Spread — Proportional Discount Distribution
Discounts and loyalty points are split proportionally between purchased items according to their value.
Example
A store is running a promotion that allows customers to pay up to 50% of the order value with loyalty points.
A customer purchases:
2 pairs of sneakers priced at $200 each
1 sweater priced at $100
The total order value is $500, and the customer redeems 100 loyalty points for the order.
The system automatically calculates each product’s share of the total order value:
200 / 500 = 0.4 — the share of one pair of sneakers
100 / 500 = 0.2 — the share of the sweater
Based on these shares, the system distributes loyalty points proportionally:
Each pair of sneakers receives a 40-point discount
The sweater receives a 20-point discount
Some rewards offer additional discount distribution options.
You can apply a discount in one of the following ways:
Apply the discount only to the discounted item
Distribute the discount proportionally across all items participating in the promotion, based on their prices
Set a minimum price of $1 for the discounted item
Example
A promotion is active: Buy two items, get the third one free.
A customer purchases:
Socks — $10
T-shirt — $60
Sunglasses — $30
The socks are the discounted (free) product. How the discount is applied depends on the promotion’s settings.
Option 1. Apply the discount only to the discounted item
The full discount amount is attributed to the socks.
The total order value is $90.
Option 2. Distribute the discount proportionally across all participating items
The system calculates each item's share of the total order value and distributes the discount accordingly:
T-shirt — (60 / 100) × 10 = $6 discount
Socks — (10 / 100) × 10 = $1 discount
Sunglasses — (30 / 100) × 10 = $3 discount
The total order value is $90.
Option 3. Enforce a minimum price of $1 for the discounted item
The socks are priced at $1.
$9 of the discount is attributed to the socks only.
The total order value is $91
You can also distribute the $1 across participating items
The discounted item (socks) receives $9 of the discount (10 − 1).
The remaining $1 is distributed proportionally across the other items.
T-shirt: (60 / 90) × 1 = $0.67
Sunglasses: (30 / 90) × 1 = $0.33
The total order value is $90.
Split — dividing a single order line into multiple line items
Sometimes, a promotion applies only to part of the items within an order line or applies different discounts to identical items. In this case, the final price and applied discounts for otherwise identical items will differ.
To correctly distribute discounts across items within the same line and avoid issues during returns, these items must be sent as separate order line items.
Otherwise, the attempt to create the order will fail with the following error:
Splitting of lines means that current order must be recalculated
When order lines are split
Different discounts are applied to items within the same order line.
In this case, the order line is split into two, and products participate or do not participate in the promotion as separate line items.
Example
A store is running a promotion: 10% off a bundle that includes 1 pair of sneakers and 2 T-shirts.
A customer purchases:3 identical T-shirts priced at $25 each
1 pair of sneakers priced at $200
Only two of the three T-shirts qualify for the promotion and receive a discounted price.
The third T-shirt is sold at the regular price. Because these products end up with different prices, they cannot be sent as a single order line item.
The POS or website can send identical items in one order line for calculation. Maestra automatically splits lines when required and returns the correct structure to be used when creating the order.
The final order consists of three line items:2 discounted T-shirts at $22.50 each
1 T-shirt at the full price of $25
1 discounted pair of sneakers at $180
The same promotion is applied to items within a single order line, but the discount amount cannot be evenly divided across the discounted items.
In this case, the system splits the order line into two line items, and one of the items receives a slightly higher discount as part of the reward
Example
A store is running a promotion: : Buy any three T-shirts and get a $10 discount.
A customer purchases three identical T-shirts, each priced at $25.
The total order value is $75. After the promotion is applied, the order total becomes $65.The discount amount ($10) cannot be evenly distributed across the three discounted items.
As a result, the system splits the order line into two:
2 T-shirts with a discount of $3.33 each
1 T-shirt with a discount of $3.34
This ensures the full discount amount is applied correctly and the final order total is accurate.
For redeem points promotions, order lines are not split if points cannot be evenly distributed proportionally by price.
See the next section for details.
Multiplicity Rule for Loyalty Point Discounts
In promotions that use loyalty points, a customer may not always be able to redeem all available points for an order.
This happens when a discount cannot be proportionally distributed across an order line. In this case, the system does not split the order line. Instead, it allows the customer to redeem only the maximum number of points that can be evenly applied across the items in the line.
Example
A promotion allows customer to pay 100% of the order value using loyalty points.
A customer purchases three identical pairs of socks, each priced at $10, and wants to redeem 13 loyalty points for the order.
The system distributes the discount evenly across all items in the order. Since all items have the same price, each item should receive one third of the total points.
Because 13 points cannot be evenly divided by 3, the system applies the largest amount that can be divided evenly across all items.
As a result, 12 points are applied to the order — 4 points per item.
Redeeming all 13 points is not possible in this case.
If a decimal points balance were used, the system could apply 12.99 points, allocating 4.33 points to each pair.
In all other cases, order line splitting works the same way as in other types of promotions:
If items within the same order line participate in different promotions, the line is split into multiple line items.
In orders with multiple order lines (even if they contain the same items), when a discount cannot be evenly distributed, one of the items receives a slightly higher discount.
How Loyalty Points Are Refunded After a Return
When a discounted item is returned the refund amount reflects the final price paid for the returned product.
If the order contained multiple identical items with different discount allocations, the refund amount depends on which order line is referenced when the order status is updated.