Revenue grew; contribution weakened
- Evidence or gap
- Discount and return effects reconciled
- Action owner
- Merchandising reviews the offer
Merchandising & commercial planning
Plan markdowns around stock, demand and margin.
Broad discounts clear stock without showing the margin trade-off.
TriggerSeason-end review or slow-moving inventory threshold.
| Option | Price and contribution per unit | Commercial decision |
|---|---|---|
| Hold | Price $100; modeled contribution $54 | Keep the price if demand supports the remaining selling window |
| 20% markdown | Price $80; modeled contribution $36 | Consider for aged stock if the expected sell-through justifies it |
| 30% markdown | Price $70; modeled contribution $27 | Requires approval because it falls below the $30 contribution floor |
Example calculation: $28 landed cost, $8 fulfillment and fees at 10% of price. Excludes returns, tax and fixed overhead; sell-through is not a forecast result.
What you getSKU-level markdown scenarios with stock, demand and contribution trade-offs, followed by approved price updates.
Discuss this use case How it works
Led by operators with 15+ years building commerce products, teams and systems. About us
Today
A broad sale applies the same discount to products with different stock age, demand and cost.
With this in place
Merchandisers compare hold, bundle and markdown options by SKU. Approved offers are published with margin floors and a review point.
Who does what, step by step.
Your team
Merchandising and finance decide whether to hold, bundle or discount and authorize the offer.
AI
AI explains why a SKU is a candidate and summarizes scenario trade-offs from the supplied evidence.
Automation
Rules calculate contribution, check price floors and publish only approved channel updates.
Step 1: Automation
Find the stock that needs a decision
Refresh stock age, demand and remaining selling time; separate a temporary slowdown from an exit-stock problem.
Step 2: Automation
Calculate viable scenarios
Compare hold, bundle and discount options using explicit price, cost and fee calculations. Show sensitivity to expected sell-through.
Step 3: AI
Explain the recommendation
AI summarizes the relevant product and trading context, with links to assumptions and source evidence.
Step 4: Your team
Approve the offer
Merchandising and finance choose the eligible products, price floors, duration and review point.
Step 5: Automation
Publish and revisit
Send approved prices to the selected channels, verify the live offer and compare actual contribution and sell-through with the scenario.
Guardrails
- Unit economics are calculated from explicit cost and fee inputs, not generated by a language model.
- Scenario demand is an assumption; show downside cases alongside the proposed offer.
- Authorized owners approve pricing and publication. Stop updates that violate a margin floor or channel rule.
What a first project includes.
A bounded first build around your systems and team. We agree the scope, fee and baseline before we start.
We build
- A SKU-level scenario calculator connected to current stock, price and cost records
- An approval workflow for offer scope, price floors and channel exclusions
- Controlled channel price updates and a contribution/sell-through readout
We start from
- Current prices, landed costs, channel fees and expected fulfillment costs
- Available and aged stock, recent demand and seasonal exit dates
- Promotion exclusions, minimum contribution and approval limits
From your team
- Owner
- Merchandising Lead
- Commercial Director
- Involves
- Merchandising
- Planning
- Finance
- Supply chain
- Growth
Access to these systems and real examples to test against.
Adapts to
- Omnichannel retail
- Wholesale
- International commerce
We’d measure
- Realized contribution after discounts, fees and fulfillment
- Sell-through and aged stock by comparable product group
- Price exceptions and time from approved offer to verified publication
Baselines agreed before we build.
Questions teams ask.
- Do we need to replace our current tools?
Usually not. We start with the systems you already use and build only what’s missing.
Typical connections: Your commerce platform, ERP, planning spreadsheets, pricing and promotion tools.
- Who owns it once it’s running?
Your team does. You own the agreed deliverables under the engagement terms, with documentation and training for the people who run it. Ownership usually sits with your merchandising lead or commercial director.
Ongoing support is optional and agreed separately.
- How do we get started?
If the problem and scope are already clear, we can scope this build directly. If you’re weighing it against other priorities, start with Discovery & Action Plan.
Its fee is credited in full if we build the recommended work.
How discovery works
Often paired with.
Part of Commercial and supply planning
- Supply chain & fulfillment
Demand & replenishment planning
Stock decisions are based on stale forecasts or disconnected spreadsheets.
Demand forecasts, reorder proposals and cash requirements kept current as trading and supply change.
- Merchandising & commercial planning
Promotion orchestration
Offer details and dependencies diverge across teams and channels.
Connected offer rules, briefs and channel tasks that respond to changes and keep approval status visible.
- Finance & business intelligence
The weekly trading brief
Leaders receive dashboards but still have to assemble the narrative and next steps.
A sourced trading brief with decisions, action owners and follow-through.
More connected work
Clear stock without giving away margin. Start with one category’s aged stock.
Prefer to start with discovery?
We reply within one business day.