Cost zones are used to handle multiple front-line prices for the same item, and are set up during implementation. You can assign retailers to particular zones and then assign the correct cost information to each zone.
Zone setups differ from customer to customer. Zones are normally based on geographic areas, channels, retailers, or stores that have unique front-line costs.
For example, some pricing for alcoholic beverages is fixed for a particular geographic area, such as a county. Other beverages are priced to be consumed “on premise.” Non-alcoholic beverages may be priced individually for each retailer or retailer store.
We use two types of zones in Item & Cost:
A cost zone is based on the cost of an item to a retailer.
A retail zone is based on the retail price of an item to a retailer.
In turn, each type of zone will fall into one of two categories:
Regular zones
A regular zone can consist of geographic areas, franchise areas, economic areas, groups of stores, and so on. More than one retailer can be authorized to receive costs and retails in a regular zone.
Store zones
Also called store-level zones, a store zone will apply to one particular store that is associated with a retailer. Only one retailer can be authorized to receive costs or retails in an individual store zone. The name of the zone should reflect the name or number of the store.
Your initial cost and retail zones were set up during your company’s implementation. As a provider (supplier), you can add zones, update existing zones, and delete zones that are no longer needed. However, a cost or retail zone cannot be deleted if there are costs or retail prices that are still in effect and associated with the zone.
Cost and retail zones can be cross-referenced or translated so that retailers receive zone information based on their business needs. This is set up through the service agreement between the supplier and retailer.
A supplier’s cost or retail zone can be cross-referenced or translated to a retailer’s cost or retail zone. This can supply the cost-identification needed for the retailer’s pricebook.
A supplier’s zone can be translated to a retailer’s vendor number or ID. This is useful if a single supplier is split by the retailer into more than one vendor. For example, a dairy sells both milk and cheese, but the retailer is set up to handle milk as one vendor and cheese as another. A separate zone can be set up for each vendor the retailer requires.
If you would like more information about zone translations, please contact Prescient Client Support at 1-888-842-5465, option 4.
Vers. 5/3/2005