Tackling 2025 retail challenges with planning and promotions

How brands can build a resilient strategy that unites demand planning and promotional spend for maximum impact, leveraging Promomash and Crisp.

2024 was marked by incredible technological advancements and a pace of change across all industries that brings us to question what the new year will hold. There is an unmistakable element of unpredictability heading into the year – let alone when it comes to retail. How will AI grow to change retail? What major players will join forces? What will the impact of potential tariffs be, and how can brands thrive in the face of them?

To keep a hold of success – and even flourish – this year, brands should focus on what’s in their hands to control. To make daily informed decisions that drive the business forward day-by-day, real-time data visibility is table stakes.

More than ever, demand plans will need to be agile, and promotions will need to be strategic. Most importantly, these efforts will need to be effective to keep hold of and maximize existing retail placements. 

Keep pace with existing placements

Current challenges CPG manufacturers face include tight margins, ever-increasing competition for shelf space, loyalty erosion, and meeting omnichannel demands. This challenging mix calls for consistent – and yet exceptional – supplier performance to retain and grow retail placements.

To stand out from the competition, velocity remains a top performance metric for retailers, demonstrating market demand and incremental growth potential. Strategic promotional planning, paired with reliable demand plans, is the key to achieving it. 

Pinpointing demand with granular data

The key to navigating 2025 lies in refining demand plans with clean, actionable data insights. Granular historical data plays a critical role in avoiding missteps like overstock, which leads to waste and deductions, or out-of-stocks (OOS) that disrupt high-demand market sales.  Leveraging real-time data within sales and operations planning (S&OP) processes enables brands to spot trends early and adjust strategies to maximize inventory efficiency and performance.

“A single source of data truth enables all teams to be on the same page, so you’re able to be more resilient, and more adaptable,” shares Barry Bradley, Head of Supply Chain at Crisp. “This proves especially important heading into an unpredictable 2025, as teams need to be in sync across the supply chain to quickly identify opportunities and pivot as needed.”

Even amid widespread supply chain disruptions, on-time in-full (OTIF) rates and in-stock percentages are non-negotiable for retaining shelf space, as buyers prioritize reliable, agile brands – making meticulous demand planning essential to staying in the game.

Promotions to keep sales pumping

With a solid planning foundation and real-time point-of-sale (POS) data flowing across teams, promotions take on a leading role in driving measurable results and meeting retailer expectations for shelf performance.

More than boosting short-term sales, strategic promotional planning creates scalable success that aligns with retailer goals and keeps your brand ahead of the competition. Using a combination of historical performance, market trends, and granular POS data, teams can identify the right promotional tactics to maximize ROI and meet velocity thresholds.

“Trade promotions today demand more precision than ever,” says Yuval Selik, CEO of Promomash. “Retailers are looking for partners who can drive growth, not just discounts. Data-backed promotional strategies set you apart by proving incremental market value.”

By tracking campaign performance as it unfolds with real-time data, brands can adjust tactics in response to shopper behavior down to the individual regional or store level. Ensuring promotional dollars are spent wisely, and underperforming campaigns don’t jeopardize retailer relationships.

“Having real-time visibility into promotions means you’re not operating in the dark,” says Chris Ambarian, Promomash Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer. “It lets you see what’s working, what’s not, and adjust in ways that strengthen both sales and partnerships.”

A unified approach

To thrive in 2025, brands must unite demand and promotional planning under one cohesive strategy. Foundationally, this requires clean, actionable data but also a synchronized system that aligns all teams – sales, marketing, supply chain, and operations – toward shared objectives.

Crisp’s seamless integration with Promomash delivers this unified data flow, harmonizing disparate POS, inventory, and deduction insights into one actionable platform. With Promomash, brands can manage trade promotions with precision, leveraging tools to track performance, validate deductions, and measure ROI in real-time. Together, the platforms create a single source of truth, empowering teams to make informed, data-driven decisions that optimize both demand planning and promotional strategies.

“Using real-time Crisp data in Promomash has been a game changer for us,” shares Catherine Youngblood, Sr. Director of Sales at Lundberg Family Farms. “It allows us to monitor real-time inventory along with our trade spend to reallocate resources quickly and more effectively.”

Before Promomash and Crisp, Kevin McCay, Chief Operations Officer at Safe Catch, recalls a process of “spending a lot of money without knowing if it’s doing anything.” He adds, “The two platforms integrate seamlessly, allowing us to be more strategic about our trade spend while keeping our buyers looped into performance.”

“When you unify demand planning and promotional management, it’s like buying an insurance policy for your brand,” concludes Yuval of Promomash. “You gain the confidence to navigate challenges and have the data to back every decision you make.”

To learn more about Promomash and Crisp’s real-time integration for your new year’s strategies, visit us here.