In promotions where the user must upload a purchase receipt to participate, with automatic AI-powered validation, the administrator can assign extra entries in a final draw through the Virtual Coins system. 

Extra entries can be assigned to customers according to one of the following 3 criteria:

1. The total amount of the receipt
2. The amount of one product or several specific products
3. The number of units of one product or several specific products.

In this tutorial we explain step by step how to enable the virtual coins system, how to create assignment rules, how to notify users of the extra entries earned, and how to carry out the final draw based on the entries earned by each user.

These are the contents of the tutorial:

1. Enable virtual coins in the promotion

2. Create rules for assigning extra entries

3. Assign extra entries manually 

4. Notify users of the number of extra entries earned per receipt

5. Run the draw applying each user’s extra entries.

1. Enable virtual coins in the promotion

The first step to configure and grant additional entries based on Virtual Coins is to enable the functionality from the Promotion editor > Prizes > Virtual Coins:

Once the functionality is enabled, you can assign a name to the virtual coins. This is the name the user will see to know how many entries they have for the draw. We recommend using of these names: entries, tickets, chances.

After uploading and validating the receipt, the system will redirect the user to the final screen, where the total number of entries earned with that receipt will be shown, as well as the number of entries accumulated for the final draw. 

You can customize the message shown on the final screen from the “Message on earning coins” tab:

Note: The user will always be able to see the number of entries they have accumulated by logging into the promotion and accessing their user area, from the header of the promotion. They will see the number of receipts uploaded and the total number of entries accumulated (corresponding to the coins earned). 

2. Create rules for assigning extra entries

Once virtual coins have been enabled, the next step is to create one or more assignment rules so that the user receives the correct number of additional entries in the draw, based on the characteristics of the purchase receipt they have uploaded. 

To do this, go to Promotion editor > Pages > Stage name > Virtual Coins:

Select the option to add a new rule to start assigning virtual coins/additional entries according to the characteristics of the receipt:

In the screenshot above, the system will assign 1 coin to the customer for every 20 dollars on the receipt, or in other words, 1 additional entry for every $20 spent. 

Virtual coins can be assigned according to different characteristics of the purchase receipt:

• Total receipt amount: allows coins to be assigned based on the total amount spent. 
• Receipt tag: allows coins to be assigned if the system detects the presence of a specific product.
• Receipt tag article amount: allows coins to be assigned based on the amount spent on a specific product or products.
• Receipt tag article quantity: allows coins to be assigned based on the quantity of product(s) purchased.

Depending on the specific needs of the campaign and final draw, one or more assignment rules can be created: virtual coins will be assigned to the user for each rule that applies. 

For example: In the following example, the admin wants to give 1 additional entry in the final draw to the customer for every $10 spent on dairy products. In addition, the customer will receive an extra coin if they have uploaded a receipt with a total amount greater than $100. 

The user who uploads a receipt with a total amount of $102, of which $31 was spent on dairy products, will therefore receive 4 coins and entries in the final draw. 

3. Manually assign extra entries

There may be situations where, as an administrator, you are interested in assigning entries manually. For example, to users who had problems uploading receipts, or receipts that are poorly printed, or if you communicated with the client in direct. Being able to easily assign extra entries to a user can be a lifesaver.

To do this, access the promotion’s User Manager, where you can use the search tool to locate a specific user, before accessing the details of their entry or entries > Virtual Coins tab:

Once applied and assigned, the user’s new total of virtual coins will be reflected. It is also possible to subtract virtual coins from the user.

4. Notify users of the number of extra entries earned per receipt

A good practice is to send an automatic email with the number of entries a user has earned for each valid receipt.

Note: This practice is especially useful when a receipt cannot be validated automatically and requires manual review. When an administrator validates the receipt, the user will receive an email with the number of entries earned.

To send an email with the number of entries earned, go to the Emails and notifications menu. Create a new email and select the type "On completing a virtual coins transaction".  

Once created, you can add a sending condition based on the number of virtual coins assigned. You can create a specific email according to the number of coins assigned, or a single email for all customers with validated receipts. 

You can customize the email content with the number of entries assigned in the newly validated participation, as well as include the user’s total number of entries/coins, using the following smart tags:

• Transaction amount: {{transaction_amount}}. Allows you to indicate to the customer how many entries they have obtained by uploading the receipt that has just been validated.
• Coin balance: {{transaction_coin_balance}}. Allows you to indicate to the customer the total number of entries they have in the final draw. 

5. Run the draw applying each user’s extra entries.

To obtain the winner or winners by assigning extra entries based on Virtual Coins, go to the “Draws” section of the promotion:

Select the prize you want to draw, before deciding whether you want to run the draw among all participants or only a group of participants (which you can filter from the User Manager):

Once you have loaded the draw finalists, go to “Manage additional entries”:

A pop-up will open, where you must choose the assignment type by “Total number of virtual coins” of the users, before indicating the number of additional entries you want to give to each customer based on the coins they have accumulated throughout the promotion:

Once the additional entries have been applied, you will be able to review the list of users and their total chances in the draw using the “View finalists” option, before finalizing the draw and obtaining the winner or winners. 

In the following video, we show the step-by-step process to run the draw and assign the additional entries based on the user's receipts and Virtual coins obtained: