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Retail Supply Chain Planning Software to Sell More with Less Inventory

Probabilistic AI for demand forecasting, dynamic allocation and replenishment, in-season inventory optimization, and lifecycle price optimization - getting the right product in the right place at the right price across every store and channel, so you lift full-price sell-through while cutting markdowns and stockouts.

Image - Retail Supply Chain Planning Software to Sell More with Less Inventory

Real Results from Retail Leaders

−31%
Inventory, with zero stockouts
Telefonica



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+€4.2M
Margin in a single season
Pittarosso



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−15%
Stock while scaling 200 stores per yearr
Pepco



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In retail, one bad buy can cost a season - and the same item can be overstocked and out of stock at once.

Retail supply chain planning software helps retailers forecast demand, optimize inventory, allocate stock across stores and channels, and improve product availability while maximizing sales, margins, and inventory productivity.

Retail planning runs on long lead times, short seasons, and limited demand history, so a single bad forecast can ruin a season. Point forecasts smooth over hyperlocal, fast-moving trends, so you end up with the classic retail paradox: some stores have empty shelves while others drown in the very same item. Layer on omnichannel fulfillment, promotion-driven volatility, and blanket discounting, and traditional, siloed planning erodes service, margin, and full-price sell-through all at once.

ToolsGroup's retail supply chain planning software closes that gap with probabilistic forecasting down to the store level and decision intelligence that allocates, rebalances, and re-prices inventory in season based on real-time demand. It continuously steers service, margin, and sell-through toward your merchandise financial plan, helping retailers improve product availability, reduce markdowns, increase full-price sales, and sell more with less inventory.

What Retail Optimization Delivers

15%
Full-price sell-through
increase in full-price sell-through
30%
Inventory efficiency
improvement in inventory efficiency
25%
More in-stock
increase in in-stock percentage
Up to 5pp
Margin growth
margin growth across the portfolio

Trusted by Retail Leaders Across Fashion, Beauty, Luxury, Footwear & Specialty

Why Traditional Planning Breaks in Retail

Impossibly high customer expectations

Customers demand fast, seamless omnichannel shopping with the right products available whenever and wherever they want - because the retail giants make it look easy.

Inventory imbalances

Retailers face overstocks and stockouts at the same time: some stores have empty shelves while others drown in inventory they can't move - often the very same item.

Excessive discounting & poor pricing

Manual, gut-based pricing fails to capture demand. Blanket discounts erode profitability and raise customers' discount expectations without driving incremental sales.

Margin erosion

Inflation, tariffs, and global disruption drive up costs while reducing willingness to pay - especially when shoppers can score a deal on their phone in seconds.

Planning blindspots

Point forecasts aren't granular enough for real-time, local demand, and manual, siloed processes limit agility - slowing response to disruptions and trends.

Purpose-built Capabilities for Retail

Store-level probabilistic forecasting

True probabilistic forecasting at the SKU-store-day level that allocates inventory to real-time variability in local customer demand - without adding planner complexity.

Dynamic allocation & replenishment

AI-driven allocation and replenishment from DCs to stores that prevents over- and under-stocking - leveraging real-time data to maximize availability at the minimum cost, from initial allocation through clearance.

Responsive in-season rebalancing

In-season inventory re-optimization with margin-positive store-to-store transfers that move stock to where it will sell now - increasing full-price sales and avoiding markdowns.

Lifecycle price, promo & markdown optimization

Inventory-aware price optimization across the lifecycle - from initial price through promotions and markdowns - so pricing becomes a lever to control demand and hit your merchandise financial plan.

AI-driven assortment planning

Customer-centric, attribute-level assortment planning that identifies the attributes driving purchase and adjusts for novelty and hyperlocal demand throughout the season.

Store-level MEIO

Service-driven multi-echelon inventory optimization down to the store level, balancing working capital and service across all brands, channels, categories, and SKUs.

Why Deterministic Forecasting Fails in Retail

Traditional forecasting is deterministic – a single number per SKU, allocated once and left alone. That works for steady, high-volume basics. In retail, demand is anything but steady.

Trends move hyperlocally and fast, short seasons and long lead times leave little history, and a single average ignores how demand differs store to store. So inventory lands in the wrong places – stocked out in one location while piling up in another, often the same item – and once stock reaches the stores, traditional systems have no way to adjust. The result is markdowns on what didn’t sell and lost sales on what did.

Probabilistic planning models the full range of demand at the store level instead of one fragile number, then keeps optimizing in-season – reallocating and re-pricing inventory to where it will sell at full price. It’s the foundation Decion builds on, across dynamic allocation, responsive rebalancing, and agentic AI.

Traditional planning
01Single forecast
02Allocate once
Stockouts + markdowns
Probabilistic planning
01Range of demand
02Hyperlocal allocation
03In-season rebalancing
Full-price sell-through

Named a Leader in the QKS Group SPARK Matrix™ for retail

ToolsGroup is recognized as a Technology Leader in the QKS Group 2024 SPARK Matrix™ for Retail Forecasting & Replenishment - for the third year running - and as a Leader in their SPARK Matrix™ analyses of Intelligent Retail Pricing & Promotion Optimization and Global Supply Chain Inventory Optimization, scored on technology excellence and customer impact.

