Commercial adjustments

A promotion has an item, region or channel scope, start and end periods, expected uplift, confidence and a status. Marketing Manager prepares the promotion and supplies launch assumptions for review. Demand Planning Manager can compare it with the relevant forecast periods before the activity moves forward. The period boundaries matter: an approved promotion for one channel should not be treated as a general uplift across every demand series.

A new product introduction has a launch date, expected peak quantity and ramp duration. It may use a ramp-up curve, a churn curve, a similar item or an item it will cannibalize. These references help the team state the commercial assumption in a form that can be revisited. Keep the approved record and its curve associated with the item rather than writing an unexplained increase into a final forecast.

• Prepare promotion scope. Marketing Manager records product, dates, channel, region, uplift and confidence.
• Review launch shape. Compare the introduction’s launch date and expected peak with the selected curve and its shape points.
• Compare period amounts. Read baseline and adjusted forecast amounts for affected planning entities, with period uplift lines when they are recorded.

Agree who approves commercial assumptions and how the approved-by reference is completed. Decide which team owns investment estimates and what evidence supports confidence. For a launch, decide when the curve should be retired or replaced with observed sales. Where a similar item is used, name that relationship explicitly. A new item may also draw demand from an existing one, so review both planning entities in the same cycle.

A promotion uplift line can retain the period, baseline amount, applied percentage, applied date and resulting adjusted amount. Compare any recorded line with the promotion and affected series before treating an adjusted forecast as ready for consensus. A status change alone is not the same as a checked period amount.

Suppose a West retail item has a price-cut promotion over two monthly periods. Marketing Manager prepares the dates, expected uplift and confidence, then sends the record for review. Demand Planning Manager checks the item and channel against the planning entity and looks at both forecast periods. Review the approval recorded on the promotion, then compare the proposed uplift with the baseline and adjusted amounts for each affected period. The baseline stays visible, making the effect of the commercial judgment easy to explain.

For an introduction, pick the expected launch month and ramp curve, then compare its first periods with the similar item’s history. If the launch slips, record that decision in the cycle’s review instead of silently moving dates across the plan.

• Promotions awaiting decision — Submitted campaigns with item, dates and expected uplift ready for review.
• Promotion calendar — Approved and live activity laid across start and end periods.
• NPI approvals — Introductions awaiting a decision on launch assumptions.

See commercial adjustment review and consensus to publication.