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Articles
Beyond Product Planning: Store Planning and
Clustering
(Part III of a Series)
Terry J. Donofrio, President
Retail Systems and Services (RS&S)
Our first article outlined planning
capabilities that go beyond basic product
planning. The second discussed some of
those capabilities, specifically Assortment
Planning and its related aspects. This
article explains how Store Planning and
Clustering help to fine-tune the Merchandise
Plan even further, making the company more
competitive and more responsive to its customer
base.
Store
Planning
Store planning generates a merchandise plan
by individual store, or store group, within the
merchandise hierarchy (e.g., class or subclass).
You can build a store plan along many of
the same parameters as a merchandise plan, such
as sales, inventory, and receipts.
Store plans also have similar time
considerations, such as by month or week.
With a good store plan you can:
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Have a store
performance and tracking capability based
on actual results |
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Provide input
to store allocation, where weekly store
plans at a class or subclass level are
often needed |
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Generate
accurate bottom-up merchandise plans,
considering key store attributes |
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Develop store
budgets to guide staffing and performance
functions |
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Build
customized assortments and perform micro
marketing. |
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