Markdown management is the systematic management of price reductions on slow-moving products, end-of-season items, or items where the goal is to free up space for a new collection. Done well, it is the difference between selling 80% of a collection at full price and clearing 20% with a positive margin, versus selling 60% and 'burning' 40% at or below cost.
The timing and magnitude of a markdown are value decisions. Cutting the price too early, too generously, erodes margin unnecessarily; cutting too late, with accumulated stock, forces catastrophic clearances. Chains with mature BI make gradual markdowns (10% → 20% → 40%) in phases synchronised with time windows and observed demand elasticity.
In MAXIRETAIL, markdowns are modelled as commercial policies with dates, percentages and visibility rules (store only, online only, both). MyBusiness-ITV monitors turnover per product and recommends markdown candidates based on age in store versus sales velocity. The result: optimised total margin for the collection, without blind end-of-season decisions.