Whatever You Sell, it's Built for You

The hard part of retail planning - hyperlocal demand, short seasons, omnichannel fulfillment, assortment complexity - is the same whatever you sell. A few sectors where we have customers today:

Fashion & apparel

Apparel and lifestyle brands planning fast-changing assortments across stores, channels, and rapid international expansion.

Beauty & cosmetics

Cosmetics and health-and-beauty retailers managing diversified, trend-driven ranges, frequent launches, and promotions.

Luxury & accessories

Luxury and premium brands protecting margin and brand experience while keeping high-value inventory precisely positioned.

Footwear

Footwear retailers maximizing full-price sell-through across sizes and seasons while clearing prior-season stock profitably.

Home, furniture & design

Home, furniture, and design retailers planning long lead times, configurable products, and made-to-order ranges.

Specialty & multi-category

Specialty, outdoor, and multi-category retailers balancing broad assortments and omnichannel fulfillment across markets.

Retail Leaders in Their Words

“Our previous systems were not able to deal with these complexities; with ToolsGroup we are finally able to precisely manage promotions and product launches.”

– Gianmarco Mangili, Planning Director, Kiko Milano

“With ToolsGroup we're now seeing opportunities we never had before which is a huge value for us. We're getting better at forecasts and our history continues to become cleaner in a perpetual positive cycle.”

– Caleb Nicolson, General Manager, Supply Chain, Kathmandu

“I found a partner in ToolsGroup that really listened. That was really unique because they didn't try to sell me an off-the-shelf tool that satisfied a typical retail business.”

– Jennifer Ferrando, SVP of Global Retail Operations, MillerKnoll

Retail Supply Chain Planning FAQ

Still evaluating retail planning software? These are the questions merchandising and supply chain leaders ask most often.

What is retail supply chain planning software?

Retail supply chain planning software forecasts demand, allocates and replenishes inventory across stores and channels, optimizes price and markdowns, and plans assortments. Unlike generic ERP planning, it uses probabilistic forecasting down to the store level and keeps optimizing in-season to lift full-price sell-through and cut markdowns.

How is probabilistic forecasting different from deterministic for retail?

Deterministic forecasting predicts a single number per SKU and allocates it once. Probabilistic forecasting models the full range of demand at the store level, so allocation reflects real, hyperlocal variability - preventing the stocked-out-here, overstocked-there paradox.

What is AI-driven allocation and replenishment?

AI-driven allocation and replenishment moves the right inventory from DCs to the right stores based on real-time demand signals - not just minimums and maximums - maximizing availability at the minimum cost, from initial allocation through clearance.

What is in-season inventory optimization and responsive rebalancing?

In-season optimization keeps adjusting inventory after allocation through store-to-store transfers — learning how demand is shifting and moving stock where it will sell now through margin-positive store-to-store transfers, increasing full-price sales and avoiding markdowns.

How does price, promo, and markdown optimization work?

Lifecycle price optimization sets initial prices, promotions, and markdowns that are inventory-aware - so pricing becomes a lever to control demand and hit your merchandise financial plan, protecting margin without eroding sell-through.

What is AI assortment planning and attribute-level optimization?

AI assortment planning builds customer-centric assortments using attributes - color, material, style, and more, not just category and size - and adjusts for novelty and hyperlocal demand throughout the season to drive full-price sales.

How does it integrate with ERP and POS systems?

Decion connects through pre-built connectors and APIs for major ERP, POS, and WMS systems, syncing sales, inventory, and demand data in real time. It runs alongside existing systems rather than replacing them.

What results do retailers see?

Results are customer-specific. Telefónica cut inventory 31% with zero stockouts; PEPCO reduced stock 15% while scaling 200 new stores a year; Boggi Milano improved in-stock 47% with 12% less inventory in seven weeks.

How long does it take to see results?

Results vary by retailer, but impact often shows within weeks - Boggi Milano saw results in about seven weeks. Phased rollouts can start with forecasting and allocation, then expand into pricing and assortment.

How does it handle omnichannel fulfillment?

Probabilistic modeling ties delivery promises to true supply risk and optimizes allocation across stores, e-commerce, and channels - protecting on-time fulfillment and customer trust across complex omnichannel networks.

How does it reduce markdowns and improve full-price sell-through?

By getting inventory to the right stores and continuously rebalancing in-season, the system sells more at full price before resorting to discounts - and when markdowns are needed, optimizes them against obsolescence risk.

What is merchandise financial planning (MFP) and open-to-buy (OTB)?

MFP and OTB align assortment and buying decisions to financial targets, cascading top-down, bottom-up, and middle-out. ToolsGroup integrates assortment planning with financial plans and OTB so plans drive decisions rather than being set and ignored.

Which retail sectors use it?

Retailers across fashion and apparel, beauty and cosmetics, luxury and accessories, footwear, home and furniture, and specialty and multi-category retail - anywhere hyperlocal demand meets short seasons and omnichannel fulfillment.