#merchandise planning

[ppnsolutions]

PPN Solutions

In retail planning, prioritizing customer needs is crucial. While selection of products and costing are vital, ultimately, customer satisfac

Addressing all merchandise planning challenges, RE-Plan, a tailored platform from PPN Solutions, emerges as the perfect solution. This customized tool oversees the entire retail management process, from trend forecasting to vendor management. Contact us for further insights and information.

[visulon]

Seasonal Merchandising Planning for Apparel Footwear Industry

Visulon visual merchandise planning software is customizable one-click operation that transform assortments to planograms

The Art and Science of Merchandise Planning: Optimizing Retail Success through Analysis and Strategy

The merchandise planning process is a crucial aspect of retail and product-based businesses. It involves a series of steps and analyses to ensure that the right products are available in the right quantities, at the right time, and in the right locations, to meet customer demand and maximize sales and profitability. Here's an overview of the typical merchandise planning process:

Market Research and Analysis: The process begins with understanding market trends, customer preferences, and industry insights. This research helps identify potential opportunities and threats, which can influence the merchandise strategy.

Sales and Performance Analysis: Analyzing historical sales data is essential to assess the performance of various products, categories, and locations. This information provides insights into top-performing products, slow movers, and seasonal patterns.

Assortment Planning: Based on the market research and sales analysis, retailers determine the product assortment they want to offer. This involves selecting the right mix of products, brands, and categories that align with the company's overall strategy and target audience.

Demand Forecasting: Accurate demand forecasting is critical for merchandise planning. It involves using historical data, market trends, and other relevant factors to predict future demand for each product and category.

Inventory Planning: Inventory management is about determining how much stock to carry for each product, category, and location to meet anticipated demand without overstocking or facing stockouts.

Buying and Procurement: Once the inventory requirements are established, retailers purchase products from suppliers or manufacturers. Negotiating favorable terms and conditions with suppliers is a key aspect of this step.

Allocation: Allocating inventory involves deciding how much of each product should be sent to specific stores or distribution centers based on demand forecasts, regional preferences, and store capacities.

Pricing Strategy: Developing a pricing strategy that aligns with customer expectations, competition, and profit margins is vital. The pricing decisions can vary based on product type, brand positioning, and the overall retail strategy.

Visual Merchandising: Planning how products are displayed in-store or online is essential for creating an appealing and effective shopping environment. This includes product placement, signage, and promotional displays.

Promotions and Markdowns: Planning promotional events and markdown strategies is crucial for managing inventory levels, boosting sales during slow periods, and clearing out excess inventory.

Performance Monitoring and Analysis: Continuously monitoring sales and inventory performance is essential for merchandise planning. Retailers should analyze how well their strategies are working and make adjustments as needed.

Feedback and Adjustments: Gathering feedback from customers, store staff, and other stakeholders is important for identifying areas of improvement. This feedback can be used to refine future merchandise planning efforts.

The merchandise planning process is an ongoing cycle of analysis, decision-making, and adjustments to ensure a successful retail operation and customer satisfaction. Advanced technology and data analytics have become increasingly important in modern merchandise planning to optimize inventory management and product offerings.

[alligatormediafl]

Product Assortment Solutions is the one stop shop for all of your merchandise planning, product assortment and planogram needs.

[retailtouchpoints]

Analytics Are The Power Tools Of Retail

By Alan Lipson, SAS

If you were building a house today, no one would question the use of power tools by the construction crew. Power tools help by improving the crew’s efficiency, allowing them to do tasks they couldn’t otherwise accomplish without assistance. Power tools allow them to work faster than they could with hand tools.

So, why do business people question the use of technology to help improve processes where the old way of doing things no longer provides the results needed to satisfy customers and generate stakeholder returns? In the modern retail enterprise, new technology is available for every aspect of the business from the supply-chain to store operations to direct-to-consumer interactions. 

One hundred years ago, the proprietor of the general store knew most of his customers directly. He was on the sales floor, he lived in their neighborhood, and he knew what products and services would best suit their needs and tastes. Fast forward, and today we find many retail businesses operate on a much higher scale in terms of enterprise size and the speed and complexity of the business. Retailers have to deal with the warp speed of consumers’ changing wants, needs and desires unlike their retail forefathers who operated at a slower pace. These accelerators also speed up the need for decisions regarding product selection and distribution, and that affects the supply-chain all the way through to the manufacturer. 

Under those circumstances, how can we expect today’s retailer to operate with the tools from a bygone era?  We can’t. Retailers deal with vast amounts of data, and only those who apply analytics to the data stand a chance of being around tomorrow. Those retailers will be able to gain valuable insights from their data and convert it into competitive actions.Examples of the ways retailers use analytics include:

Customer analytics: Drive same-store sales with fewer markdowns, segment catalog mailings and differentiate promotion efforts for maximum impact, triple the lift on promotional campaigns to bring back lapsed customers.

Demand and Forecasting analytics: Create reliable forecasts, ensure successful ordering decisions so products are available when and where customers want them.

Inventory Optimization analytics: Correctly positioning inventory in distribution centers and stores allows for the reduction of out of stocks and the increase in revenues.

Merchandise Planning analytics: Optimize orders and merchandise allocations to specific stores with fewer out-of-stocks and markdowns. 

Revenue Optimization analytics: optimizing your revenue and sell-through goals to provide a better return while managing your clearance merchandise. 

Just like the construction worker who evolved from using a saw and hammer to using power tools to build a house, today’s retailer can move from using spreadsheets to modern advanced analytical tools that help run the business. These modern tools never will take the place of the merchant, buyer or other experienced retail craftsman. Just like the construction worker, it takes a skilled, knowledgeable person who understands how to use the tools properly to achieve the desired results.     Alan Lipson is the Global Retail Industry Marketing Manager for SAS. 

[vacosupplychain]

Andrea Morgan, Vice President of Strategy at Oracle Retail talks about Merchandise Planning for Profit.