7 Key Components of An Apparel Retail Management Solution

In apparel retailing, there are so many moving parts that, to be effective, efficient, and profitable, you need a management solution that will help you solve the most difficult problems of the organization while keeping you on target with your key performance indicators. At minimum, you need the following seven functions:

1. Product purchasing – Apparel retailers are notorious for having many different lines, and each product line can be broken down into various sizes and colors. Each size and color combination typically have their own SKUs. That means there are a lot of products to manage, a process that begins at the buying stage. You need a solution that can help you purchase the right products in the right amounts from the right vendors.
2. Product Allocation – Once you purchase your products, you need to allocate the numbers to your stores. That requires knowing which stores will sell the most of each product.
3. Replenishment – A solid automatic replenishment function can help you purchase products when you need them. You set the triggers and your management solution replenishes your stock as necessary based on those parameters.
4. Analytics – Measuring the right metrics is the beginning of get your product management solution in order. Once you understand how many products you sell, what kinds of products you sell, and other customer metrics, you can spend your time using this business intelligence to manage your products, prices, and retail operations better.
5. Point of sale – The point of sale is where you collect customer information, which you can use for marketing purposes, sales data, and other key metrics that help you plan, manage your operations, and better understand your customers’ needs. A smart point-of-sale system will give you the information you need to better manage all of your systems.
6. Product management – Product management is about more than buying, and allocation and replenishment. it’s also about assortments, distribution, transfers, and losses. From the vendor to the customer, you need to know where each product is at all times. A retail management solution should be able to assist you in that process.
7. Planning OTB – When you have have your customer data, product data, and sales data in order, you can better plan and budget for your apparel retail operations.

If your retail management solution falls short on any of these tasks, it’s probably time to upgrade. Would you agree?