Trade Promotions
Run in-store promotions and check that reps actually put them up — all the way from setup to scoring.
A trade promotion is a planned in-store activity to push a product — for example a price deal, a bundle, or a special display, usually with branded materials to set it up. Managers configure each promotion once; reps confirm it's live when they audit the shelf; and that confirmation feeds the store's compliance score.
📷 [SHOT: promotions-1] — web — Promotions screen, list of active promotions with their outlet scopes — caption: "Promotions you've set up and the outlets they apply to."
Managers: set up a promotion
You configure promotions in the web app. Each one carries:
- A mechanic — what the promotion actually does (for example, a discounted price, a buy-one-get-one bundle, or a featured display).
- Expected display materials — the POSM (Point-Of-Sale Material — posters, shelf strips, displays, and other branded in-store material; see the Glossary) you expect the rep to put up.
- A scope — which outlets the promotion applies to. You scope it the same way you scope a must-sell list (see Must-sell lists): by channel, tier, group, or territory.
Once scoped, the promotion reaches the right reps automatically — there's no per-rep setup. Every rep who visits an outlet inside the scope sees it.
Note: Promotions are scoped to outlets, not assigned to people. Any rep who visits a scoped outlet will be asked to confirm the promotion.
📷 [SHOT: promotions-2] — web — Promotion setup form showing the mechanic and expected POSM fields — caption: "Each promotion has a mechanic and its expected display materials."
Reps: confirm execution in the shelf audit
You don't manage promotions — you confirm them. They appear inside the merchandising audit (the in-store shelf check; see Merchandising audit) as a promo-execution section.
For each promotion that applies to the outlet:
- Open the merchandising audit during your visit.
- Find the promotions section.
- Confirm whether the promotion is actually running in the outlet.
- Tick the display materials you put up (the expected POSM).
Best practice: Confirm a promotion only when it's genuinely live on the shelf. The score reflects what shoppers actually see, and an honest "not done" tells your manager where to follow up.
📷 [SHOT: promotions-3] — mobile — Merchandising audit, promotions section with execution toggles and POSM checkboxes — caption: "Confirm the promotion and tick the materials you deployed."
How it feeds the compliance score
Your confirmations roll into the compliance score — the overall Perfect Store score for the visit. The promo-and-POSM part of that score reflects how many applicable promotions were actually executed and how much of the expected material went up.
Example: Three promotions apply to an outlet, but only two are running and the materials for one are missing. The promo portion of the compliance score drops accordingly. (Example only.)
Managers see the results in the compliance analytics — by rep and by territory — so weak promotion execution shows up where it can be coached.
Tip: Managers — read promotion execution alongside the KPI scorecard. A great mechanic that reps aren't putting up is a coaching gap, not a promotion problem.