Product/Service

Tomax Retail.net® Solutions — Merchandise Planning

Source: Tomax Corporation
Merchandise Planning provides the opportunity for senior management and the balance of the organization to collaborate on "one plan" negotiated through a "top-down – bottom up" process, enabling execution of a workflow process that measures quantitative results against plan (and forecast in-season) in every area of the business.

Click Here To Download:
•White Paper: The Demand-Driven Retail Continuum: Connecting The Dots Between People And Processes
•White Paper: Tomax And Retail.net: IT Execution

Top Down/Bottom Up

  • Strategic/Financial Planning
  • Category/Assortment Planning
  • Promotional Planning
  • Space/Cluster Planning
The planning process adopted by retailers ranges from formal and highly disciplined to ad hoc "spreadsheeting." Worse, software solutions in support of the planning process are typically divorced from the execution tier.

Retailers need disciplined planning that is integrated with the execution process. The apparel industry, for example, is challenged by SKU intensity, product development needs and long lead-time. Indeed, other retailer segments are looking to the example set by many in the apparel/fashion space that have achieved significant results through the deployment of planning solutions. Irrespective of segment, every retailer has other important merchandise planning factors to consider:

  • Intense competition
  • Customer focus
  • Need to move from "vendor dominated" to "driving their own results"
  • Improved space management
  • Brand and private label strategies
  • More focused category management-event planning
  • More detailed store clustering
  • Market and store locations investments and strategies
  • Merged financial/merchandise management
The outcome of the entire organization's focus on planning produces legitimate questions regarding both strategy and execution. Planning, and the flawless execution of a well-considered plan, clearly provides a distinctive competitive advantage as well as a basis for making appropriate investments (inventory, marketing, personnel, new stores, remodels, equipment, technology). Merchandise Planning, particularly, provides the opportunity for senior management and the balance of the organization to collaborate on "one plan" negotiated through a "top-down – bottom up" process, enabling execution of a workflow process that measures quantitative results against plan (and forecast in-season) in every area of the business.

Click Here To Download:
•White Paper: The Demand-Driven Retail Continuum: Connecting The Dots Between People And Processes
•White Paper: Tomax And Retail.net: IT Execution