Controlling the Retail Buying and Selling Cycles

Retailers of all stripes profit by controlling two cycles–the buying cycle and the selling cycle. If you control one, you only have half control over your merchandising. If you control them both, you’ve got your entire inventory in the palm of your hand. Here are some tips on controlling the buying and selling cycles, no matter what kind of retail operations you manage.
- Choose your replenishment method – Replenishment methods differ by retail environment. Some methods work better for specific industries. Even within retail sectors, you might fight different replenishment methods. ChainDrive allows you to select the replenishment method that is right for you retail store chain. You define the attributes.
- Categorize your styles – For apparel and shoe retailers, you can create your own categories based on the style of fashion or shoe. Other retail industries have similar selections. When you deal with a lot of styles within a particular product class, this is important.
- Group merchandise by brands – It’s also important to be able to search for products by brand name.
- Establish collections – Sometimes, particular products go hand in hand. You can set your categories by collection. You can establish your own collections base on your sales cycle or integrate the collections of your manufacturers. Flexibility helps you run your retail chain your way.
- Manage by the season – Many retail environments are seasonal. By grouping your inventory by season, you can easily control and manipulate the buy and sell cycles for each season and every product in your inventory.
- Monitor in real time – Performance monitoring in real time allows you to replenish your inventory when you need to, not at the end of cycle just because it’s the end of the cycle. Monitor your sales in real time and get a true picture of your merchandise status.
- Choose your own buying patterns – Whether your buy in bulk, pre-packs, or kits, you can establish your buying patterns and track your merchandise through the entire buy and sell cycle.
There is so much more you can do with ChainDrive. At the end of the day, your profitability is determined by how well you manage the buy and sell cycles.