CPGComing Soon
Trade Spend Tracker
See exactly where your trade dollars go and what they return. Plan promotions, track scan-backs and off-invoice allowances, and measure actual sales lift so you stop overspending on promotions that don't work.
What is Trade Spend Tracker?
Trade Spend Tracker shows you exactly where your trade dollars go and what they return. Most CPG brands spend 15–25% of gross revenue on trade promotions and have no idea which promotions drive volume and which are just writing checks to retailers. Trade Spend Tracker plans promotions with budget allocation by account, tracks scan-backs and off-invoice allowances in real time, measures actual sales lift after each event, and reports plan-to-actual variance across your entire promo calendar. Built for CPG operator founders who suspect they're overspending on trade but can't prove it — because the data lives in spreadsheets, distributor portals, and their broker's inbox. Currently in development; request beta access to get notified when it launches.
Key Features
Who it's for
- CPG operator founders spending on trade promotions without clear ROI visibility
- Small food brands managing scan-backs and off-invoice allowances across multiple retailers
- Teams trying to figure out which promotions actually drive volume and which are wasted spend
- Founders negotiating trade terms with retailers who need data to back up their position
Example workflows
Plan next quarter's trade promotions
- 1Review last quarter's trade spend ROI by retailer and promotion type.
- 2Identify which promotions drove the most incremental volume per dollar spent.
- 3Allocate next quarter's trade budget by account based on what actually worked.
- 4Build the promotion calendar with planned events, budgets, and expected lift.
- 5Share the plan with your broker team so everyone is aligned.
Post-event analysis after a major promotion
- 1The promotion ended last week. Pull the sell-through data from Retail Analytics.
- 2Compare promotional velocity to the baseline period — calculate incremental lift.
- 3Divide trade spend by incremental units to get cost per incremental unit.
- 4Decide whether to repeat, modify, or skip this promotion next time based on the ROI.
What you can ask
"What's our trade spend as a percentage of gross revenue?"
"Which promotions drove the most incremental lift last quarter?"
"Show me plan-to-actual variance for all active promotions"
"How much are we spending on scan-backs at each retailer?"
"Which accounts have the worst trade spend ROI?"
Frequently asked questions
When does Trade Spend Tracker launch?
Currently in development. Request beta access at starch.site and we will notify you when it is available. We are building this based on real operator founder feedback — if you have specific needs, tell us during the beta signup.
What counts as 'trade spend'?
Any money you spend to get your product sold at retail: scan-backs (per-unit payments after the product sells), off-invoice allowances (discounts on the wholesale price), slotting fees, promotional placement fees, free fills, and co-op advertising. Trade Spend Tracker categorizes and tracks all of these.
How does it measure promotional lift?
It compares sell-through velocity during the promotion to a baseline period (usually the same time period without promotion). The difference is the incremental lift. Combined with the trade spend for that event, it calculates cost per incremental unit — the real ROI of the promotion.
Does it connect to Retail Analytics?
Yes. Retail Analytics provides the sell-through data that Trade Spend Tracker uses to calculate promotional lift. Together they answer: how much did I spend, and how much extra did I sell? Used separately, you get half the picture.
What is gross-to-net visibility?
Gross revenue is what the retailer sells your product for. Net revenue is what you actually receive after deducting trade spend, distributor margins, and fees. Trade Spend Tracker shows you this waterfall so you can see how much of your gross revenue actually reaches your bank account.
Can I plan promotions ahead of time?
Yes. You create a promotion calendar with planned events, budgets, and expected lift. As the promotions execute, actuals flow in and Starch shows plan-to-actual variance so you can catch overruns early.
How is this different from Deduction Manager?
Trade Spend Tracker is about planning and measuring promotions proactively. Deduction Manager is about recovering money from invalid chargebacks reactively. They're complementary — Trade Spend Tracker helps you spend smarter, Deduction Manager helps you stop losing money to errors.
Be the first to use Trade Spend Tracker
Trade Spend Tracker is in development. Join the waitlist and we'll notify you when it launches.
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