What is markdown pricing?
Markdown pricing is a permanent price reduction on stock that is not selling fast enough or is nearing the end of its life, such as seasonal goods, perishables or a discontinued line.
Markdown vs discount
A discount is temporary and usually targeted: a promotion, a coupon, a sale weekend, after which the price returns. A markdown is meant to stay, and often steps down further until the stock is gone. Mixing the two up leads to markdowns that get reversed and confuse customers, or promotions that quietly become the new normal.
When to mark down inventory
- Sell-through is behind plan for this point in the season.
- An expiry or best-before date is approaching.
- A replacement model is about to launch.
- Holding the stock longer costs more than the margin you would give up.
Building a markdown strategy
Mark down early and gently rather than late and steeply: a 15% cut with eight weeks left often recovers more value than heavy clearance pricing in the final week. Markdown optimization uses demand forecasts and elasticity to choose the size and timing of each step.
Expiry-based markdowns
Dynamic Pricing Engine can step prices down as time to expiry shortens, within the floors you set, so ageing stock clears without a spreadsheet of manual changes.
Last reviewed 2026-11-01.