A leading fashion retailer/distributor selected RetSci to reduce its assortment planning challenges with MFP, AP and IP solutions and processes.

RetSci’s implementation approach

A leading international fashion retailer/distributor needed to make measurable merchandise planning improvements. However, the brand was challenged by having just a small team in place and an RPAS tool that, although previously installed, needed to be highly efficient from a use, planning and performance standpoint. As an example, the retailer’s assortments were still being planned in spreadsheets because the existing assortment planning solution was not usable.

As a result, the retailer leveraged RetSci’s business process and RPAS subject matter experts, who designed an implementation that would greatly enhance their planning processes and use of the solution, while keeping it simple.

A unique solution

The retailer, under RetSci’s guidance, embarked on an implementation that entailed the integration of a Merchandise Financial Planning tool to Assortment Planning and Inventory Planning solutions. The integrated solution provided easy reconciliation with the retailer’s existing planning tools. Our team created a reporting-specific workbook, which allowed executives and planning directors and manager to generate real-time reports within the RPAS solution.

The solution was also designed to allow users to plan in either USD or the country’s local currency by making a simple selection during the workbook build process. Our experts also included location planning, giving the retailer’s finance team the ability to create comp plans and reconcile them with their finance system.

Lasting impact

The retailer gained the following benefits from our expertise in implementing the integrated MFP, AP and IP solution:

– Visibility into omnichannel plans, which previously did not exist in one centralized location
– Aligned/merged responsibilities of e-commerce and brick-and-mortar planning
– Reduced complexity and improved performance over the previous RPAS implementation
– Streamlined processes for Assortment Planning to create more accurate plans