The same skincare product may use a uniform retail price across directly operated stores nationwide, while a different base price may apply to a specific region, department-store counter, channel, store format, or overseas market. Customers may also receive member discounts, coupons, threshold discounts, gifts, mall vouchers, or payment-platform promotions. Although these situations all appear to be “different prices,” they represent different types of business records in a retail system.
The PEKON Smart Retail System manages product base prices and their applicable scopes through price lists and provides valid prices to store POS terminals. When a transaction takes place, the system matches the applicable price list according to the product, store, customer scope, and effective time. Member benefits, promotions, and authorized store-level price changes are then processed separately after the base price has been determined. This allows headquarters to trace how a transaction developed from the base price to the final transaction amount.
Price Lists Manage Product Base Prices and Their Applicable Scopes
A price list is a set of product prices and applicable rules. Each price list should clearly define which products it contains, which organizations or stores it applies to, when it becomes effective, and which matching order should be used when multiple price lists apply at the same time.
Beauty brands may create the following types of price lists according to their operating models:
| Price List Type | Example of Applicable Scope | Main Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Default price list | Directly operated stores nationwide or stores without dedicated prices | Provide the brand’s standard base retail price |
| Regional price list | A designated province, city, or operating region | Manage products with genuine regional price differences |
| Store or counter price list | A designated store, department-store counter, or store group | Manage base prices used by specific retail locations |
| Channel or store-format price list | Online channels, flagship stores, outlet stores, pop-up stores, and other formats | Adapt product and pricing strategies to different channels and store formats |
| Market price list | Different countries, regions, or currencies | Manage local base prices in cross-market operations |
| Specific customer-group price list | Employees, partners, or customer groups with long-term dedicated prices | Manage stable and long-term base prices for specific customer groups |
Not every brand needs to use all of these price lists. A brand with one nationwide retail price may only need to maintain a default price list. Additional price lists are needed only when long-term base price differences genuinely exist across regions, stores, channels, or markets.
POS Determines the Base Price for Each Transaction from Multiple Price Lists
The same SKU may appear in several price lists, but each transaction must use one clearly defined base price. The system can identify the currently valid price list based on the product, store or counter, applicable customer scope, and transaction time, and then select the transaction price according to the rules defined by the brand.
For example, the default price of a serum may be RMB 699, while the East China regional price is RMB 659 and the price for Counter A is RMB 639. When all three price lists are effective at the same time, Counter A uses RMB 639, other applicable stores in East China use RMB 659, and stores without a regional or store-specific price use RMB 699.
Brands may also adopt other matching methods. The project should clearly define the applicable scope, priority order, and fallback rules for each price list. This prevents a store from matching multiple prices without knowing which one to use and prevents a product from entering a transaction without a valid price list.
The sales order should retain the price list used for the transaction, the base price, and the final transaction amount. When headquarters reviews price differences, it should be possible to identify which base price was used by the store and whether a promotion, member benefit, or manual price adjustment was subsequently applied.
Price Lists, Member Benefits, and Promotions Should Be Managed Separately
The price list determines the base price from which the product transaction begins. Member benefits and promotions determine which additional discounts or benefits the customer receives during the transaction. These records should be managed separately.
Long-term dedicated base prices for employees, partners, or specific customer groups can be managed through a specific customer-group price list. Member-level discounts, points redemption, coupons, threshold discounts, gifts, bundle promotions, and limited-time campaigns are more suitable for member benefit or promotion rules.
For example, suppose a product has a base price of RMB 639 at a specific counter. The member receives a 10% discount and also uses a coupon during the transaction. The sales order should separately record which price list provided the RMB 639 base price, the amount reduced by the member discount, the amount deducted by the coupon, and the final transaction amount.
If all of these amounts are simply labelled as a “member price,” it becomes difficult to reconstruct the price formation process through receipts, sales reports, and financial reconciliation.
Mall and Payment Discounts Should Not Directly Rewrite the Brand Price List
Department-store counter transactions may also involve mall vouchers, mall points, bank-card promotions, or payment-platform subsidies. These benefits may change the amount finally paid by the customer, but they do not usually mean that the brand has changed the product’s base price.
The system should record the discount source, responsible party, and payment result according to the actual cooperation model. Brand promotions are calculated through brand promotion rules. Mall vouchers and mall points are processed according to mall interfaces or settlement rules. Bank-card and payment-platform benefits are executed by the payment channel, which returns the final result.
The sales order and payment record should retain the relevant information, while the price list continues to store the product’s base price.
This allows headquarters to distinguish whether a price difference comes from the brand price list, a brand promotion, a member benefit, a mall campaign, or a payment discount. Each type of difference can then be used for the appropriate sales analysis and settlement reconciliation.
Store-Level Temporary Price Changes Require Authorization, Not a New Price List
A temporary store-level price change should only affect the current transaction. A new price list should not be created simply to handle a one-time adjustment at the store.
