Presto Insta-Shops are run in batches (similar to a SASSIE autosession). To set up a batch, go to Setup -> Batches.  On this page, you'll see the following:


  1. All active batches for your companies.  You can filter this by company, and also choose to display deactivated batches (helpful if you want to run a program similar to one you've done in the past, because you can copy and edit an old batch).
  2. Buttons to create a new batch, add funds to the currently selected company and move funds between companies.
  3. Available funds and credits for all your companies. Remember, if the currently selected company does NOT have funds and credits, your shop pins will not appear on the Presto map and cannot be done by shoppers.
     

Creating a batch: the basic settings


To create your batch, click Create New Batch.  On the next page, enter the required batch settings;

  • Batch name.  Enter something descriptive, to distinguish it from your other batches.
  • Survey.  The survey that will be used for these shops.
  • Contact email.  This email address is displayed on communications to the shoppers.  The address must belong to a verified Presto account.
  • Total number of shops.  Use this setting if you want a set number of shops and do not want to shop all locations.  If you want to shop every location, leave this blank.
  • Number of shops per location.  Use this setting if you want a certain number of shops at each location.
  • Shopper pay. The fee paid to the shopper. Unless you set up reimbursements in the Additional batch settings (below), the shopper pay is inclusive of any expenses. Make sure to include any expense amounts in the shopper pay OR as additional reimbursable amounts, and factor this in when allocating funds to a project.



Click Create Batch to continue to the full batch settings page.


Additional batch settings


In the batch settings page, you can activate the new batch, but you'll probably want to change some of the other settings first -- and you definitely want to look at all of them, especially the ones in red!  Those are settings that are used in most batches.


WARNING!  If you change a batch setting, you must SAVE it! 


  1. Notes (displayed as This batch does not have any notes if not configured.  Notes are helpful -- after a while, you'll have a lot of batches (we hope!), and notes help you keep track of what each batch was for.

  2. Maximum shopper reimbursement (displayed as Shoppers will not be reimbursed if not configured. If this is set, you can add one or more number questions to your survey and designate them as reimbursement amounts (please contact our support department for assistance in setting this up). Shoppers will be paid the shopper pay amount (above) plus the total of all reimbursement amount questions, up to the limit specified by this setting.

  3. Rewards (displayed as Shoppers will not be given rewards if not configured). This setting is used for Liveshops, where the shopper will receive a reward (for example, a coupon or small gift card) rather than a cash payment. For more information, see our article on Liveshops.

  4. Batch start date (displayed as No batch start date assigned if not configured).  This is the date and time that your batch's pins will appear on the Presto map and can be claimed by shoppers.  All times are US/Eastern, so adjust to your timezone to make sure your pins show up when you want.  If you don't set a batch start date, your pins appear as soon as you make the batch active.

  5. Batch edit date (displayed as Shops will be editable as soon as they're on the map if not configured)..  This is the starting date and time that shops can be filled out.  If you don't set this, then shops can be edited as soon as they're claimed.  Setting a batch edit date allows shoppers to claim shops in advance, but lets you control when they can start to fill them out.

  6. Number of times each location can be shopped (displayed as Each location in this batch can be shopped any number of times if not configured).  In most cases, you'll want to limit this!

  7. Time limit, in minutes, to complete the shop.  By default, this is set to 480 minutes (8 hours) and displayed as Shoppers will have 480 minutes to complete the shop after it becomes editable (claim or batch start time, whichever is later). The timer works as follows:

    1. If there is no batch edit date, or the batch edit date is in the past, the timer starts running as soon as the shopper claims (self-assigns) the shop

    2. If there is a batch edit date in the future, the timer starts at the batch edit date

    3. If the shopper does not complete the shop before the timer expires, the shop is considered Abandoned, the pin goes back on the map, and the shop can be claimed by another shopper.

  8. Map pin appearance (under Here's what your map pins will look like to shoppers).  You can specify what will be displayed in the header (the first thing the shopper sees if they click on the pin) and the details (what the shopper sees when the click on Details).  Choices are: survey name, company name, batch name, location ID and/or location name.  The location address and "additional info" is always displayed.
  9. Short description (displayed as This batch does not have a short description if not configured). This is a short text description, displayed in the pin header, to give shoppers summary information about the shop.
  10. Batch end date (displayed as No batch end date assigned. Pins will remain on the map until completed or manually disabled if not configured).  This is the date and time that any remaining pins are taken off the map.  If you don't set a batch end date, the batch runs and the pins stay on the map until all shop limits have been reached or you run out of funds.
  11. Completion time after end date (in minutes).  This setting is part of the batch end date (number 10 above).  It is the maximum amount of time that a shop's expiration can extend beyond the batch end date.  Without setting a backstop duration, a shop that is claimed right before the batch ends will still be allowed the full amount of time to complete the shop.  For example:
    1. Batch end date is 9/30 at midnight
    2. Time allowed to complete a shop is 3 days from the time that the shop is claimed
    3. A shop claimed at one minute to midnight on 9/30 will expire at one minute to midnight on 10/3.

