FM325 Final

Protected Cell

"Blue Cell" - prevent change

Reference Cell

"Green Cell"

Locking & Unlocking cells

"Pink Cell" - Locked Cell - To prevent entry into or recalculation of a cell at any time, you can lock the cell. - When a cell is locked, it's treated by protection processing (ctrl+L) - To lock or unlock a cell, click on the cell and click the Toggle Lock option.

Unchanged Cell

"White Cell" - ready to be changed, not changed yet

Changed Cell

"Yellow Cell" - when you change the cell prior to calculating

Initial Markup (IMU)

(Original Markup) - The first MU on an item from cost price to retail price. - Planned to determine the selling price of the merchandise and to ensure margin target are met. - Highly effective organizations realize IMU is higher than MMU in order to meet the strategic goals.

Versions

(Time Based) WP - "what if"/working plan, what happens if changed, submits to the OP and RP plans. OP - original plan, pre-season approved, based on LY, 6 months ago. RP - revised plan, in-season approved, right now. WPLY - compares working plan to last year. LYTY - compares last year plan to this year. WPTY - compares working plan to this year. BUTD - compares the bottom up plan to the top down.

The Planning Process

(pre-season) Seasonal set-up, Create strategic plan, Create TDPP, Create BUPP, Reconcile plans, Create KIPP, Reconcile plans, Approve plans. (in-season) Monitor, Revise plans.

Strategic Plan

- 3-5 year plan (longterm) incorporating high-level planning into the TDPP. - Set up by upper mgmt. - Focuses on long-term vision or direction of the company. - Provides goals to the organization at least 2 months prior to the longest lead-time requirements.

A Plan Name

- A container for dimensions, structures, modules, and views. - A plan name ends with a .cpd extension.

Parent Group

- A group in a dimension that's related to another group by being immediately above it in the hierarchy. - A group can have several parent groups.

Child Group

- A group in a dimension that's related to another group by being immediately below it in a hierarchy. - A group can have only one child group.

Parent Member

- A member in a dimension that is related to one or more members by being immediately above it in the hierarchy. - A member can have only one parent member in each parent group.

Child Member

- A member in a dimension that's related to another member by being immediately below it in the hierarchy. - A member can have many child members.

Variables

- A member of one of the two sub dimensions used to create measures. - Key Planning Indicators (KPI's) and Units of Measure are combined to create Variables. - Doesn't include version acronyms. - Examples: Sls_Rtl, BOP_Rtl, Sls_Cost

Stock-To-Sales Method

- A popular way to forecast how much inventory is required to attain monthly sales projections. - This is a ratio of the amount of inventory on hand to sales. STS Ratio = Stock on hand BOM / Sales for the same month.

Normal Variables

- Act according to the standard in the plan when data is entered. Normal Consolidation - values entered lower down in the hierarchy are averaged and summed up the other hierarchies. Normal Spreading - values entered higher in the hierarchy are spread proportionally across lower lvls.

In-Season

- Adjusting your plans in-season. - Allows you to make adjustments based on current trends. - Allows you to bring inventories in line with actual sales. - Some companies don't adjust their plans in-season because they are unable to take action because it might not be possible to cancel inventory mid-season.

Planning Levels

- Administrative. - Strategic or Financial. - Top Down (TDPP): set up by upper mgmt, high lvl planning. - Middle Out (MOPP): btwn top and bottom. - Bottom Up (BUPP): most frequent, plan at lower lvl such as Dept to Class. - Key Item (KIPP): more specific. Approach: TDPP, MOPP, BUPP.

Rules

- Affect your calculations. - Equations used to calculate results for variables using other planned or actual values. - Example: AvgRtl = Retail/Units. - Are always calculated between variables at the same level of the hierarchy.

Rule Sets

- Affect your calculations. - Is a rule plus all of its inverses. - Example: AvgRtl = Retail/Units, Retail = Units*AvgRtl, Units = Retail/AvgRtl. - Once you have entered values for any two of the variables at of the lvls in the plan, the remaining variable will be protected at all lvls in the plan.

Planning Import Wizard

- Allows you to transfer data from a spreadsheet into Microsoft Excel which allows you to product reports using EP data. - Do this so you can use extra functions or work offline.

