Retail

Multichannel has changed the retail supply chain. The customer experience, customer engagement and fulfillment have all become multi-faceted, complex and unpredictable. But retailers also have more data available to leverage. Whether in-store or online, digital commerce is providing a wealth of consumer data not traditionally available. Retailers need to leverage this data to cut through the noise to get to the demand signal to improve or even transform their business model.
Multichannel has forced retailers to revisit how they forecast demand and position inventory. It means no longer planning in silos, but across channels. Promotion forecasting, new product forecasting and demand planning all need a fresh approach. And “long tail” demand and inventory planning are important, even when the problem is disguised as an assortment or merchandising problem.
As fulfillment options – shop on line/pick up in store, shop on line/ship from store, etc. – continue to grow, the increase in cost-to-serve is starting to impact the bottom line. More efficient and accurate planning is required.
This includes deciding where to place inventory in the network to satisfy demand – including inventory postponement rather than pushing it all out at once. Where does product need to be to satisfy customers?
With ToolsGroup digital planning retailers can increase incremental sales, gross profits, and inventory turns, and reduce working capital tied up in inventory. Most importantly, retailers can improve merchandising performance while winning customer loyalty.
reduction in out-of-stock allocation items
increase in revenue growth
Increase product availability
increase in planning efficiency
The world’s leading designer, marketer, and distributor of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessories needed functionality for pre-season and in-season allocation and replenishment of ongoing products including lifecycle price management.
ToolsGroup’s Allocation and Automated Replenishment solutions were selected for worldwide deployment across all direct-to-consumer channels including retail, online, factory, and outlet stores.
The retailer went live on ToolsGroup Allocation in less than six months and trusted the system’s recommendations for Black Friday, despite it being very different from the year prior. As a result, the retailer sold two million more units on Black Friday than the year prior, paying for the entire project in one day.
Incremental units sold through vs. the year prior
Of peak selling period paid for the entire project
Reduction in time it takes to allocate inventory