      To prevent shops from running over the batch end date by an unreasonable amount of time, set a backstop duration that will make all shops due by the batch end date plus the backstop duration.  For example, if you set the backstop duration to 86400, a shop claimed at one minute to midnight on 9/30 would be due at one minute to midnight on 10/1.
  12. Maximum simultaneous incomplete claimed shops per location (displayed as Incomplete claimed shops per location are only limited by shop limits if not configured) and Minimum time in seconds between completion and claim (displayed as No minimum time between completion and claim if not configured). These two settings are used if you want multiple shops at the same location in this batch, but need a minimum time between shops. If you wish to do this, set the maximum simultaneous incomplete claimed shops per location to 1 (so that only one shop may be in progress at a given location at one time), and set the minimum seconds between completion and claim to the time that you want between the time that the first shop is completed (report is submitted) and when the pin appears on the map to allow a shopper to claim the second shop.  In the example shown below, only 1 incomplete shop is allowed at a location at one time, and the pin for the second shop will only appear 259200 seconds (72 hours) after the first shop has been completed.
  13. Maximum simultaneous incomplete claimed shops per shopper (displayed as There is no maximum  number of incomplete claimed shops per user if not configured)  This is the maximum number of shops from this batch that a shopper can have in progress at one time.  For example, if this is set to 10, the shopper can claim 10 shops, but if they try to claim another shop, they are told that they cannot claim any more shops until they have completed one of the shops they have already claimed.  Shops that are abandoned do not count against the maximum number of simultaneous claimed shops.
  14. Flake cooldown period (displayed as There is no minimum time between a shopper abandoning a shop and claiming a new one if not configured).  If a shopper abandons or fails to complete a shop in this batch, the flake cooling duration is the amount of time in seconds that the shopper must wait before they can claim the shop at that location again.  The flake cooling duration provides an incentive for shoppers to only claim shops that they can complete and to avoid flaking on shops.
  15. Number of shops per shopper per location (displayed as Each shopper can shop each individual location in this batch as much as they want if not configured).  This does not override the number of times each location can be shopped (6 above): if you have set a limit of one shop per location, obviously each shopper can only shop each location once.
  16. Number of shops per shopper (displayed as Each shopper can shop as many times in this batch as they want if not configured).  This limits the total number of shops each shopper can do on this batch.  It does not apply to other shops that the shopper may do on other batches, even if they're for the same company and survey.
  17. Shopper age limits (displayed as No minimum shopper age and No maximum shopper age if not configured)
  18. Shopper gender (displayed as Shoppers gender: Any Gender if not configured).

  19. Guidelines (displayed as No extra guidelines if not configured). These are not strictly required, but unless your shop is very simple, it’s important to have them. Some requirements (time limit, pay, shop location) are displayed automatically, so you don’t need to add them to the guidelines, but any other requirements that aren’t obvious, plus a general description of the task, brief description of the product, etc. are helpful. If the shop requires the shopper to verify their location, you may want to mention in the guidelines that an Android or iOS smartphone is required.  If you have lengthier guidelines, please contact our support department - we'd be happy to create a shopper guide in our knowledge base for you!

  20. Location group (displayed as Shops in this batch are not restricted to a single location group if not configured). The batch group is the location group that includes all locations that can be shopped in this batch. If you do not specify a batch group, the batch includes all the company’s locations (except disabled ones).

  21. Batch group (displayed as This batch is not in a batch group if not configured). Batch groups allow you to impose additional restrictions that apply to multiple batches together (for example, a shopper may perform one shop per location in any one batch, but is also restricted by the batch group to only perform one shop per location across several batches).  

  22. Batch group priority (displayed as Batch has a priority of 1 by default. This setting controls whether pins for some batches in the batch group are shown before others. By default, all batches have priority 1, so all pins for all active batches in a batch group all show at the same time on the map. If you wanted pins for Batch 1 to show before pins for Batch 2, you would set the batch group priority in Batch 1 to 1 and the batch group priority for Batch 2 to 2.

    If you want to enforce a minimum time between shops from different priority batches, use the batch group settings to set a claim limit of 1 and the desired minimum time between completion and claim.
     

  23. Location group type (displayed as Shops in this batch are not restricted to a single location group type if not configured).  This setting is mostly used with batch location group quotas.  If you have not set location group quotas for this batch, this setting should remain at the default (not restricted).  If you have set location group quotas, this setting should be set to the same group type as the groups that have quotas, to ensure that locations that are not in those groups do not get shopped in this batch.

  24. Maximum shops within location groups of this batch (displayed as Each location group in this batch can be shopped any number of times if not set).  If you are using batch location group quotas, this setting can set a maximum number of shops per group that will override the batch location group quotas.  

  25. Pins for this batch will be visible to anonymous users.  By default, map pins for Presto Insta-Shops are visible to anyone who visits the Presto map, whether or not they are logged in.  Changing this setting restricts the batch's pins to only being visible to logged-in users.  This setting is useful if you want to be sure that a casual visitor to the Presto map can't see your shops.  The disadvantage of choosing this setting is that your shops will also not be seen by shoppers who might be interested in your project, but who are new to Presto and have not yet created a Presto account.  

  26. Public/private batch: if a batch is public, its pins show on the public Presto map and can be claimed by any shopper.  If you want to restrict shops to certain shoppers, change this setting to Private and send your shoppers the private map link from the batch settings page. Some accounts (Presto Preferred Provider) also have a third option, Company Private, which means that the batch's pins will show on the private map AND on the company-specific map (the map of all shops for this client company).  

 NOTE: even if you plan to post your shops to the public Presto map, we recommend using a private batch FIRST to make sure that your map pins are showing as you want them to, and that your guidelines look all right - just switch the batch back to public when you're ready.



Once you have created your batch and tested your batch settings (and as long as you've funded your shops), you're ready to go live!  Next step: reviewing your completed Insta-Shops!