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Retail inventory management is the backbone to any retail business, essentially enabling you to keep your business in order. It’s the system and processes you implement to keep a record of your stores inventory. Whilst we can probably all agree that some type of inventory management process is crucial. Having the right automated inventory management…
Read MoreThe difference between Omni-Channel and Unified Commerce Omni-channel retail is typically associated with selling across multiple channels for example in-store, on the web via franchise and wholesale or via Amazon or eBay. However, these channels may not be in anyway connected. A challenge for many retailers with their current systems is that the channels operate…
Read MoreA question we frequently hear is what is the difference between Assortment planning and Merchandise planning. In simple terms, one is the Financial view of the world. The other is translating those financial plans into a framework of the actual product range that will be sold, to achieve those financials. Your start point is Merchandise…
Read MoreThe Assortment Plan Framework Once I’ve finished my financial planning, I know I need to bring in x thousand pounds of stock for a certain period of time, but I need to know how many lines I need to buy, what quantity I should buy of each, which shops need the most lines. As we…
Read MoreThe importance of Assortment Planning We know it’s important to create an assortment plan, we merchandisers all love lists and this is really what it is, a shopping list. But how do we get there? Essentially, the basic assortment process is to group your stores to like stores, and to create a plan of the…
Read MoreTaking a look at the latest retail trends for 2020 and beyond it is definitely true that there is a period of change which is taking place some of the key predictions include: Retailers continue to Expand internationally Retailers continue to expand internationally. *Deloitte highlights that the top 250 US retailers operate on average in…
Read MoreWhat Matters? There are a lot of buzz words around planning, but at the end of the day, what do we really want to know? How much are we expecting to sell? How much stock do we need to support those sales, across time and therefore how do our deliveries need to be phased? Whether…
Read MoreRetail Financial Planning Process The Financial planning process can start with a 5-year high level plan to set a strategy for the longer term. However, most retailers start their detailed planning 18 -24 months ahead of the planning season. The optimum, of course, is to plan as close to the season as possible, as every…
Read MoreCreative versus Number Crunching A regular theme in retailers globally is the presence of spreadsheets permeating across the whole organization. Assortment planning is an area which involves both the merchandising and buying team. That crucial mix of numbers and the visual / creative aspects have to be equally respected in order to ensure that both…
Read MoreTaking a look at the latest retail trends for 2020 and beyond it is definitely true that there is a period of change which is taking place some of the key predictions include: Retailers continue to Expand internationally Retailers continue to expand internationally. *Deloitte highlights that the top 250 US retailers operate on average in…
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