Advertising Allowance

Marketing dollars provided–to the seller (wholesaler or retailer)–by the supplier of an item for sale (i.e., the manufacturer, for goods, or the service provider, for services) to assist with marketing and incentivize the sales channel to promote the wares, sometimes with restrictions.

Back when Toys 'R' Us (TRU) was a thing, if Mattel would normally sell them items at a 50% discount to the retail price, it may have sold TRU a new, unproven toy targeted at the 2-4-year-old demographic, with an additional 15% advertising allowance (for a total discount of 65%), with the restriction that it be placed on the second-from-bottom shelf. Then, toddlers would be more likely to see the product (since they were eye-level), throw a tantrum until their parents bought it, and Mattel's volume would skyrocket, while TRU made an extra 15% on the mark-up. Win-win (except for the whole TRU bankruptcy thing).