Handle Employee Discount

Background

Enable retailers to offer controlled employee discount programs while maintaining compliance with local tax regulations. Specifically addresses markets where employees may receive tax-free benefits up to a defined annual threshold (e.g., 35,000 NOK in Norway).

Business Objective

Allow retailers to:

• Shift employee purchases toward new assortment and away from outlet/discontinued items

• Offer significant discounts to employees acting as brand ambassadors

• Automatically enforce annual discount limits without manual intervention

• Prevent fulfillment of orders that would violate tax regulations

Functional Requirements

Customer-Facing Experience

• Employees use a dedicated discount code at checkout

• No additional complexity or friction in the checkout flow

• Standard order confirmation regardless of employee status

Post-Order Validation

When an order containing an employee discount code is created, the system must:

1. Verify employee status against a merchant-maintained source of truth

2. Calculate accumulated discount value for the employee across the current calendar year

3. Determine order eligibility based on annual threshold compliance

Order State Management

Based on validation outcome, orders should be automatically routed:

• Non-employee orders → Proceed to fulfillment immediately

• Employee orders within threshold → Proceed to fulfillment immediately

• Employee orders exceeding threshold → Hold in non-fulfillable state

Integration Requirements

• Orders in a blocked state must not be transmitted to downstream fulfillment systems (ERP, WMS)

• Only orders marked as fulfillment-ready should be consumed by external integrations

• Merchant retains control over employee list maintenance