4 Markdown Parameters

The Markdown Parameters workbook is used to define the promotions and clearance cadences for corporate, store-wide, or planner-specific promotions. After these are created, you assign them to style/colors in the Item Planning workbook.

This workbook contains the following tabs:

• Promotions Definition Tab

• Markdown Cadence Tab

Building the Markdown Parameters Workbook

To build a Markdown Parameters workbook, perform the following steps:

1. Click the New icon in the toolbar.

2. The New Workbook dialog box appears. On the Item Planning Administration tab, select Markdown Parameters and click OK.

   Figure 4-1 New Workbook Dialog Box

   
   

3. The Markdown Parameters Wizard appears at the Select Promotions step. If you have not previously set up promotions, placeholder promotions are available for selection. Select the number of promotions you want to create and click Next.

   Figure 4-2 Markdown Parameters Wizard: Select Promotions

   
   

   If you have created promotions previously, those promotions are available for selection as shown in Figure 4-3.

   Figure 4-3 Markdown Parameters Wizard: Select Promotions (Option 2)

   
   

4. The Calendar step appears. Select the time periods you want and click Finish.

   Figure 4-4 Markdown Parameters Wizard: Select Calendar

   
   

The Markdown Parameters workbook is built and opens at the Promotions Definition Tab.

Promotions Definition Tab

The Promotions Definition tab contains two worksheets: Promotions Weeks Worksheet and Markdown Cadence Worksheet. Use these two worksheets to set the discount rate, lift, lift override, and lifecycle of promotions.

Promotions Definition Worksheet

Use this worksheet to define the lift for the entire promotion. Remember that you are not defining the lift for specific weeks of the promotions but for the entire promotion in general.

Figure 4-5 Promotions Definition Worksheet

Perform the following steps to define the promotional lifts.

1. (Optional): Use DPM to change the promotion label to one that represents the event.

2. In the Reference Price Promo Disc R% measure, enter the discount percentage of the promotion.

3. Click Calculate. This automatically calculates the Promo Lift U% measure for the promotion. This is the percent of increased sales that must occur to overcome the decrease in price to sell the same dollar amount.

4. (Optional): To use a different promotional lift than the one calculated in Sls Promo Lift U%, enter it in the Sls Promo Lift U% Override measure.

   
   

   Note: If you want the override lift to be 20%, enter 120.

   
   

   If an override lift exists for a promotion, that lift is used in the Item Planning workbook. Otherwise, the lift created by the Promo Lift U% measure is used. The lift used is the same for every week in the promotion.

Table 4-1 lists the measures in this worksheet.

Table 4-1 Promotions Definition Worksheet Measures

Measure	Description
Reference Price Promo Disc R%	The discount percentage of the promotion.
Sls Promo Lift U%	The promotional lift. This is the percent of increased sales that must occur to overcome the decrease in price to sell the same dollar amount. The lift in this measure is automatically calculated from the Reference Price Promo Disc R% measure when the user clicks Calculate.
Sls Promo Lift U% Override	Use this measure to manually enter the promotional lift. The lift entered in this measure overrides the lift calculated in the Sls Promo Lift U% measure.

Promotions Weeks Worksheet

Use this worksheet to define the promotional period for each promotion. The promotional periods use the lift or lift override defined in the Promotions Definition Worksheet.

Figure 4-6 Promotions Weeks Worksheet

In this worksheet, select the weeks that make up each promotion. This worksheet contains one measure, as described in Table 4-2.

Table 4-2 Promotions Definition Worksheet Measure

Measure	Description
Weeks Active	Use this measure to select the weeks of the promotion. Promotions in Item Planning are applied for an entire week. You can also define promotions that are active in non-consecutive weeks. If you have a promotion that is active on the first week of every month, you need to set up only one promotion that is active at each of the selected weeks.

After you have defined the promotional period and lift for each promotion, continue to the Markdown Cadence Tab.

Markdown Cadence Tab

The Markdown Cadence tab contains one worksheet: Markdown Cadence.

Markdown Cadence Worksheet

Use the Markdown Cadence worksheet to define clearance cadences. Clearance Cadences are used when style/colors are ready to be put on hard clearance markdown. These cadences can be selected in the Item Plan Parameters Worksheet of the Item Planning workbook.

Perform the following steps to define clearance cadences:

1. Ensure that all[Calendar] is shown in the Calendar hierarchy.

2. In the intersection of the Basis (Year/Item) measure and the all[Calendar] dimension, select what the cadence is based on. There are two options:

   • Year: Based on the absolute year. If the cadence is defined as starting on Week 36/10, it starts on Week 36 of the fiscal year.

   • Item: Based on the lifecycle of the item. If the cadence is defined as starting on Week 36/10, it starts on the first week of the item lifecycle.

   Figure 4-7 Markdown Cadence: Basis (Year/Item) Selection

   
   

3. Define the markdown percentages in specific weeks of the cadence, as shown in Figure 4-8 and Figure 4-9.

   Figure 4-8 Markdown Cadence Worksheet: Cadence 01

   
   

   Figure 4-9 Markdown Cadence Worksheet: Cadence 02

   
   

4. Click Calculate. The markdown percentage for all[Calendar] is calculated.

5. Save and commit the workbook.

Table 4-3 lists the measures in this worksheet.

Table 4-3 Markdown Cadence Worksheet Measures

Measure	Description
Basis (Year/Item)	The basis of the cadence. Options are year and item. Year: Based on the absolute year. If the cadence is defined as starting on Week 36/10, it starts on Week 36 of the fiscal year. Item: Based on the lifecycle of the item. If the cadence is defined as starting on Week 36/10, it starts on the tenth week of the item lifecycle.
MD Clr U%	The markdown clearance percentage. This is applicable from the selected week onwards.

Next Steps

After you have created markdown curves, build the Item and Store Maintenance workbook to map like items.