Scoring sale periods with a promotional calendar template
The short answer
Rank every sale period on your promotional calendar template by the new customers it brought in, the share who later bought again at full price and the discount dollars it gave up. The sale that adds the fewest new customers who return is the first candidate to cut, unless it has another job, such as clearing aged stock.
Why it matters
Every sale period trains some customers to wait for the next one. A sale that adds few new customers mostly discounts purchases your existing customers would have made at full price, so it costs margin without growing the base.
The question to ask
Copy this into Lexi as written.
What the answer looks like
Illustrative output on sample data
Illustrative example: how Lexi answers this for an apparel retailer. It compares four sale periods on new customers won, how many came back at full price and the discount spent.
- Presidents' Day: 2,100 new, 22% returned at full price, $310,000 in discounts
- Mid-season sale: 1,400 new, 15%, $260,000
- Black Friday and Cyber Monday: 6,800 new, 18%, $1,120,000
- Post-holiday clearance: 900 new, 9%, $420,000
What the data shows
Clearance brings in 81 new customers who return at full price, about $5,190 of discount each. Presidents' Day costs about $670 per retained customer.
What it means
Clearance does little for acquisition, but it still moves aged stock.
What to do
Shorten the public clearance and move part of that stock through a targeted offer to past buyers of the same lines.
Would you like the calendar ranked by margin per retained customer?
Frequently asked questions
How do I plan promotions in retail around new customers?
Decide what each sale is for before setting dates and depth. Some sales exist to acquire customers, some to clear stock and some to reward loyal buyers. Judge each one on its own goal, so an acquisition sale is measured on new customers who return and a clearance sale on the inventory it moves.
Why can't I judge a sale period on revenue alone?
Revenue during a sale includes purchases customers would have made at full price anyway, plus sales pulled forward from the weeks after. A sale can post a strong revenue number while total margin across the quarter falls. Compare full-price sales in the weeks around each event as well as the event itself.
What belongs in a promotional calendar template?
At minimum, dates, discount depth, channels and target customers for each event, plus the results that matter afterward. Add new customers acquired, the share who bought again at full price, discount dollars and inventory cleared. With those columns filled each year, promotional calendar planning in retail becomes a comparison of evidence.