Reference no: EM1338937 , Length: 300 Words

Trade promotions are widely practiced but sparingly researched. Retailers prefer trade promotions that provide short-term economic benefits; vendors prefer those that provide long-term, franchise-building benefits. Trade promotions can therefore be defined as any promotions that are provided to the downstream channel members by vendors to incentivize them to either purchase their products or to do some specific brand-building activity on behalf of the vendor or Trade promotions are temporary price cuts that manufacturers offer retailers to encourage them to reduce retail prices (Kantar Retail 2010; Kumar, Rajiv & Jeuland, 2001). They are different from consumer promotions that are basically targeted toward the consumers (for example; coupons, buy one get one, promotional packs and so on). In the food and beverage industry, trade promotions are a necessary evil that can quickly become an over-sized, unmanageable mountain of manual labor. The inability to track, control or analyze promotional programs negatively impacts the bottom line and the profitability associated with these initiatives. Overspending on trade promotions from execution inconsistencies and lack of promotion planning can also be a challenge. In view of this; vendors like IBM and Century Martial Arts (Junctions solutions) offers sophisticated, intuitive tools that fully support the entire profit promotion business process, specifically for the food and beverage industry. What is your opinion on this innovation? word count is 300 and three Harvard referencing/ Citation