Schedule sales and promotions

I need the July 4th sitewide sale scheduled to start at 00:00 on July 1 and end at 23:59 on July 5. Put the promotional banner live on the homepage at the same time, set the discount code FREEDAY to apply automatically at checkout, and ensure gift cards are excluded. Before you publish, run the cart test with a product from each top category and confirm prices update and the banner links to the sale collection.

Before I push this promotion live, make it obvious to customers what they save. Put the percent-off and the original price on the product tile, add a savings badge to images, list the start/end dates on the collection header, and flag any products already on clearance so I can decide whether to include them.

I just set up a July 4th promotion and included everything; procurement warned some vendor-limited SKUs can’t be discounted. I’m afraid we’ll violate vendor agreements and get chargebacks. I cannot tell vendors until after launch. What’s the likely risk and the best immediate fix to avoid compliance issues without delaying the entire sale?

Over the last six sales we’ve rushed launches and later discovered vendor‑restricted SKUs and preorders slipped into promotions, costing us vendor penalties and extra order edits. I want one habit to stop that bleeding. What repeatable step or checklist change will prevent late exclusions and reduce last‑minute rushes?