PEKON supports authorized price changes for an entire order or an individual product and records the original base price, adjusted price, operator, and relevant authorization information.
Brands can define price adjustment limits and permissions according to employee roles. An adjustment exceeding the store’s authority can require approval from the store manager or another designated employee. After the transaction is completed, headquarters can distinguish the standard price-list price, promotion discount, and manual price adjustment from the sales record.
When a type of price needs to apply to a group of stores, products, or customers on a long-term basis, it should be maintained as an official price list. Price lists manage continuous and repeatable base pricing rules, while temporary price changes handle exceptions in individual transactions.
Price Changes Switch by Effective Time, While Historical Orders Preserve Their Transaction Records
When product prices change, the brand should define the affected products, store scope, and effective time of the new price. Before the new price takes effect, stores continue to use the current valid price list. After the effective time, POS uses the new valid price.
Completed sales orders should retain the price list, base price, promotion discount, manual adjustment, and final transaction amount used at the time of the transaction. A later price increase or decrease should not change historical orders.
When a customer returns a product, the system should retrieve the original sales order and payment record. Refunds should be calculated according to the original transaction amount, promotion allocation, and the brand’s return rules. The system should not use the price list effective on the return date to recalculate the product price.
If an error is discovered after a price has been published, the incorrect price should be stopped from further use and a corrected price should be issued according to the brand’s process. The affected stores, time range, and transaction records should remain searchable for reconciliation and follow-up handling.
PEKON and ERP Should Have Clear Price Maintenance Responsibilities
A brand may maintain product base prices in its ERP system or allow PEKON to maintain the price lists used by stores. The specific division of responsibility depends on the brand’s existing product master data, pricing process, and system architecture.
If the ERP system is the master record for a particular type of price, PEKON receives the confirmed price and applicable scope and uses it for store transactions. If the project determines that price lists for certain stores, counters, or markets should be maintained in PEKON, PEKON stores and manages the corresponding price records.
After a transaction is completed, the sales order continues to retain the price list, discounts, and transaction result used at the time. The relevant data is then transmitted to the ERP or other enterprise systems according to the agreed integration model.
Each price object should have one clearly defined system responsible for creating and modifying it. This prevents both ERP and PEKON from maintaining the same price at the same time, which could lead to situations where the upstream system has already changed the price while stores continue using the old price, or where a change in one system is overwritten by another system.
PEKON Applies Price Rules to Store Transactions
The PEKON Smart Retail System manages product information, price lists, and store transactions. It supports promotion matching, member benefit coordination, authorized store-level price changes, and operation records.
The price list determines the base price. Promotions and member benefits calculate transaction discounts. Store-level price changes handle authorized exceptions. The sales order preserves the final execution result.
For directly operated stores nationwide, regional stores, department-store counters, flagship stores, outlet stores, pop-up stores, and cross-market operations, PEKON can configure the applicable scope of price lists around the brand’s existing pricing structure and connect with ERP, CRM, and payment systems.
The price-list hierarchy, maintenance source, matching order, and integration scope should be implemented according to the brand’s existing systems and project agreement.
For a broader view of product, counter, membership, promotion, and inventory operations, see the Beauty Brand Retail System Solution.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a price list and a promotion?
A price list determines the product’s base price within a specific scope. Discounts, threshold discounts, coupons, gifts, and bundle promotions are calculated through promotion rules. The sales order records the base price and promotion result separately.
Which price is used when national, regional, and counter prices all exist?
The system determines the price according to the applicable scope and matching order configured by the brand. A common approach is to match the specific store or counter first, then the region, and finally the default price list. Brands may also use another order according to their own pricing structure.
Should member prices be managed through a price list or a promotion?
Long-term and stable base prices for members or specific customer groups can be managed through a dedicated price list. Member-level discounts, points redemption, coupons, and limited-time member campaigns are more suitable for member benefit or promotion rules.
Do mall vouchers change the product price list?
Usually, they do not. A mall voucher affects the customer’s final payment or the mall settlement, while the brand price list continues to record the product’s base price. The system should retain the brand price, mall discount, and final payment result separately.
Do historical orders change after a new price becomes effective?
No. Completed sales orders preserve the price list, base price, discount, and final transaction amount used at the time of the transaction. Returns continue to reference the original sales order instead of recalculating the product price according to the price effective on the return date.
Should product prices be maintained by ERP or PEKON?
Both models are possible. The choice depends on the brand’s existing product and pricing architecture. Each price object should have one clearly defined master system. PEKON can either maintain or receive the relevant price list according to the agreed division of responsibility and use the valid price for store transactions.
If your brand is reviewing product prices across regions, stores, counters, channels, or markets, you can discuss your existing price-list structure, promotion model, and ERP responsibilities with the PEKON consulting team.