Organization Dimension

- Another structure with groups, members, and hierarchies. - Location, Channel, Region, and Store Type are all contained in this dimension. - When channel planning is performed, the product plans feed the channel plans at the Total lvl. The channel planning process will break these plans down into the lowest appropriate lvl of the Organization Dimension.

Adjustments

- Any value that changes the inventory position that is not accounted for in sales, receipts, markdowns, and shrink. - This value varies greatly by organization and could include employee discounts. - Common planned examples are: RTVs, damaged goods, store samples.

Cell

- Basic unit in a spreadsheet to store or display data. - In a standard spreadsheet it represents the intersection of a column and a row.

Ok & Apply

- Both apply what you're doing in view configuration. - Apply keeps the box open while Ok closes it.

Corporate Views

- Created by the administrator. - Available to everyone: they aren't saved with plan and module information so that they can be used across the company, with any plan and module. - They are provided to users to ease in the planning process.

Alternate Hierarchies

- Deviates from the main hierarchy. - This is for information, which is important to your business but does not fall within the main product hierarchy. - Vendor/Buyer are examples of possible alternate hierarchies. - By using this data consolidation, EP allows you to see a summary of data at different lvls within your organization. The hierarchy concept relates to all types of retail organizations. It's used in planning to create relevant reporting structures.

Application Navigator

- Displayed automatically the first time you start EP. - Used to view planning process workflows and run automated planning steps. includes Process Navigator & User Processes (which are in the Planning and Analysis Pane): - Process Navigator: displays the steps for the selected process workflow using a tree structure, these steps are designed to guide users through the corporate planning process. - User Processes: displays a list of available process workflows which are defined in the section of the planning.ini file, this file provides configuration information for EP and is maintained by the administrator. Other Panes: - Assortment Planning: not available in our stand-alone version of Ep. - Favorites: allow you to save shortcuts to access plans, views, and automation files. - Active Tasks: displays all views you have open.

Down Dimensions

- Displayed up down the left side of the view. - Can have more than one dimension as your down dimension.

Non-Spread Variables

- Doesn't respond to normal spreading or consolidation. - Variables that should not or can't be spread because they will not consolidate sensibly. - Examples: receipt margin%, MD%, Gross Margin%. - Two types are forced and flexed.

Dimension

- Entity that provides part of the information about each cell in a module - each module contains a time dimension, a measure dimension, and one or more structural dimensions which together identifies each item of data. - Two types: Structural and Measure (see below)

Fill Options

- Fill with the same number you copy from. - Use fill options to easily place data in multiple cells. - Fill options allow you to select a range of cells in a spreadsheet view and fill them with data. You can fill them with: - A single data value. - A row or column of values. - A sequence based on a row or column of values.

Product Plans (Time and Measures)

- Financial blueprint for each merchandise category, including sales projections, inventory flow, and margins. - Allows for financial success by reaching a single financial goal.

Online help

- For assistance, you can click on the "Help" button which is in the upper right corner with a question mark and blue circle. - It allows you to access help online regarding a particular topic or EP function.

Freezing Members

- Freezes data for members so that the calculation process no longer affects them. - You can freeze one or more bottom-level members of any Structural Dimension. - You can freeze entire slices. - You cannot freeze a member of the Time Dimension.

Calculating

- Function to make changed apply. - The process of deriving values in a module by spreading the valuation of rules and consolidation. - To apply the effects of changes to the data in a module, you must calculate the module. - Complex task governed by rules and their ordering. - Shortcut: F9

Groups

- Groups within a dimension area arranged in a hierarchy. - The group immediately above another group is called the parent and the group below parent is the child. - Show details of each child member in view configurator.

Identifying Key Items

- Have a company wide understanding of what Key Items are and how they should perform. - Keep the number of Key Items small and manageable. - Communicate your company-wide Key Item strategy. - Lowest in the hierarchy. - Specific items. - Highest buying volume. - Occupies 30% (1/3 of business) of class season $ sales. - Always get displayed in the window and in the best areas of the store. - Strategy has to be planned ASAP, prior to assortment planning. - Meets at least the class plan IMU%/GM%.

Administrative Plan (Admin Plan)

- Houses the "master copy" for all of the user plans and is only used for creating the planning setup. - No modules or data are stored in the admin plan.

