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Shopware price rules and tier prices explained: rule builder, priority, quantity tiers

Shopware price rules and tier prices control which customer sees which price at which quantity. Three building blocks are behind this: the default price on the product, price rules from the rule builder and tiers per rule. This page explains how the building blocks work together, which rule applies when several match and how PIM for Shopware maintains tiers as a percentage instead of a fixed amount.

Key facts
  • Every product has a default price, additional prices are always tied to a price rule.
  • If several rules match, the rule's priority decides.
  • Tiers start from a quantity, and the row from 1 belongs to a complete tier table.
  • In the PIM every tier remembers its discount in percent as a target value.

Default price and prices per rule

Every product in Shopware has a default price with a gross and a net amount. It applies whenever no other price applies. In addition you can give a product further prices, each tied to a price rule, for example a cheaper price for dealers or a promotional price for a certain period. Within a rule there may be several rows that apply from a certain quantity. These are the tier prices.

Variants follow the usual inheritance: if a variant has no tier prices of its own, those of the main product apply.

Price rules in the rule builder

In Shopware you create price rules in the rule builder under Settings → Rules. A rule consists of conditions, for example a customer group, a sales channel, a period or a cart value. If the conditions are met for the current customer and cart, the rule is active and the prices tied to it come into question.

Every rule also has a priority, a number. It becomes important as soon as several rules match for a customer at the same time and the product has prices for more than one of them.

Shopware price rules: which priority wins

Shopware evaluates the matching rules by their priority. The rule with the higher priority wins if the product has prices for it. If the product has no price for any of the matching rules, the default price applies. Two consequences of this are common in practice:

  • A promotional price does not apply: a dealer rule with a higher priority matches as well and pushes the promotion rule aside.
  • A dealer sees consumer prices: the product has no prices for the dealer rule, so Shopware falls back to the default price.

Therefore plan the priorities deliberately before you attach prices to many rules, and give rules that may overlap clearly different values.

Shopware tier prices: from a quantity and the row from 1

Tier prices are the rows of a price rule with different start quantities, for example from 1 item, from 10 items and from 50 items. Shopware reads the rows of a rule as a complete price table and shows them as tiers in the storefront. This creates a trap: if the row from quantity 1 is missing and there is only a single tier, the storefront shows its price as the normal unit price, although it should only apply from a larger quantity.

Tiers are stored as fixed amounts. If you raise the base price, the tier amounts stay as they are, and the intended discount is no longer right.

How the PIM maintains price rules and tier prices

Tier groups per rule

In the detail view you create a tier group per price rule with "Add tier". If the rule is missing, you create it directly in the PIM with name and priority, preset to 100. You then add the rule's conditions in Shopware's rule builder. Each tier has the columns from quantity, gross, net and savings.

The row from 1

Above the tiers sits the fixed row from 1 with the product's base price. The PIM creates it when saving and keeps it up to date. In bulk edit the action "Tier row from 1" adds it for many products and their variants.

Percent as target value

If you enter the savings in percent, the PIM calculates the price from the base price. If you enter a price, the savings follow. Every tier edited in the PIM remembers the percentage as a target value on the tier itself. If "Update tier prices automatically" is switched on in the config matrix, default is off, the PIM recalculates the tiers from this target value when the base price changes. This applies while editing in master data and in the variant window. Price changes from bulk edit, imports or external systems do not trigger the update.

Rounding is exact to the cent by default, alternatively to endings such as x.95 or x.99.

Tiers for many products

In bulk edit, the tier linking in the "Prices & stock" tab offers three modes. "Link" stores the percentage from the distance to the base price for existing tiers, the amounts stay the same. "Release link" removes the percentage. "Define tiers" rebuilds the tiers of a chosen price rule and calculates them from each product's base price. Other price rules remain untouched.

Step by step: dealer prices with volume discount

  1. Create the rule: create a rule "Dealer" in the rule builder with the customer group condition and give it a priority above possible promotion rules.
  2. Set rounding: choose the rounding in the config matrix and decide whether tiers should update automatically.
  3. Filter products: narrow the product list down to the dealer range and save a preset.
  4. Define tiers: in bulk edit choose "Define tiers", the rule "Dealer" and tiers such as 5 percent from 10 items and 10 percent from 50 items.
  5. Run: start the run. The PIM adds the row from 1 automatically.
  6. Check: log in to the storefront with a dealer account and check the tiers and the unit price.
After price runs: if you raise base prices via bulk edit or import, linked tiers do not update automatically. Rebuild them afterwards with "Define tiers" so the discounts are right again.

Use cases

  • B2B and B2C in the same shop: consumers see the default price, dealers get their own tiers via their rule.
  • Time-limited promotion: a rule with a period and a suitable priority for promotional prices.
  • Wrong unit price in the shop: add missing rows from 1 in one go with "Tier row from 1".

Frequently asked questions

What is a price rule in Shopware?

A rule from the rule builder with conditions such as customer group or period. Prices tied to it only apply when the conditions are met.

Which price rule applies when several match?

The one with the higher priority, provided the product has prices for it. If it has no prices for any matching rule, the default price applies.

Why does the shop show a tier price as the unit price?

If the row from quantity 1 is missing and there is only one tier, the storefront shows its price as the unit price. The PIM creates the row from 1 automatically.

Do tier prices adjust when the base price goes up?

Not in Shopware, tiers are fixed amounts. In the PIM, "Update tier prices automatically" updates linked tiers while editing in master data and in the variant window; default is off.

Can I create price rules in the PIM?

Yes, with name and priority directly from the tier price section. You maintain the conditions in the Shopware rule builder.

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