Clear Demand, the first to deliver an omni-channel retail pricing solution, announced important markdown pricing innovations intended to advance best practice for retailers that present or sell merchandise online or in-store.

Clear Demand’s platform, architected on Big Data and delivered as a Cloud-based Software-As-A-Service (SaaS) solution, can now support markdown pricing for apparel (softlines) and general merchandise (hardlines) across the retail enterprise (online, in-store).

Markdown pricing technologies establish the depth, timing and location for pricing on seasonable or short-life cycle products in order to maximize margins. Clear Demand has published a thought leadership article entitled "Markdown Optimization Demands a Seasonal Facelift" to provide more detail on the innovations now available to retailers.

“Our team of pricing specialists were involved in the development of three of the prevailing markdown optimization solutions of the last 10 years and as such understand what is required to innovate for markdowns today,” said Jim Sills, President and CEO for Clear Demand.

“Much has changed in 10 years, including technology, competition and shopping behavior. We believe it is time to bring current technologies to bear on markdown pricing so retailers can compete more effectively.”

Clear Demand’s omni-channel retail pricing solution addresses the complete lifecycle of pricing from everyday price through promotions and markdowns and uses innovations for competitive and rule-based pricing in combination with optimization to deliver value. Some of the innovations delivered specifically within the Markdown Pricing module include:

Continuous Markdown Pricing:

Clear Demand models store-SKU elasticity across the entire product lifecycle (introduction, in-season, clearance) online and in-store and recommends markdown timing and depth, according to demand. A “demand-based” markdown schedule permits more flexibility over traditional fixed “time-based” markdown schedules. Mapping markdowns more directly to demand improves sell-through and margin capture. This same localized understanding of customer demand also provides important benefits for allocating inventory online and across stores.

Enterprise Omni-Channel Rules Architecture:

Clear Demand’s enterprise rules architecture allows the development of granular markdown programs at any level within the merchandise hierarchy. Integrated for softlines and hardlines across stores and online, reporting is also available that allows “roll-up” or “drill-down” at any level as necessary.

Clear Demand processes competitive pricing data from any source (online, in-store) at any frequency, compares this with the retailers’ pricing rules and provides daily alerts for merchants when prices are out of compliance with rules.

“Shifting customer demand, driven in large part by online shopping behavior, dictates the need for a more localized pricing strategy which considers demand across a single enterprise,” said Brent Lippman, Executive Chairman for Clear Demand. “Products may generate demand sooner online than in-store and delivering tools which reveal these patterns can change the game for retailers as they develop strategies for competing with Amazon, eBay and others. We are pleased to be leading innovation in this area.”

Some of the additional innovations Clear Demand provides inside its Markdown Pricing module include Constrained Optimization, Store Clustering, Integrated Markdown Budgeting and Merchandise Analytics.

Clear Demand's is focused on enhancing value and reducing risk for retailers through its four guiding technology principles:

- Integrate to legacy IT with limited business process disruption;
- Blend structured databases with unstructured (big) databases for maximum data granularity;
-Scale processing capacity on-demand as requirements dictate; and
-Deliver “high availability” solution access.