The Retail Peak Season Checklist

17 checks for retail chains going into peak holiday season without a data team. Sell-through, weeks of supply, markdown triggers and phantom stock, with the formula and the red flag number for each.

14 pages · Free PDF

The Pre-Peak Checklist

The Genloop Team

Inside the checklist

Most of peak is decided in October. This is what to check before then.

This is one of the checklists we run with the chains we work with. Most of it can be done by hand, with exports you already have and a spreadsheet. Every check has the question to ask, how to get the answer yourself, the number that means act rather than note, and what to do about it.

Phase 0 · Data readiness

Proving you can pull the export, and agreeing how sell-through and weeks of cover are calculated before anyone argues about them.

01 · Demand forecasting

Finding your real peak week, and the categories where 45% of the season lands in three weeks.

02 · Inventory and replenishment

The date each top seller runs out, the stock sitting in the wrong store, and the phantom inventory nobody is counting.

03 · Promotions and markdown

Which promotions created real lift, which ones run negative margin, and setting markdown triggers in October instead of debating them in December.

04 to 06 · Stores, online, and the peak itself

Store clustering, holiday staffing against the hourly curve, ad spend against days of cover, and closing the season in five days.

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❄ We need ~6 weeks before peak to be useful. This is the window.

Let’s get you ready for peak.

Twenty minutes with someone who has run these six weeks at a chain bigger than yours. We’ll look at where you are, tell you honestly if we can help, and walk you through the 17 checks we run with our chains.

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Download holiday checklist

For chains doing $10M+