Markdown Cadence
Markdown cadence is the planned sequence of markdown timing and depth across a clearance cycle — the first touch, the deepening steps, and the exit point.
Markdown cadence is the planned sequence of markdown timing and depth across a clearance cycle: when the first markdown lands, how quickly and how far each subsequent step deepens, and the point at which price stops being the clearance lever and the residual exits by another route. Where markdown rate measures how much margin discounting consumed, cadence is the schedule that decides it.
The three parts of a cadence
The first touch. The timing and depth of the opening markdown, and the trigger that fires it — usually a sell-through or weeks-of-supply threshold at a defined week, not a calendar date alone. The first touch does most of the cadence's work, because it is taken while the style still has traffic and the smallest reduction still moves units.
The deepening steps. The interval between markdowns and the increment at each one. Steps too close together train customers to wait for the next one; steps too far apart leave stock aging between decisions. An illustrative cadence — not a benchmark — might open at 25 percent off, deepen to 40 and then 60 at set intervals, with each step conditional on how the prior one moved sell-through.
The exit. The final price point and date after which remaining units leave by another route — outlet, off-price, pack-and-hold, or disposal. A cadence without a defined exit deepens forever, spending margin on units that price was never going to clear.
Why cadence is planned, not reactive
A planned cadence is budgeted into the merchandise financial plan and executed against triggers; a reactive one is improvised weekly under pressure, and improvisation is systematically late. The mechanism is one-directional: a markdown taken while a style still has velocity recovers more margin per unit cleared than the same markdown taken after traffic has moved on — so every week of delay shifts the work from the shallow steps to the deep ones. Late first touches, skipped steps, and panic depth are how a season's planned markdown budget becomes an unplanned clearance bill.
Reading cadence against cover
The in-season control question is whether a style is on cadence: at the current sell-through and weeks of supply, will the remaining steps clear the position by the exit date? A style with more forward cover than remaining clearance weeks needs the next step advanced or deepened; a style ahead of its cadence can hold price at the current step longer and give margin back. That comparison — cover against remaining steps — is what turns the cadence from a calendar into a decision tool.
Cadence differs by channel. Full-price DTC, outlet, and wholesale each carry their own steps and their own exit routes, and running one blended cadence across channels usually means one channel's clearance pressure sets the price everywhere.
RetailNorthstar plans markdown cadence by style and channel, tracks trading against each step's trigger, and flags the styles running behind their cadence while the shallow steps are still available. See how RetailNorthstar handles markdown planning →