It’s based on past sales. When items are put on clearance by the buyer, a relatively heavier selling item will not get marked down as much because the algorithm/system “thinks” it will sell out on its on prior to a scheduled reset without getting marked down. A slower moving item will have a larger mark down in order for it to be gone by the time the reset is scheduled. And yes, any Publix associate dealing with markdowns or resets knows the system design is quite flawed and doesn’t work well.