PrestaShop quantity discounts step by step: specific prices for one product, catalog price rules for a category
How to set up quantity discounts (volume discounts) in PrestaShop 8 and 9: specific prices from a minimum number of units, volume discount pricing examples with tiers, discounts for one customer group, catalog price rules for a category, and what the customer sees.
In short
- On a single product, quantity discounts are specific prices: in the product’s Pricing tab, click Add a specific price and set the number of units it starts from and the impact on price.
- Several specific prices with different unit counts make tiers, for example from 12 and from 48 units. Each can be limited to a currency, country, customer group or customer.
- Good volume discount pricing uses two or three tiers that match how the product is packed, with a price per piece the customer can compare at a glance.
- For a whole category, a catalog price rule does the same with the From quantity field and conditions such as category, brand or supplier.
- The storefront shows a table with the quantity, the unit discount and the saving, but the customer still orders in pieces.
Quantity discounts, also called volume discounts or tiered pricing, are the first thing most PrestaShop shops try when customers start buying in bulk. PrestaShop has them built in, in two places: specific prices on a product, and catalog price rules for many products at once. This article walks through both, with volume discount pricing examples, and what the customer sees on the product page.
If you are still deciding between quantity discounts, box products and packages, start with PrestaShop wholesale pricing. This article is the how-to for the first option.
Quantity discount on one product
In PrestaShop 8 and 9, quantity discounts on a product are specific prices:
- Go to Catalog > Products and open the product.
- Open the Pricing tab.
- Click Add a specific price.
- Set the number of units the price starts from.
- Set the Impact on price: an amount or a percentage.
- Leave currency, country, group and customer on “all” unless the discount is only for some customers.
- Save.
PrestaShop’s test scenario for the pricing tab shows the result: the specific price appears in a list with the columns Combination, Currency, Country, Group, Store, Customer, Units and Discount. You can edit it later, for example to switch the impact from an amount to a percentage.
Volume discount pricing examples
For tiers, add one specific price per step. The customer gets the best tier their quantity reaches. Here is an example for an item that sells at €2.50 and is packed in boxes of 12, with four boxes to a carton:
| Quantity | Discount | Price per piece | Total | Saving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 11 | none | €2.50 | €2.50 × quantity | none |
| 12 (one box) | −8% | €2.30 | €27.60 | €2.40 |
| 48 (one carton) | −16% | €2.10 | €100.80 | €19.20 |
In PrestaShop this is two specific prices: one from 12 units with −8%, one from 48 units with −16%.
What makes tiers like these work:
- Steps that match the packing. If a box holds 12, tiers at 12 and 48 make sense; a tier at 10 does not, because nobody packs 10.
- Two or three tiers. More steps make the table harder to read without changing much what customers buy.
- A price per piece that is easy to compare. €2.50, €2.30, €2.10 reads faster than a list of percentages.
- A discount your margin can carry. A larger order saves you picking, packing and shipping per piece. Keep the discount within what you save, or the bigger order earns less.
- Percentage or amount, on purpose. A percentage keeps the tiers in proportion when the base price changes; a fixed amount per piece does not. Check the tiers after every price change either way.
Discounts only for trade customers
Each specific price can be limited by Group. If your wholesale customers are in their own customer group, give the tiers to that group only, and retail customers keep the normal price. This works with or without B2B mode.
The same discount for a whole category
Setting tiers product by product does not scale to a catalogue of hundreds of items. A catalog price rule, under Catalog > Discounts, applies one rule to many products. The PrestaShop user guide describes its fields:
- From quantity: “The rule applies if the order has at least a specific number of matching products.”
- Currency, Country and Group: to limit who gets it.
- From and To: dates, for a promotion with an end.
- Reduction type: an amount or a percentage.
- Conditions: “by category, brand, supplier, attribute or feature”. Without any condition, the guide warns, the rule applies to all products of the catalogue.
What the customer sees
On the product page PrestaShop shows a quantity discount table. PrestaShop’s storefront test scenario lists its columns: Quantity, Unit discount, You Save.
That table informs; it does not change how the customer orders. They still type a number of pieces into the quantity field. Someone who wants two boxes of 12 has to work out that this is 24 and type 24, and nothing stops an order of 13.
If your customers think in boxes and pallets rather than pieces, that is where Pack Selector helps: it shows each package on the product page with its price per piece and the saving, and the customer picks how many packages to add. Its templates can also apply tiers to a whole category or the whole shop.
Questions and answers
Where do I set quantity discounts in PrestaShop 8 or 9?
Open the product under Catalog > Products, go to the Pricing tab and click Add a specific price. Set the minimum number of units and the impact on price as an amount or a percentage, then save.
How do I create several discount tiers?
Add one specific price per tier: for example one from 12 units and one from 48 units. The product page lists them together in the quantity discount table.
Can quantity discounts apply only to wholesale customers?
Yes. A specific price can be limited to a customer group, so only customers in your trade group get it. Catalog price rules have the same Group field.
How do I set the same quantity discount for a whole category?
Use a catalog price rule under Catalog > Discounts. Set From quantity, the reduction type and value, then add a condition for the category. Without conditions the rule applies to the whole catalog.