Product Overview

Summary: This Seasonal Promotions Planning Standard Operating Procedure provides a clear, repeatable framework for designing and delivering profitable, compliant seasonal campaigns across your Australian operations. It aligns marketing, sales, operations and finance so you can plan early, protect margin, manage stock and execute every promotion consistently across stores, channels and states.

Seasonal events such as Christmas, Easter, EOFY, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Black Friday, Boxing Day and key local events can make or break annual revenue targets in the Australian market. Without a structured approach, businesses often face last‑minute rushes, inconsistent offers between stores and online, stockouts on hero products, and discounting that erodes margin. This Seasonal Promotions Planning SOP provides a disciplined, end‑to‑end process for planning, approving and executing promotional activity so your team can move from reactive to strategic, year after year.

The procedure walks your organisation through defining promotional objectives, selecting featured products or services, coordinating with suppliers, setting compliant price points, forecasting demand, planning inventory, briefing creative, and aligning in‑store and digital execution. It embeds clear approval gates, timelines and responsibilities so campaigns are launched on time, on brand and in line with Australian Consumer Law. By standardising how seasonal promotions are planned and reviewed, this SOP helps you capture more value from peak periods, protect your brand reputation and build a reliable promotional calendar tailored to the Australian retail and services environment.

Key Benefits

• Streamline cross‑functional planning so marketing, operations, finance and frontline teams work from one agreed seasonal promotions calendar.
• Increase promotional profitability by setting clear objectives, margin thresholds and approval steps before discounts go to market.
• Reduce operational chaos by defining lead times, task owners and checklists that prevent last‑minute changes and rushed executions.
• Ensure compliance with Australian Consumer Law and pricing transparency requirements across all promotional materials and channels.
• Improve future campaign performance by standardising post‑promotion reviews, data capture and learnings that feed into the next seasonal cycle.

Who is this for?

• Marketing Managers
• Retail Operations Managers
• E‑commerce Managers
• Brand Managers
• Category Managers
• Sales Managers
• Store Managers
• Franchise Owners
• Small Business Owners
• Merchandising Managers
• Customer Experience Managers
• Business Development Managers

Included Sections

• 1.0 Purpose and Scope
• 2.0 Definitions and Key Seasonal Events in the Australian Market
• 3.0 Roles and Responsibilities (Marketing, Operations, Finance, Stores, E‑commerce)
• 4.0 Annual Seasonal Promotions Calendar and Planning Timelines
• 5.0 Campaign Briefing and Objective Setting
• 6.0 Product and Offer Selection (Including Margin and Stock Considerations)
• 7.0 Pricing, Discounting and Compliance with Australian Consumer Law
• 8.0 Supplier Coordination and Funding Agreements
• 9.0 Demand Forecasting and Inventory Planning
• 10.0 Creative Development, Brand Guidelines and Approval Workflow
• 11.0 Channel Execution (In‑Store, Online, Email, Social, Print, Call Centre)
• 12.0 Store and Frontline Team Communication and Training
• 13.0 Risk Management and Contingency Planning (Supply, Logistics, Reputation)
• 14.0 Data Collection, Reporting and KPIs for Seasonal Promotions
• 15.0 Post‑Promotion Review and Continuous Improvement
• 16.0 Document Control and Version History

Legislation & References

• Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) – Australian Consumer Law (ACL)
• ACCC guidance on Pricing, Discounts and Sale Practices
• Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and Australian Privacy Principles (for customer data used in promotions)
• Spam Act 2003 (Cth) (for email and SMS promotional campaigns)
• Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (Cth) (for outbound promotional calling)
• ASIC Regulatory Guide 234: Advertising financial products and services (where relevant)