Evaluating Traditional and AI-Driven Approaches to Trade Spend Management

Every CPG professional managing trade promotions faces a fundamental choice: stick with traditional trade promotion management systems enhanced by business intelligence tools, or make the leap to AI-powered approaches that promise step-change improvements in promotional effectiveness. This comparison breaks down the real differences, trade-offs, and decision factors based on implementations across major consumer packaged goods companies.

The stakes are high. Trade promotion spending typically represents 15-25% of gross revenue in CPG, making it one of the largest controllable expense lines. Yet studies consistently show that 40-60% of promotions fail to break even.…