For most associations, education is both a member benefit and a revenue line. Members expect a better price. Non-members are a growth audience. Employers want to buy for whole teams. And credits have to be tracked so members keep their standing. This playbook covers how to set up pricing and packages that serve all of them, and is clear about which jobs belong to your store and which belong elsewhere.
Step 1: Decide your price tiers
Most associations need three to five tiers. Keep it to as few as your strategy allows; every tier is a rule someone has to maintain.
- Member: the core benefit. Set it where it makes membership worth buying.
- Non-member: your list price, and a route to membership.
- Student or early-career: if you offer that membership class.
- Organizational or chapter: for employers, chapters or partners buying in volume.
- Early bird: time-limited, for live programs and conferences.
In Kano Store, each tier is a customer group with its own prices, so a signed-in member sees the member price without entering a code. Coupons cover the exceptions: a promotion, a partner offer or a one-time welcome discount.
Step 2: Keep membership status current
Member pricing is only as good as your membership data. Decide where the truth lives, usually your association management system, and how it reaches the store. Depending on your systems, that might be a regular import, a sync through a system Kano already connects to such as Salesforce, or a custom connection through the Kano API. We will recommend the right approach for your setup on the demo call.
Think about volume and churn. A small association with annual renewals needs less automation than a large one with rolling renewals.
Step 3: Package continuing education
Bundles turn single courses into products that are easier to buy and easier to budget for.
- Annual CE package: everything a member needs for one renewal cycle, at one price.
- Topic tracks: a set of courses on one subject, priced below the sum of the parts.
- Conference plus on-demand: live registration bundled with recordings.
- All-access subscription: a yearly fee for the whole catalogue, renewing automatically.
Step 4: Sell to employers
Employers who pay for their staff’s CE are some of an association’s best customers. Give them a way to buy that suits how companies buy:
- A block of seats, bought once and assigned to staff
- Purchase-order checkout and an invoice, rather than a company card
- The ability to reassign a seat when someone leaves
- Volume pricing for larger orders
Step 5: Track credits in the right place
Your store sells access. Your LMS records completion. Credit tracking, transcripts and certificates belong in Moodle or Totara, which both handle completion tracking and certificates.
If you need formal accreditation management, such as provider applications, accreditor reporting or credit-type rules across many accrediting bodies, that is a specialist job. Kano Store does not do it. Dedicated CE platforms such as Cadmium focus on exactly this, and some associations run one alongside their LMS.
When a dedicated association LMS fits better
Platforms built for associations, such as Path LMS from Blue Sky eLearn and Cadmium, come with association management system connections and CE features out of the box. If you are starting from scratch, have no LMS today and need those features on day one, they are worth comparing.
If you already run Moodle or Totara, have content and records there, and need a store that handles member pricing, bundles and employer purchases, adding Kano Store keeps everything you have and adds the commerce you are missing.
Association Sales Checklist: Pricing, Bundles, and Employer Rules
- Price tiers agreed and documented
- Source of truth for membership status chosen, and how it reaches the store
- Bundles and subscriptions defined
- Employer buying rules: who can pay by PO, invoice terms, volume pricing
- Credit tracking and certificates configured in the LMS
- Accreditation needs reviewed, and a specialist tool chosen if required
Talk it through
Book a 15-minute call and we will map your tiers and packages to Kano Store.
Book a demo