Promotion planning: Checklist for success

In today’s competitive and transparent market place, retailers simply cannot survive without some form of promotional activity. In fact, as much as 40% of overall turnover can be generated through promotion planning. However, promotions create a huge amount of volatility and place great strain on the entire organisation. How can retailers optimise their demand pattern recognition processes to align alignment of different plans, processes and calendars across the entire business?

Retailers depend on promotional activity to attract more footfall, sell through surplus stock and ultimately boost sales. But to what extent do promotions impact demand? For many retailers, this can be a difficult question to answer. Afterall there is always an element of “gut-feel”. But how can retailers objectively determine potential uplift in demand that a promotion generate? More, importantly, how can this information be communicated to marketing, operations and finance?