How Can AI Support Speciality Retailers?

How Can AI Support Speciality Retailers?

Artificial Intelligent applications are potentially powerful tools for many industries and retail in no exception. The volume of data which is now available at any retailer today typically is not in short supply. One of the key challenges which many retailers do face is the quality of that data. However, with the right quality and…

Read More

Assortment planning versus merchandise planning

Assortment planning versus merchandise planning

A 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 More

Why Assortment Planning Is Important

Why Assortment Planning Is Important

The 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 More

What is an assortment planning process?

What is an assortment planning process?

The 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 More

Assortment Planning, keep it simple & then evolve

Assortment Planning, keep it simple & then evolve

Creative 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 More