Considerations in developing a Strategic Vision

- If there are new, refurbished, or closed stores - Product direction - Key item definition and financial requirements - Price ranges - Promotional strategy - Life cycle time frames

Favorites

- In Process Navigator. - You can add files and folders to your Planning Favorites pane to quickly access views, plans, and automation files that you will commonly use. - Allows you to spend more time planning and less time looking through your directory for the correct files.

Product before Key Item

- Key items are developed after product plans. - The key item plans would need to fall within the financial parameters defined in the product plan and not exceed the product plan.

Key Item before Product

- Key items are identified prior to beginning the planning process. - The consolidation of the key item metrics (sls, rec's, inv) must be visible in the product plan to ensure the product plans are created accordingly.

Key item Considerations

- Key items should be planned in order to understand gross profit opportunities and should be planned using a full set of business measures. - They must be planned when setting strategic targets, during product planning, and prior to assortment planning.

Open To Buy (OTB)

- Key to in-season planning. - How much $ you have left in your hand. - Comparison btwn existing plan (OP) and current sales (TY) = revised plan (adjusted inventory) = OTB. - Best way to adjust inventories due to changes in actual sales from the OP. - Buyers may not spend all of their OTB each month, they'll leave dollars available for opportunity purchases and to act as a buffer if sales do not reach plan.

Point of Sale/Promotional Markdowns (POS/PosMD)

- MD is temporary. - Higher than PMD. - For a specified period only like a sale or promo and are normally generated at the cash desk. - Are used to lower the retail price for a particular promotion. - Decreasing the selling price of an item for a promotion will lower gross profit when an item is sold because the reduction in the selling price isn't calculated until the item is sold. - When planning PosMD's, it's imperative to determine the promotional lift for the product in order to plan the correct amount of MD's and the impact of gross margin. Some factors to consider are: - MD's as a % of sales by month. - How aggressive are this year's pricing policies? - When did we promote last year and how will it change? - How were deliveries last year and did they affect our MD's?

Measure Dimension

- Made up of variables and versions. - Non-structural (can be switched around). - Are used in combination with mathematical rules to determine the behavior of EP. - Key Planning Indicators (KIPP's) and Units of Measure are combined to create Variables.

BOP & EOP Inventory Lvls

- Measures used for tracking the value and / or quantity of merchandise for a point in time. - The appropriate amount of inventory is necessary to support sales and stock turn targets

Shrinkage

- Merchandise loss due to shoplifting, internal theft, damages, paperwork, errors, etc. - You can plan for it, but you cannot prevent it. - The method of calculating the shrinkage dollar amount per month is to use the year-end shrink%. - The dollar amount will be calculated in EP by multiplying the monthly sales projection by the planned percentage.

Spreadsheet Views

- Most common type of view used in planning. - Contains slices, across dimensions, down dimensions, and data.

Stock Turn

- Number of times within a given period that the average inventory is sold and replaced. - Measures the rate at which merchandise is sold compared to the on hand. - The higher the stock turn rate the better your cash flow and the greater your opportunity for increasing profits. - Calculated by dividing the total sales for the season by the season's average inventory. Inventory Turnover = Net sales/Average Inventory at Retail.

Slices

- Off-grid dimensions in a view that displays information one member at a time, as if this is a page in a book. - What you view on the screen is one _____, and when you move through them you are effectively turning the pages of an electronic book.

Activation Tab (view configuration)

- Only visible in the product or organization dimension. - This tab is for Key Item Planning.

Percent Participation

- Percentage the cell's value represents of the total value. - Show a member's percent participation to a group. - Buyers/planners use it for these reasons and because it allows an easy view to see a member's percent participation to a group. - Can be created for any member of the across or down dimension.

Permanent Markdowns (PMD)

- Permanent reduction of the retail value of inventory. - Season clearance: starts 90 days after merchandise hits the sales floor. - Are used when the retail price of an item is permanently reduced. - Decreasing the selling price of an item reduces the retail value of the inventory and lowers gross profits at the time the MD is taken. - These impacts need to be accounted for in the merchandise plan.

File Extensions

- Plan files have the extension .cpd (used by IT) - View files have the extension .cpv (used by general users like me) - Automation files have the extension .paf (used by IT)

Elements of a Plan (DMV)

- Plan name. - Dimensions. - Modules. - Views.

Pre-Season

- Planning prior to the start of the season and planning prior to placing orders. - Potentially 6-12 months in advance of the season to get factory discount. - Includes key item planning. - Advertising calendar should be planned during pre-season.

