Spreadsheets are the least effective tool for managing trade promotions, yet many FMCG companies rely on them for years. When a business finally decides to automate this area, it often faces a familiar dilemma tied to the
difference between trade promotion management and trade promotion optimization: choose a powerful, feature-rich solution that requires mature processes, or opt for a simpler tool that’s easier to implement but limited in capabilities.
This is where many brands get stuck, assuming they must choose between TPO and TPM. In reality, these solutions are not competitors. They represent different stages of the same journey toward a more structured, transparent, and profitable trade promotion process.
In this article, we’ll break down what TPM and TPO solutions actually do, how companies typically evolve from one to the other, and what adoption looks like in practice.
What Is Trade Promotion Management?
Trade Promotion Management is both a business process and the technology that supports it. As a software solution, TPM enables companies to plan, approve, execute, and analyze trade promotions in a centralized environment.
Most brands begin with the same challenges: promotions planned in spreadsheets, approvals scattered across email threads, inconsistent figures between teams, and little confidence in real promotional ROI. Reaching this point is usually the trigger that pushes a company to implement a dedicated TPM system and bring structure and clarity to its trade promotion activities.
