Integrated Retail Planning

Integrated Retail Planning is a series of interdependent processes that are typically disjointed and sometimes contradictory in nature. The lack of integration between planners frequently results in inconsistent decisions as merchandisers, store operations, distribution, finance and marketing attempt to optimize the business without the capability to evaluate the impact to other departments or the total business.

Retailers may require several integration steps to align their cross-functional information to ensure the goods being promoted are available at the right locations, have the appropriate margins, adequately cross-promote complementary goods, ensure appropriate staffing levels and provide treasury with the potential impact of decisions. Inconsistencies in the data supporting these decisions can have negative results.

An integrated solution that provides management with a more holistic view of the business, and is capable of evaluating the data from multiple perspectives, can significantly improve the Retail Planning process.

Until recently, the ability to integrate these processes to provide a more real-time view of both the local and corporate planning activities was largely unattainable. Differences in the level of planning, the use of the plans, localized preferences and separate systems significantly handicapped integration efforts.

Glenture Retail consultants understand the inter-relationships of the retail planning processes, and our Retail Collaborative Management™ (RCM) approach to developing the appropriate solution addresses the various retail requirements and dependencies. RCM is predicated on a common planning platform that also supports corporate-wide reporting, analysis, dashboards and costing. This significantly enhances the opportunity to leverage a common set of data across planning functions, while providing real-time analysis of proposed planning decisions.

Just as important, this solution also provides a platform that grows with your organization. Start as small as necessary and grow Into a totally integrated planning and reporting environment supporting the entire enterprise.