created from the backend portal, Console

Go to Settings → General Settings → Promotions → Add Discounts

Each discount must have its own unique Discount Name. This will show up in all reports and filters so you should name them carefully. If you try to create a discount with an existing name a popup will be displayed asking you to confirm this activity. It is not advisable to create structures with the same name. This will lead to much confusion when reviewing reports.

Select the Discount Type: Discounts can be applied at a straight Percentage deducted from the selling price or using the Multiple Item Discount (where the customer purchases more items and receives a greater discount). Variable Discounts can also be set up so the cashier is prompted for the discount percent at the sales screen.

Link to the steps to make a Discount Inactive

Discounts can be applied at the POS in one of two ways; at a transaction level where the discount is applied across all items in the transaction, or at an item level, where it is applied on a single item. In addition, items can be modified to always ring up at a discount by applying a discount code at the master item level.

Promotion Entitlement

This function has the ability to have store-specific promotions.

Note: If promotions are not entitled, then they will be available in all locations.

Go to Settings → Location Hierarchy Settings → Store

Select the Store and navigate to Promotion Entitlement → Click on Discount Lookup.

Select the promotions and hit Entitle to Store.

Applying Discounts on POS

Item Level Discounts

Users can add items to the cart by simply clicking on the item from the ‘All Items ‘ list or Quick Picks on the transaction screen or by Clicking on the ‘Barcode icon’ on the screen to scan the items to be sold and add them to the cart. Users can also search for the items by clicking on the ‘Search icon’ and adding them to the cart.

Long Pressing allows user to select and apply discount to the item.

Transactional Level Discounts

Navigate to Transaction Level Discount to apply the discount to the cart

Discount Approval Matrix

The Discount Approval Matrix allows merchants to control which users or roles can apply specific discounts at the Point of Sale (POS). By defining discount permissions and approval thresholds, merchants can reduce unauthorized discounting while ensuring managers or supervisors can approve exceptions when required.

This feature helps improve operational control, maintain consistent discount policies, and provide greater accountability for discount activity.

Configuring the Discount Approval Matrix

Navigate to: Settings → Approval Matrix → Discount

From this page, merchants can configure which users or roles are authorized to apply discounts and specify when supervisor approval is required.

For more information, refer: Discount Thresholds & Approval Rules

Configuration Options:

Controlled By

Choose whether the approval rule is configured for:

Roles
Users

Roles

Select one or more roles that the configuration applies to.

Options include:

Single Role
Multiple Roles

Users

If the configuration is user-based, select one or more users to whom the rule applies.

Discounts

Select one or more discounts that the selected user or role is allowed to apply.

Multiple discounts can be assigned within a single configuration.

Threshold Amount

Specify the maximum discount amount the selected user or role can apply without requiring supervisor approval.

If no threshold is specified, the selected discount(s) may be applied without a value restriction.

Approver

Select one or more users who are authorized to approve discount requests that exceed the configured permissions.

How Discount Approval Works in POS

When a cashier applies a manual discount at the POS, the system automatically validates the configured Discount Approval Matrix before allowing the discount.

The approval workflow varies depending on the merchant's configuration.

Scenario 1 – Discount Not Authorized

If the cashier attempts to apply a discount that is not assigned to their role or user account, the system requires a supervisor override before the discount can be applied.

The cashier is notified that they are not authorized to apply the selected discount and can either cancel the action or request supervisor approval.

Scenario 2 – Threshold Not Configured

If a discount is assigned to the user or role but no threshold amount has been configured, the cashier can apply that discount without any value limitation.

Scenario 3 – Threshold Only

If only a threshold amount has been configured, but no specific discounts are assigned, the cashier may apply any manual discount provided it does not exceed the configured threshold.

Discounts above the threshold require supervisor approval.

Scenario 4 – Discount and Threshold Configured

If both specific discounts and a threshold amount are configured, the cashier may only apply the assigned discounts up to the configured threshold.

Any attempt to exceed the allowed amount requires supervisor approval before the transaction can continue.

Supervisor Override

When supervisor approval is required, the POS displays an approval prompt.

Authorized supervisors can approve the request by authenticating with their configured credentials.

Once approved:

The discount is applied.
The transaction continues without losing the current cart.
The approval is recorded for auditing purposes.

Reporting Enhancements

To improve accountability, Initiated By and Approved By will be captured:

Initiated By

Displays the user who applied the discount during the transaction.

Approved By

Displays the supervisor who approved the discount when an override was required.

If no approval was necessary, the Approved By field in the report remains blank.

These fields are available in:

Discount Report
CSV Export
Excel Export

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