Merchandise Planning
Leverage the power of AI through every step of the planning process to meet your company objectives.
Purchasing
Accurately setting the Total Buy Quantity or initial purchase quantity is a key first step in successful merchandise planning.
Churchill combines several software applications, such as Profile Cluster Builder™ and Short Life Cycle Demand Forecaster™, to provide recommendations for the Total Buy Quantity.
One key differentiator in Churchill’s application is the inclusion of Lost Sales to compute Total Demand. This Total Demand value is the basis for future success for any lifecycle product.
Assortment
Churchill’s Profile Cluster Builder™ (PCB) provides retailers with a faster method for generating high quality size profiles. PCB is also used to determine store clusters, size ranges, and assortments. With Churchill’s PCB, retailers can:
- Build size profiles at every level of the item and store hierarchies
- Improve assortments by getting the right mix of products to achieve business objectives.
- Update profiles on a regular basis as consumer demand changes.
Lifecycle Forecasting
Churchill’s Short Life Cycle Demand Forecaster™ (SLC) is advanced life cycle or “sell-through” demand forecasting software that supports a wide variety of retail planning applications. Sound forecasts are essential to the success of most retail planning and price optimization applications.
Churchill’s SLC software generates sophisticated and detailed consumer demand forecasts for any number of retail planning applications, including:
- Store Allocation and Replenishment
- Promotions Planning and Execution
- Price Optimization
- Merchandise Planning/ Open To Buy
New Items / Special Buys
Demand Planning for merchandise that has little or no demand history can be especially challenging. Often, retailers will bring in Special Buys or New Items that need an initial forecast of demand.
Using proprietary software and techniques developed over three decades, Churchill can provide an initial profile of demand that takes the guesswork out of merchandise planning.
