Indigo, a major retail player known for its curated selection of books, lifestyle products, and home goods, partnered with Fusion to enhance its promotional strategies. The retailer, represented by Heather Gerson, Director of Business Intelligence, faced the significant challenge of determining which promotions truly drove incremental sales and which simply cannibalized existing revenue. With Fusion’s guidance, Indigo has seen marked improvement in its ability to measure promotional impact, enabling it to strike a balance between attracting customers and safeguarding profit margins.
“At Indigo, we knew that our promotional efforts were keeping us competitive,” Heather explained, “but we didn’t have clarity on which of these efforts were actually lifting sales. When every week is filled with promotions, you lose sight of what’s truly effective. We needed a way to take a step back and ask: Are we doing this in the right way?”
Building a Baseline for Smarter Decisions
The answer came through Fusion’s data-driven solution, starting with the construction of a sales baseline. This predictive model allowed Indigo to compare actual sales with what they could expect in the absence of any promotions, considering seasonal trends, weather fluctuations, and even competitor actions. By identifying the incremental impact of each promotion, Fusion gave Indigo the ability to discern which types and timings drove real, measurable lift.
“What made Fusion’s approach so unique,” Heather remarked, “was that they didn’t just hand over a dashboard. They showed us how to analyze our own data, build control groups, and understand incrementality in a way that’s adaptable to our needs.”
Driving Incremental Profit
Fusion’s collaboration with Indigo extended into hands-on workshops, where Heather and her team learned to track the nuances of promotional performance with tools like control environments and normalization for one-time spikes in high-demand products. These efforts were instrumental, helping Indigo differentiate between profitable and unprofitable promotions.
“With this baseline, we were able to say, ‘These are the promotions that bring in customers and build the brand,’” Heather shared. “It was a huge shift from running promotions on autopilot to making informed, deliberate choices.”
The result? Indigo reduced the frequency of broad-based promotions, focusing instead on targeted campaigns aligned with its quarterly goals. This allowed them to remain competitive while also protecting their bottom line, a shift that’s reshaping how Indigo approaches high-stakes retail seasons.
Fusion’s Transparent and Actionable Insights
As Heather described, Fusion’s transparent approach was integral to their decision-making journey. “Working with Fusion was a breath of fresh air. They didn’t just tell us what we wanted to hear but gave us the truth about what would drive sustainable success for our promotions.”
Looking Ahead
This partnership has enabled Indigo to reimagine its approach to promotions, setting a standard for data-backed decision-making across its operations. As Heather put it, “With Fusion’s training and their focus on hands-on, actionable insights, we now have the capability to keep evolving our strategies. We’re no longer just looking at the past – we’re making the future clearer.”
Interested in learning how Fusion can help you clear up the chaos surrounding your Promotional Analytics? Book a Demo and talk to us today to learn more.