What a program is
A program is a time-bounded set of offer rules scoped to a specific business context. It tells Vector how aggressive or conservative to be, for which customers, on which products, and during which period.
programs
Run Offer Programs Around Your Business Calendar
Offer strategy should change when the business changes.
Use programs to make Vector more aggressive or more conservative around campaigns, slow periods, launches, and seasonal inventory windows.
Static rules
25% off entire site
this week only
Same discount every week
Ignores campaign timing, inventory pressure, and demand cycles.
Program rules
Make A Deal
Calendar-aware offers
Adjusts acceptance and counter rules when the business context changes.
Business goal
margin recovery
Primary metric
gross margin
Tool type
planner
Programs playbook
Your offer strategy should change when your business does
Programs let Vector change offer behavior by campaign, season, customer segment, inventory window, or growth goal.
Basic vs. advanced
Programs work on every plan. What changes as you grow is how many can run at once and how finely they can be segmented.
Capability
Basic
Advanced
Active programs
One at a time
Concurrent programs
Best use
Seasonal calendar
Overlapping customer and campaign logic
Rule scope
Broad windows
Segment, product, source, and goal
Annual program calendar
A planned calendar changes thresholds as business pressure changes. BFCM can tolerate wider floors because volume can compensate for individual margin; fall launches should stay tight to preserve full-price integrity.
Window
Business pressure
Offer posture
Q1 slow period
Demand softness
Moderate floor
Mother's Day
Gift campaign
Campaign-specific floor
BFCM
High-volume demand
Wider floor
Fall launch
New product
Tightest floor
Concurrent programs
The same week can run a gift campaign for ad traffic, acquisition rules for new customers, loyalty logic for returning customers, and inventory rules for clearance.
Align thresholds to growth goals
Growth
Widen floors when acquisition and conversion volume matter most.
Margin recovery
Tighten floors and lean on counters when profitability matters most.
Inventory velocity
Use product-scoped programs to move specific stock without discounting the whole store.
Before you launch
Name the business moment and the goal before changing thresholds.
Define included products, customer segments, channels, and dates.
Set start and end dates so temporary rules do not become permanent.
Decide which program wins when multiple rules could apply.
Review performance after the window closes.
What breaks and how to avoid it
Failure mode
Autopilot rules
Static rules ignore campaign timing, seasonal demand, and inventory pressure.
Failure mode
No expiration
Temporary aggression becomes permanent margin leakage.
Failure mode
Conflicting scopes
Define precedence so each visitor gets the program that matches their context.
What to measure
Program metric
Program revenue
Profit metric
Gross margin
Behavior metric
Accepted offers
Data model
What this playbook collects
Each playbook has a consistent structure: business goal, primary metric, tool type, collected inputs, workflow, and measurable outputs.
Program window
Start date, end date, campaign context, and target products.
Aggressiveness
Acceptance floors, counter ranges, and discount boundaries.
Program goal
Revenue, margin, conversion, or inventory movement target.
Workflow
How the playbook runs
1
Define the business moment
Tie offer behavior to launches, ad pushes, seasonal moments, or slow periods.
2
Set temporary rules
Adjust thresholds for the products and customers included in the program.
3
Review program performance
Compare revenue, margin, and accepted offers after the window closes.
Outputs
Program revenue
Gross margin
Accepted offers