Capture high-value holiday buyers with local partnerships

Shift demand earlier in the season without starting a markdown war

We can materially shift buyers into the early holiday window by running a short, curated partner drop; decision: approve the two-week pilot and guardrails so we can measure and scale.

A directional signal from small exclusive drops shows early-window buyer share jumping versus matched controls in short windows. That pattern repeats across cooperative partner-funded pilots and store-as-studio media tests. The practical effect is more visits and better buyer quality in the first half of the holiday period, not just during peak discount days. This makes the Nov 29 to Dec 13 window high-leverage for capturing customers before price noise arrives.

If you own stores, own a brand partner, and want earlier buyers, run the two-week pilot in 20 curated stores from Nov 29 to Dec 13. Use a single brand drop, partner co-funding, three store-as-studio shoots, and measure early-window share, event CPA and QR redemption against matched controls daily. We recommend the collab-led holiday approach because it concentrates novelty and media around owned retail without deep blanket discounts. Keep the test tight and pace spend by signal rather than sentiment.

A modest front-loaded lift feels like fuller registers and repeat visits in the busiest stores instead of margin-eating markdowns after Cyber Monday. Directional evidence suggests routine foot traffic gains around 10-15% and early buyer share moving toward the mid-twenties percent range. That translates to fuller staff schedules for higher AOV buys and more efficient paid spend because local media converts better when paired with in-store exclusives. If the stretch case materializes it changes how we allocate partner dollars next year.

The first thing that breaks is online price leakage; if our partners push identical discounts on mass channels the early premium evaporates. Stockouts create frustrated demand and noisy measurement; we will see that as diverging daily redemption patterns and sudden CPA spikes. Holiday volatility will blur signal vs noise, so watch daily control comparisons and be prepared to pause stores fast if CPA or QR trends cross guardrails.

This is a focused bet: a two-week exclusive drop with one partner across 20 curated pilot stores aimed at shifting buyers earlier while holding CPA and QR guardrails. Operationally, retail locks ops and inventory, partnerships lock assortment and co-funding, marketing runs three store shoots and daily cadence, and finance enforces the CPA stop. Approve the Nov 29 to Dec 13 two-week, 20-store exclusive drop with one partner, the CPA and QR guardrails, and the co-funding so we can run and measure daily.

What matters in this window is Holiday timing: capturing buyers Nov 29 to Dec 13 avoids the mass discount noise that follows Cyber Monday and improves margin retention at scale., Partner economics: co-funded offers in short windows reduce net event cost and let us test CPA compression without shifting baseline spend., and Media leverage: three store-as-studio shoots convert owned retail into lower-cost media, improving local CPMs and shortening the path from impression to visit.

Metrics to watch: Increase foot traffic by 10-15% versus baseline within the Nov 29 to Dec 13 two-week window and observe store-level lift daily.; Raise early-window buyer share to 20-30% of period buyers within the Nov 29 to Dec 13 window, measured against matched controls.; Keep event CPA at or below 0.8x baseline and maintain QR redemptions at least 5% of footfall within the same Nov 29 to Dec 13 window as a guardrail.

If you agree, Approve the Nov 29 to Dec 13 two-week, 20-store exclusive drop with one partner, the CPA and QR guardrails, and the co-funding so we can run and measure daily.

Forward with subject: Approve: Nov 29–Dec 13 20-store exclusive partner drop and CPA/QR guardrails

Visual Notes

CMO and Head of Partnerships reviewing timing wheel mapping early_window_share and footfall_lift tests — Signal Map

These five signals point to the same operational choice: compress and prove. Start activations earlier in the Nov 29–Dec 13 window, require direct capture (QR) and co-funding to protect margin, and treat stores as media studios to capture both content and visits. Test levers in parallel: exclusive drops for early-window share, co-funded discounts to protect margin, and QR capture to prove attribution. Watch the tradeoffs: deeper headline discounts drive short-term traffic but blow event CPA and margin; store-as-studio and co-funding raise operational complexity but lower required headline markdown. Track paired metrics daily—buyer activity share versus promo intensity—and kill any pilot that fails the event cost-per-acquisition ceiling within the first two weeks.