# Flight plan — Ecommerce

The flight plan with three columns a store needs: which slice of the catalogue this week is selling, which promotion it sits inside, and how much stock stands behind it on the day the week starts.

Everything else is the general flight plan, unchanged. One row per week of one line of spend, a phase on every row, a share of the flight on each, and a decision point at the end of every phase.

## How to use it

1. Copy this file, or the CSV version if you would rather work in a sheet.
2. Write one row per week per line of spend, including the quiet weeks.
3. Give every phase a first week and a last week, and name the phase on every row inside it.
4. Leave Share of flight budget and Budget blank until the weight has been agreed against a plan you have.
5. Put a decision point on the last row of every phase, written as a question.
6. Give every dependency a due date that falls before the week that needs it.
7. Re-read the flight every Monday against what the accounts actually spent.

## The columns

**Flight** (Text). The trading period this row sits in: a season, a promotional run, a product drop. Name it even when there is only one, so two seasons can be read side by side next year.

**Phase** (Text). Where in the season this week falls: tease, launch, sustain, peak, wind-down. In a store the peak is usually a single fortnight, and naming it keeps it from being averaged into the weeks around it.

**Channel** (Text). The platform this row's spend runs on, one per row, spelled as it is in the media plan so the two documents reconcile without a lookup table.

**Campaign** (Text). The campaign name as it reads in the ad account, including the catalogue segment, so a week of spend can be traced to a part of the range rather than to a platform.

**Week starting** (Date (YYYY-MM-DD)). The Monday. Weeks rather than days, because a store's demand moves by weekday and a day-level plan is a schedule nobody keeps through a busy season.

**Share of flight budget** (Percent). What proportion of the season this week is meant to carry. Read down the column and the shape of the trade appears: even through the quiet weeks, concentrated around the promotion, thin after the cut-off.

**Budget (minor units)** (Integer). The week's budget for this row, in the smallest unit of its currency. Whole numbers only, so a season of weekly rows still sums to the figure the trading meeting approved.

**Currency** (ISO 4217 code). The ISO 4217 code this ad account charges in. A store selling into several markets carries several, and weekly rows in different currencies cannot be added into one season total.

**Creative set** (Text). Which assets are in market this week. Store creative fatigues faster than most, so scheduling the sets across the season is what stops the sustain weeks running the launch cuts until nobody looks at them.

**Dependency** (Text). What this week needs from outside the ad account and does not have yet: the collection page, the product feed entry, the shoot, the offer configured at checkout. Put the date it is due in the cell.

**Decision point** (Text). What is being decided at the end of this week, as a question. In a store the recurring three are whether the launch found the audience, whether stock supports the peak, and what happens at the cut-off.

**Owner** (Text). The person who answers for this row. In a store that is usually the media buyer, with the trading manager owning anything that changes which segment the week is pointed at.

**Notes** (Text). What the next person needs: the sell-out that ended a week early, the competitor sale that moved the auction, the delivery cut-off, the week where the weight was deliberately held back.

**Catalogue segment** (Text). The slice of the range this week's spend is pointed at: best sellers, new arrivals, a hero product, the long tail, clearance. It sets the margin and the creative together.

**Promotion window** (Text). The sale, drop or seasonal peak this week sits inside, or Full price. A week that straddles the edge of a promotion is two rows, because the offer changed underneath it.

**Stock cover** (Text). What stands behind this segment on the day the week starts, in weeks or units. A week pointed at four days of cover is a week spent teaching people about something they cannot buy.

## The flight plan

| Flight | Phase | Channel | Campaign | Week starting | Share of flight budget | Budget (minor units) | Currency | Creative set | Dependency | Decision point | Owner | Notes | Catalogue segment | Promotion window | Stock cover |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |

## Before you commit it

- Every week of every line has a row, including the quiet ones.
- Every row names a catalogue segment and a promotion window.
- No row straddles the edge of a promotion.
- Stock cover is written against every week carrying a budget, with the date it was read.
- Every phase names its first week, its last week and its intent.
- Every dependency has a due date before the week that needs it.
- Every phase carries at least one decision point, written as a question.