Trade sales promotion is the used to build demand in the intermediary level. The intermediary level includes retailers & wholesale buyers etc. and the incentives are often in the form of special pricing, sales incentives, discounts and novelties. Marketers spend twice as much on trade sales promotions viz-a-viz customer promotions. Trade sales promotions are based on the premise that the efficient use of intermediary channels is an effective way to penetrate a market. Trade sales promotions are directly dependent on the nature of the product market. For example within the FMCG product trade sales promotions would be very different for a low margin product like Parle G in comparison to a high value niche segment product like Godiva, a premium chocolate brand. The trade sales promotion tool employed to directly depends upon the nature of the product market. While samples, coupons and cash refunds would work for low margin products like Parle G, Premiums and service packs could be a better alternative for high margin product.

The trade sales promotions work on the premise that the intermediaries have the expertise and the power to push products or services to the customers. The manufacturers look to make full use and incentivize this power of the intermediaries. A growing number of intermediaries are big enough to demand trade sales promotions at the expense of customer promotions and advertising. The main objectives a trade sales promotion scheme objectives are derived from the broader communication objectives & strategy such as but not limited to – Incentive type promotions to penetrate new products Reward loyal customers (retailers) Increase repurchase from occasional customers (retailers) Stimulate the retailers to push the product more Building brand loyalty(retailers) Offset competitive promotions

For implementing a trade sales