Guardrail
In twelfth, a guardrail is a commercial limit every recommendation passes through, such as a margin floor, an approval limit or a locked supplier setting.
- Is
- In twelfth, a commercial limit every recommendation passes through.
- Includes
- The category GP floor, the authority limit and the strategic-vendor lock.
- Effect
- Work inside the limits moves on; work outside waits for someone with authority.
Updated
Meaning / 01
What it means for retail and category teams
Most retailers already run on commercial policies: minimum margins, approval levels for spend, rules about who can change terms with key suppliers. In twelfth those policies are guardrails, and they are shared: a range proposal, a price move and a buy all pass the same floor and the same authority limit, whichever part of the product raised them.
Stakes / 02
Why it matters
A guardrail decides which work needs another person's agreement, and the rest moves ahead without waiting. That lets a team push routine decisions to the people closest to the category while keeping consequential ones in front of someone senior, and keeps policy consistent across price, range and buying decisions.
In twelfth / 03
How Twelfth handles this
twelfth has three guardrails: the category GP floor, the authority limit, and the strategic-vendor lock, which limits changes to strategic-vendor settings to authorised operators. Owners and admins can edit them, and changing one changes who is asked to review commercial work.
Example / 04
Illustrative example
The business and figures are illustrative. None of it is customer data.
| Item | Measures | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Routine buy ($12,000 at 34% margin) | Authority limit $50,000: Inside; GP floor 28%: Inside | Goes ahead |
| Seasonal buy ($70,000 at 33% margin) | Authority limit $50,000: Over; GP floor 28%: Inside | Waits for a manager |
| Price cut (takes a line to 24% margin) | Authority limit $50,000: Inside; GP floor 28%: Under | Held for review |
Only the decisions that cross a limit wait for anyone.
Read the example as text
A retailer sets a 28% category GP floor and a $50,000 authority limit for buyers, and locks strategic-vendor settings. A routine $12,000 buy at 34% margin goes straight through. A $70,000 seasonal buy at 33% margin waits for a manager's sign-off, because it is over the limit. A price cut that would take a line to 24% margin is held for review, because it is under the floor.
Related / 05
Related concepts
Next step
See a decision move through Twelfth
Bring a decision your team already makes. We can show where its evidence, owner, approval and record sit in the workflow.
