Although it is related to some of the points mentioned above, it needs a special mention. Experts suggest that inefficient and inaccurate planning costs nearly one-third of the money invested in trade promotions by retailers. This often happens when the decision-makers and planners are not able to measure the effectiveness and ROI of the promotions.

To overcome this lacuna companies are moving towards advanced analytics for sales promotion optimization. A large volume of data from different market sources and customer touchpoints is taken. The data is in a heterogeneous form that is structured, unstructured, and semi-structured. It is transformed into more understandable reports that also make recommendations to devise promotion plans with high ROI. Predictive analytics and perspective analytics together can make a huge difference in the success and failure of trade promotions.