What should a promotion calendar prevent?
It should prevent incompatible discounts, stockouts, unclear measurement, and cash commitments the business cannot support. It also gives sourcing, advertising, finance, and operations one shared version of the plan.
Record the complete promotion brief
- Marketplace, product, audience, objective, start date, and end date.
- Regular price, promotional price, customer discount, and related charges.
- Ad budget, expected traffic, conversion, units, and contribution range.
- Inventory required, inbound dependency, stockout threshold, and exit rule.
- Owner, approval, reporting date, and post-event comparison period.
Check interactions before approval
A promotion can overlap with a price test, new campaign, listing revision, or another channel offer. Identify these interactions before launch so the economics and later analysis remain interpretable.
Reserve time for the post-event read
Review refunds, returns, organic demand, inventory, and contribution after the spike. Add the lesson to the next event brief. A calendar improves only when completed promotions change future assumptions.