> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tetherdata.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Demand drivers

> Track spend, events, and promo calendars as driver series that inform forecasts

# Demand drivers

Demand drivers are time series — marketing spend, events, promo calendars — that your organization tracks alongside sales. Driver-aware forecast models use the fitted relationship between a driver and demand, so changing a driver's projected values changes the forecast. The drivers surface lets you maintain each series, import data by CSV, and preview What-If scenarios before committing them.

<Info>
  Demand drivers are feature-flagged and enabled per organization. If you don't see **Marketing & Promotions** → **Drivers** in the sidebar, the feature is not switched on for your organization.
</Info>

## Drivers list

Navigate to **Marketing & Promotions** → **Drivers** (`/marketing-promotions/drivers`). The list shows every driver with its name, kind, unit, and aggregation. Click a driver's name to open its detail page.

To add a driver, click **New driver** and fill in the create dialog: name, kind, unit, and aggregation.

## Driver detail page

Each driver's detail page shows:

* **Header chips** — the driver's kind, unit, aggregation, and grain (daily is the canonical grain).
* **Series chart** — a solid line for actual observed values, a dashed line for the editable projection, and a dashed vertical "today seam" separating them.
* **Points table** — every point in the series. Projection rows are inline-editable, and a manual add-point row appends new projection points. Actual points are read-only — corrections come via re-upload.

The page's actions are **Import CSV** (opens the upload wizard), **What-if** (opens the scenario drawer), and **Configure model** (links to **Settings** → **Forecast Admin** → **Models**, where a driver's consuming models are configured).

## Importing driver data

Click **Import CSV** to open the upload wizard, which walks through four stages:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Upload">
    Select your CSV file for the driver.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Validation">
    Review summary cards — rows parsed, valid, warnings, errors — and the validation results.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Preview">
    Review the parsed points in a table alongside a series-shape chart and any remaining issues before anything is written.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Apply">
    Apply the valid points to the driver's series. The footer shows how many valid points will be applied and when the upload session expires.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  Uploads are how actual values enter and get corrected — the points table never edits actuals directly.
</Note>

## What-If scenarios

The **What-if** drawer answers "what happens to demand if this driver changes?" without touching the committed forecast. It re-runs the assigned driver model on a perturbed value using the same fitted relationship the committed forecast uses — and nothing is saved until you commit.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Pick a projection point">
    Select a projected date from the driver's series. The current value pre-fills so you edit from a known baseline. Only projection points can be perturbed — add one from the points table first if the driver has none.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter a perturbed value">
    Type the hypothetical value for that date.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Preview">
    Click **Preview**. The server computes the demand response and shows three totals — current demand, preview demand, and the unit delta — plus a "Biggest movers" table of the SKU-channel pairings that respond most.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Apply or discard">
    Click **Apply** to commit: the perturbed values are persisted as manual projection points, and the next forecast run picks them up. **Reset** clears the scenario, and closing the drawer discards it with zero side effects.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Best practices

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Keep actuals flowing">
    Driver models are only as good as the series behind them. Import actuals regularly so the fitted relationship reflects recent reality, and re-upload to correct bad actuals.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Preview before you commit">
    Use the What-If preview to sanity-check the demand response before applying. A surprising delta usually means the perturbation is outside the range the model was fitted on — or the series has data issues.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Watch the biggest movers">
    The movers table shows which SKU-channel pairings carry the response. If the wrong products move, review which models consume the driver via **Configure model**.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Choose units and aggregation deliberately">
    Pick the driver's unit and aggregation to match how the source data is reported — mixing units across uploads makes the series, and the fitted relationship, meaningless.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Troubleshooting

### Drivers pages are not visible

**Possible causes:**

* The Marketing & Promotions section is not enabled for your organization.

**Solutions:**

1. Contact your Tether administrator about feature availability.

### What-If preview shows no response

**Possible causes:**

* No driver-aware model is assigned to consume this driver.
* The perturbed value equals the current value.

**Solutions:**

1. Click **Configure model** to check the driver's consuming models in Forecast Admin.
2. Change the perturbed value and preview again.

### Cannot edit a point in the table

**Possible causes:**

* The point is an actual — actuals are read-only.

**Solutions:**

1. Correct actual values by re-uploading via **Import CSV**. Only projection points are editable inline.

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Promotions" icon="tag" href="/marketing-promotions/promotions">
    Define promotional events and measure their lift
  </Card>

  <Card title="Forecast Admin" icon="gear" href="/demand-forecasting/admin">
    Manage the forecast models that consume drivers
  </Card>

  <Card title="Forecast Dashboard" icon="chart-line" href="/demand-forecasting/dashboard">
    See driver-informed forecasts by SKU and channel
  </Card>

  <Card title="Supply Planning" icon="clipboard-list" href="/supply-planning/overview">
    Turn forecasted demand into supply recommendations
  </Card>
</CardGroup>