332. Your Promotion Increased Sales. So Why Did Cash Get Tighter?

332.  A promotion can increase sales, make the retailer happy, and still quietly drain cash, margin, and runway. That is the part most post-event recaps miss.

In this episode, Dan Lohman explains why a promotion can look successful on paper while quietly creating margin pressure, deduction issues, forward buys, execution gaps, and weaker baseline sales later. He shares the promotion lesson he learned selling chips against a much larger competitor and breaks down five questions every CPG brand should ask before repeating an event.

In this episode, you will learn:

Why sales lift alone is not proof a promotion worked The hidden costs most promotion recaps miss Why smarter timing can outperform deeper discounts How retailer value creates leverage Five questions to ask before you repeat a promotion How to turn a promotion recap into a decision, an owner, and a next action Download the free guide: RetailSolved.com/guide7

Show notes and resources: RetailSolved.com/session332

⏰ Timecode

00:32 the most expensive promotion may become the one you repeat because sales went up

01:44 Why rinse and repeat is not a good strategy

02:50 Every ineffective promotion is more expensive

03:35 The lesson I learned selling chips - It's not what you think

05:52 How a massive free display helped double my paycheck

06:36 The costly promotion mistake every brand makes - avoid this