Seeding

- Plans are seeded with data as a basis for beginning the planning process. - Two common methods that are used are LY and a DF. - LY data can be used as a basis for your plan. - When seeding your WP with LY, it's important to identify trends and isolate real changes in demand from arbitrary occurrences. - Also, adjustments need to be made to account for holiday and advertising shifts.

Protection Processing

- Processing that is carried out every time the value of a cell is changed to determine what the effect on other cells will be. - Protects certain cells so no changes can be made to them.

Impacts of EP

- Product flow (units & dollars). - Receipts. - Cash flow. - Promotions. - Resource management (inventory turn).

Structural Dimension

- Product, calendar/time, and organization dimensions. - Any dimension other than the measure dimension. - Has a hierarchy (has to be in certain order).

Markdowns

- Reductions in selling price that are used to increase customer interest in the promoted products and to improve store traffic. - A price reduction from the normal selling price. - Common broken down into PMD and POS/PosMD.

Gross Margin Return on Investment (GMROI)

- Reflects the movement of inventory relative to profitability, not sales. - GMROI is needed to ensure that the appropriate amount of GM is being earned, compared to the inventory investment. - Measures gross profit based on turnover. GMROI = Gross Margin/Average Inventory @ Cost.

Distribute Key Items

- Replenishment, Initial allocation, fill-in. - Link allocations to the key item plan. - Adjust to current trends.

Pane

- Separate view screens that can be minimized/maximized. - All the panes illustrate the same information, they are just displayed in different formats.

Setting Key Item Targets

- Set specific targets for key items. - Key Item Planning typically uses a subset of the Product Planning Measures used in Top-Down or Bottom-Up.

Key Item Product Planning (KIPP)

- Set specific targets for key items. - Very important for the company. - Focuses on planning at the lowest, detailed lvl up to the class lvl. - Allows you to provide detail plans for specific items important to sales.

Calendar/Time Dimension

- Special structural dimension. - In a calendar dimension, weeks are grouped into months, months are grouped into quarters, quarters are grouped into seasons, and seasons are grouped into years. - It's possible for groups to have more than one parent in this dimension. - Ordering of members in groups is important in this dimension.

In Season Planning

- Starts when merchandise hits the sales floor. - Managing/monitoring performance during the season when goods have shipped. - Allows you to bring existing plans in line with current sales. - Reaction to performance may drive action for reorders, MD's, and transfers. - Is all about monitoring current sales: take up physical floor/storage space, take up data space, take up labor cost to maintain inventory. - Monitory on a weekly basis while RP are monitored on a monthly basis.

What are the most common types of plans?

- Strategic. - Merchandise or Product plan. - Key Item plans.

Planning By Attribute

- Such as color, fabric, or price range. - By assigning attributes at the item lvl, Planners can plan and analyze by these attributes in the Planning application to ensure the right mix of products.

Planning

- The act of predicting the future in order to prepare an organization for what lies ahead, provide key planned indicators for the business, prepare a set of plans to act on, and provide a set of plans to compare with. - Allows you to forecast what to purchase and when which will assist in attaining company goals using historical sales data, personal experience, and intuition about market trends. - Based on sales history and forecasting.

Maintained Markup (MMU)

- The final MU on an item based on the actual selling price. - Planned to determine the selling price of the merchandise and to ensure margin target are met.

Planning Inventory

- The next step is to develop a receipt and inventory plan that will support the Sales Plan. - Planners are responsible for maintaining the right balance of inventory without over-investing or sacrificing too many sales. Important Considerations Include: - Floor sets or visual presentation. - Marketing events or promos. - Competitive factors. - Timing and shifts of holidays. - Market or economic factors.

Gross Margin

- The revenue that fuels the overhead and initiatives in every retail organization and the Planners are the ones who must deliver it. - The difference between the selling price, which takes into account reductions for MD's, shrinkage, adjustments, and the cost. - Hopefully, what is left is enough to pay all operating expenses and maintain a profit.

Views

- The way you look at a plan. - Used to analyze, plan and manipulate data within a module. - In EP, this is a window that contains a selection of data from a module. - Can be in the form of a spreadsheet, exception, chart, or calculation sequence. - A view name ends with a .cpv extension.

Ways of Entering Data in EP

- Type data into a cell. - Type data into the edit bar. - Enter calculations into the edit bar.

