There is nothing more relaxing than flipping through flyers in the comfort of your own home, visualizing yourself at the hardware store or renovation center. 
Opening up the flyers is one of the best preserved traditions during which the family hierarchy determines who can look at which pamphlet first.
Many studies prove it: Quebecers are keen readers and they take action. Suppliers and retailers witness week after week the mass effect of flyers in store.
What are the positive impacts?
- Increase of sales in promotional categories
- Increase of sales in general
- Reduction of inventory levels
- Market share gains
Are those lasting effects? Are the promotions profitable? Very few enterprises can in fact answer those questions.
Promotions are very exciting for the consumers and can cause a lot of turmoil:
- Supply problems
- In-store execution problems
- Reduction in margins
- Reduction of products’ perceived value
- Administrative complexity
For the suppliers, the unexpected negative impacts can even lead to a loss of sales to competitors. For the retailers, a poor in-store execution can cause a lot of frustration for the consumers and harm the image of the brand.
How to stay in control?
By standardizing the documentation of your promotions and sharing the information with the right people …
The transmission of better structured information to key players (account manager, supply manager, merchandiser, buyer, category manager, department manager, etc.) allows everybody to make sure the promotions are carried out according to plan
By systematically analyzing the promotions’ impact …
Use reports that help to better differentiate between your promotional and your regular sales to assess more accurately the demand and increase considerably the quality of your forecasts for future promotions
Pay special attention to inventory management …
A clear information on actual inventories for each product will facilitate an optimized supply to stores for the promotions to avoid back orders and excess inventories.
Measure the promotions’ sustainability and profitability …
Certain analysis strategies allow you to:
1- Confirm if an increase in sales is sustainable after a promotion;
2- Identify which types of promotion have the most significant impacts;
3- Evaluate whether the return on investment is adequate.
To keep the promotional wheel turning……