ToolsGroup Launches AI-Powered Promotions Planning

ToolsGroup, a global leader in supply chain planning software, today announced the launch of its promotion planning software, Promo Planning, which simplifies and streamlines promotion optimization for retail and consumer products (CPG) companies.

Trade promotion management and optimization costs consumer goods companies globally more than $500 billion each year--that makes it the second largest budget line item for most CPG companies.1 Compounding the risk is the high level of complexity in planning promotions effectively. There is often a disconnect between marketing and operations. The siloed planning approaches can lead to excessive stock or unmet service levels and disappointed customers.

Promo Planning, powered by ToolsGroup’s Service Optimizer 99+ (SO99+) supply chain planning software, leverages machine learning to automate the complications of promotion planning. It allows marketing professionals to plan and optimize campaigns with a level of detail that is relevant to their needs, all while staying perfectly synchronized with their supply chain colleagues.

ToolsGroup’s Web-based promotions planning software was specifically designed to organize promotional events in the demand forecasting process to:

Bridge the gap between marketing and operations which often results in lost sales or obsolescence
Improve forecasting accuracy to anticipate promotional uplift and subsequently raise service levels
Provide real-time scoring of promotional uplift with machine learning for better future promotions

For Nordic food supplier Haugen-Gruppen AS, ensuring the whole company can collaborate in the promotions planning process is critical to service excellence. "Forecasting promotions is one challenge, but making sure the whole organization is aligned to execute and prepared for the impact of those promotions is a whole different issue,” said Stian Holm Lassegaard, Supply Chain Director at Haugen-Gruppen AS. “With Promo Planning, we were able to instantly connect marketing changes with operational plans. Thus ensuring we had the right inventory in the right place at the right time to satisfy our customers' needs.“

About ToolsGroup
ToolsGroup is how organizations achieve their target service levels while optimizing inventory, no matter how complex their supply chain is or how much demand changes. In a world that never follows the rules, organizations have to be ready for anything--from the challenges of multi-echelon inventory optimization to the endless surprises of sporadic demand. To do this, they have to predict more behaviors, protect against surprises, and perform more efficiently. Only ToolsGroup makes all this possible. That’s why global leaders like Absolut, BP and Harley-Davidson continue to rely on us year after year. Visit www.ToolsGroup.com and follow us on Twitter @ToolsGroup.

(1) CGT: Trade Promotion Management 2019: New Tech for Old Tricks