Exception Views

- Type of view used to set limits for measures and to check for measure that fall outside the limits or contain empty/errored values. - Quick way to see whats in/out of your range. - Key function for buyers and planners. - 3 Options: Sls_Units, Sls_Rtl, Sls_AvgRtl. - Exception pane will contain no data prior to click on "check exceptions". - Right click, sort column.

Average Variables

- Use averages when data is entered. Average Consolidation - values entered lower down the hierarchy are averaged across time and summed up the other hierarchies. Average Spreading - values entered higher in the hierarchy are spread proportionally across lower levels in all dimensions.

Demand Forecasts (DF)

- Use exponential smoothing and/or statistical analysis to weight past periods to forecast future periods. - Can be used to systematically make adjustments for trends, random occurrences, events, promotions, holiday shifts, and planner input. - It's important to know that not every measure may need to be planned and the measure may vary based on the company and business process.

Module

- Used to plan different parts of the business. - The repository for data with the associated measures and structures. Is a combination of: - a Measure Dimension (variables & versions) - a Calendar/Time Dimension (month/qtr) - a Product (dept) or Organization (module) Dimension or Both

Calculation Sequence View

- Used to view the calculation sequence for data changes you enter in a plan/module, aka shows how number changes are calculated. - Called "new view".

Opening & Closing variables

- Variables that have the same value at different levels in the Time hierarchy. - Examples: BOM & EOM.

Chart Views

- View that displays data as a chart. - Purpose is to compare data visually. - Example: bar graphs.

Across Dimensions

- Viewed across the top of the view. - Can have more than one dimension as your across dimension.

Arbitrary Occurrences

- Weather - Economy crisis - Natural disaster

Selection Tab (view configuration)

- Where you can decide what you want to see in your view. Child Members: (pink) can have only one parent member Parent Member: (yellow/variables drop down box) can have multiple child members - Contains options for members, groups, dimensions, attributes, save or cancel.

Planning Receipts (Planned Purchases)

- You can calculate your planned purchases once sales projections and stock lvls have been established. - The retail value of purchases added to the inventory are receipts. - You have to consider lead times and these lead times should be reflected in the merchandise calendar: vendor lead times, in-transit times, and the amount of time needed to set the floor. - Receipts should flow over time to support sales and inventory. - Receipts are planned at retail. Planned Purchases = EOM + Sales + Reductions - BOM. Planned Purchases = (BOM - Sales - Reductions) subtracted from EOM.

Copying & Pasting

- You can copy and paste cell values from one cell to another. - You can copy data from one view and paste it into another. - You can copy a row or column of data from one view to another. - You can copy an entire slice. Why might you want to copy & paste data? - You might have similar sales patterns within departments or classes. - You might have a number of new items that you are planning the same way that have no sales data.

View Configuration

- You can manipulate your view using the view configuration box (whenever you change a dimension, members are different). Four Tabs in View Configurator: 1) Selection Tab 2) Ordering Tab 3) Orientation Tab 4) Activation Tab

Orientation Tab (view configuration)

- You can rearrange what you want to see your view in this tab.

OTB Calulations

1) Monthly OTB - Important to retailers only at the month lvl. - It's a measurement of Planned Receipts (or Purchases) for a month in comparison with the current On Order for the month. Monthly OTB = Planned Receipts - On Order. 2) Cumulative OTB - How a retailer measures "Where am I in relation to where I want to be?" - Considers everything that has occurred thus far in the planning season. Cumulative OTB = Planned EOM Inventory - Projected EOM Inventory.

Identify Key Item Candidates

1) Target Customer 2) Promotions (how are you gonna promo it?) 3) Competition (who are you competing with?) 4) Market Trends (changes all the time)

Key Item Planning Process (steps)

1. Identify key items 2. Plan 3. Review 4. Distribute

Pre-Season Planning Process (Steps)

1. Plan Sales 2. Plan Inventory (BOP Inventory, Receipts, MD's, Shrink/Shortage, Adjustments, EOP Inventory, Stock Turn) 3. Plan Margin (IMU, MMU, Gross Margin, GMROI) 4. Review Plan 5. Approve Plan

Planning Process (steps)

1. Plans are created (using EP). 2. Orders are placed (send out order to major fashion brands). 3. Merchandise is allocated (how much product goes to each store). 4. Merchandise is sold (monitor selling trends). 5. Sales data is recorded (transactions for LY & TY purposes).

