促銷活動對於廠商和零售商來說都是壹種市場手段。廠商利用促銷活動擴展針對零售商（貿易促銷）和消費者（消費促銷）的消費市場。這裏我們著重討論零售促銷，零售促銷是零售商面向消費者的壹種促銷方式。比較典型的零售促銷手段包括：短期降價（TRRs）,商品優勢宣傳及展銷。
Sales promotions have an important role in the marketing programs of retailers.A large percentage of retailer sales is made on promotion, as illustrated by the numbers in Figure 1.Also, retailer promotions address consumers attache point of sale.Thus, while advertising in classic media is becoming less effective, communication through promotions reaches the consumer at the place and time where most purchase decisions are made. The Point of Purchase Advertising Institute (POPAI) finds in a study from1999 that the in-store decision rate of consumers in Germany, for example, is 55 %, meaning that more than half of all purchase decisions are made in stores,as opposed to before the shopping trip.
促銷活動對於零售商的市場促銷活動起著相當重要的作用。零售業的銷售很大程度上都依賴於促銷活動，如圖1所示。同時，零售促銷使得消費者偏向固定的銷售點。因此，在傳統廣告媒介的效果越來越差的同時，通過促銷達到的與消費者之間的交流使得銷售能在第壹時間和第壹地點捕捉到商機。根據1999年以來買點廣告機構的調查發現，在德國，例如，在店內決定購買的比例為55%，這說明超過壹般的購買決定是在店內做出的，而並非在整個購買物品過程之前。