Equip Your Planning Team With What They Need
Figuring out the next few seasons for retail is challenging, because there’s always going to be a sudden “gotta have it” item that is unique to a local region. Some fads sweep across the nation and are gone, leaving sad piles of greatly reduced merchandise in your clearance area. Others have staying power and become staple items for every school year or holiday season. Open-to-Buy OTB software has to be done right, or it becomes part of the problem instead of the solution.
The Merchandise Planning Systems To Do The Job
How does a planning team flex with the variable retail trends?
The answer is simple: the planning team that has tools capable of working with the changing needs of retail is equipped to maximize their collaborations successfully. Tools need to be specific for the job, but the best tools allow the user to do many tasks in the process of solving daily issues. ChainDrive Open-to-Buy software is fully integrated to the centralized database so both historic and real-time data is able to be leveraged for solutions.
Here is a sample of the planning tools in the ChainDrive merchandise planning systems:
- determine precise dollar distribution by analyzing historical patterns
- get real-time data seamlessly at point of sale
- forecast stock levels accurately
- compare and analyze sales and inventory data the way the situation warrants
- charts and drill-downs provide meaningful comparisons of data
- lock and unlock cells or sub-levels for brainstorming sessions
- allocate top down or bottom up, by unit, retail, cost, and more
- multiple seasons are able to be planned, monitored, and maintained simultaneously
The dynamic controls, segmented views, critical indicators, and extensive options list are part of what makes Open-to-Buy planning a profitable and successful part of your retail business.