Time Periods

A definition of the time period the plan covers.

Plan

A model of business activity over a period of time, made up of a name, structures or dimensions, modules and views.

Plan Key Items

Building your Key Item plans taking into account: - Volume, quantity, margin, and price component balanced with product strategy. - Initial allocation floor set requirements. - Fixture or display quantity requirements. - Space restrictions.

Undo All

Causes the contents of all changed cells to revert to the values they held after the last calculation; this also affects changed cells in the current module.

Undo Cell

Causes the current cell to revert to the value it held after the last calculation; this can only be done to a changed cell

In order for the user to see versions next to each other for comparison purposes, the versions need to be:

Closest to the data.

Reconcile plans

Combining classes will provide the strategy for each department, combining departments will provide the total company plan, which produces the overall objective.

Calculation Methods

Depending how the measure dimension was set up, various calculation methods may be used in calculating your data: 1. Consolidation - data entered at lower lvls are summed to higher lvls (low-high), number impact from lower lvl to higher lvls, opposite of spreading. 2. Spreading - data entered at higher lvls are spread to lower lvls (high-low). 3. Rule Sets - rules determine how the values will be changed at the same lvls of the hierarchy, a rule set is a rule plus all of its inverses-(reposition of the formula), affects your calculations.

Bottom Up Product Planning (BUPP)

Each class of merchandise has its own plan.

Advertising Calendar

Has to be planned in-season.

Ordering Tab (view configuration)

Hierarchical Sort Order - sorts members in descending order (higher is above, lower is under) with each parent member immediately followed by its children. Top-Down Sort Order - displays all members of a group followed by all members of the next group lower in the hierarchy, higher rank grouped all together, based on group hierarchy. Alphabetical Sort Order - sorts members in alphabetical order by member name, regardless of a member's position in the hierarchy. Manual Sort Order - this gives you the flexibility to use one of the other order options as a starting point, then make minor changes to it. Sort Order - can sort by Name or Attribute.

Main objective of Merchandising Planning

Improving profit.

OTB

In-season plans that are saved to RP help in managing the ________. Planning this is a control process for reviewing projected inventory positions relative to plan. It is also the difference btwn planned purchases and orders.

Life cycle Planning (key items)

Includes: - Ramp up, Full price - Plateau management - Terminal stock targets - Productivity measures for each stage - Exit strategy (including drop dead date) "plan b"

Two Ways to Increase Stock Turn

Increase total sales. Decrease average inventory.

Data (in Spreadsheet View)

Is located in the cell and the values are determined by the down dimension, the across dimension and the off-grid dimensions.

Typical Plans

Large organizations can have several different plans based on the company needs. - Ranging from very high-level plans to more detailed lower level plans.

Cell note

Line of text that can be added to any cell in a spreadsheet view; can be used as warnings or reminders.

Foundation of the Planning Process

Merchandise plan.

Creating Pre-Season Plans

Once the Strategic Vision has been communicated, pre-season plans can be developed. Common Approaches Might Include: - Comp vs. Non-Comp. - Sales Plan. - Inventory Plan. - Margin Plan. - Key Item Product Plans (Planning by Attribute).

Saving Plans

Once the plans have been balanced, they can be saved. - Pre-season plans are saved as Original Plans (OP): Original plans are not changed once they have been saved. The buyer/planner are typically held accountable to the approved margin and turn numbers submitted to the OP version. The business process and lead times determine when Pre-Season plans are saved to the OP version - The product plans should be committed to the OP version prior to the buyer placing any orders to ensure that the inventory and receipt plans are within budget. - In-season plans are saves as Revised Plans (RP) to help managing Open to Buy (OTB): Revised plans are typically saved monthly after the merchandising team has reviewed the plans. The plans should only be modified if the team can affect the plan. OP and RP are different versions of plan data. - The Working Plan (WP): Follows the approval process to become the OP or RP version.

Quick Access Toolbar

Provides a quick way to implement actions (top line menu in toolbar).

Other Reporting Structures

Relevant to the area of the business - Product, Location, Channel.

Key Item Product Plans

Should be developed using measures similar or the same as the product plan. Steps to create KIPP's: 1. Identify - have a company wide definition. 2. Plan - keep number small and manageable. 3. Review - reviewing performance and revising the plan if necessary. 4. Distribute - allocate items to the stores based on key item lifecycle, able to replenish back to sales.

Planning Sales

Some things to consider are: Sales performance coming into the season - what % increase or decrease is the class/dept/total store expecting compared to the previous year? Monthly promotions - plan your promos at the same time you are creating your preseason plans bc If not, you can have inventory issues when promos actually occur. Customer changes - this has more impact when planning at the class lvl and is most noticeable in fashion, are there new styles/markets/attitudes that pose an opportunity or threat to this merchandise? Economic factors - unemployment rates, interest rates, dollar value fluctuations, and inflation all have an effect.

Top Down Product Planning (TDPP)

Start with total company figures and then move to the department lvl.

Seasonal Setup

The creation of the season planning environment by the system administrator. Includes seeding the plan with sales history to provide a basis for your plans, as well as executing demand forecasts prior to planning.

Maintaining OTB

The following information is needed for each month of the season: - Planned sales projections. - Actual sales. - Planned EOM inventory. - Actual EOM inventory. - Planned MD's. - Actual MD's. - Outstanding purchase orders (order something but vendor doesn't ship it).

Prior to Planning

The following steps should be completed in order to prepare you to understand what your plan needs to accomplish: 1) Company Policy Defined - a clear idea of what your company wants and how it wants to be seen by its customers. Should include: Company vision, Company image, Merchandise quality, Marketing, Profit margins, Customer service lvls. 2) Historical Data Gathered - the objective is to prepare a month-by-month total $ sales and purchasing schedule for the company. to build a plan, you need to pull the sales for the same period LY. 3) Qualitative Analysis Performed - most professionals agree that the buying process is 90% analytical and 10% intuitive. 1) Customer profile analysis, 2) Dept analysis, 3) Key dept trends, 4) Major vendor analysis, 5) Advertising review, 6) Visual presentation analysis.

Planning Margin

The markups must allow for a final profit after paying all operating costs, reductions, cost of goods, etc. - Markup is the difference btwn the wholesale price and the retail-selling price. - Markup Dollars = Selling Price - Cost Price. - Markup% is calculated by dividing the markup$ by the retail price. - Markup% = Markup$ / Retail Price. - MU% - Retail - Cost / Retail.

Measures

The name for the key business performance indicators (KPI's) in the plan.

Hierarchy

The organization of a structural dimension, which consists of groups at different lvls of detail. Members at one lvl are consolidated to give a single value for one member in the lvl above.

Filling a Range of Cells

To fill a range of cells: - Select a range of cells. The first cell selected should contain the data you want to replicate. - Select the Fill option at the top of the screen. You will have the following options: - Fill All: the full range of cells is filled with the value of the first selected cell. - Fill Up: fills a series of rows with the data in the bottommost column. - Fill Down: fills a series of rows with the data in the topmost column. - Fill Left: fills a series of columns with the data in the right-hand. - Fill Right: fills a series of columns with the data in the left-hand. - Fill Series: this option allows you to fill cells by creating a linear or growth series by row or column. Why might you want to fill cells? You can use the fill option for shrink% because it's usually the same for the lowest time lvls.

Goal as a Planner

To get the best ROI as possible by trying to balance: Variety - a good mix of products (broad). Assortment - a good mix of sizes and colors within product lines (detail). Backup Stock - inventory or stock in reserve. Company Financial Goals - sales, inventory, margin, sell thru.

Product Dimension

Two ways to illustrate a Product Dimension: 1) Company > Division > Department > Class 2) Company > Division > Department > Buyer

Variable Characteristics (there are 5 of these!)

Variables are assigned to characteristics to control how the spreading and consolidations are performed. - Normal - Average - Non-spread - Opening - Closing

Edit Bar

When you click in a cell, its values is displayed in the _____. You can then type a new value for the cell. This is displayed both in the cell and in the _______.

Styles in EP

You can apply and create styles (colors, fonts, borders, etc) to your views in EP.

when planning POSmd it's imperative to determine the promotional ________.

lift

Comp

sales generated by stores that have been open more than a year, have not repositioned, and have historical data

Non-comp

stores that have been open less than a year or have been permanently repositioned, and have no historical data

LY and OP information cannot be changed when planning because _______.

they are for reference.

when planning receipt flow it is important to allow for ________.

vendor lead times in transit to the store amount of time to complete floor set