Have you been asking yourself, “What IS Merchandise Planning? “
In this interview with reed gift fairs, I start ‘Making Cents of it All’….
sharing my personal definition that Merchandise Planning exists to
‘maximise sales and profit through optimising inventory’.
I was delighted to be part of an expert panel and keynote speaker yesterday
at RETAIL THERAPY presented by @reedgiftfairs and @Lifeinstyle.
I shared tips about how to identify your ‘next best seller’ …
… and revealed why a ‘forward-thinking merchandise plan’ is crucial to your business success!
Of course, there were FREEBIES on all things Merchandise Planning, accessible to YOU TOO when you click on the links in this article.
I’m thrilled that SMART IN PLANNING have been placed in the Smart50 Workplaces 2023 Top Performers List.
Developed in partnership with Employment Hero, Smart50 Workplaces 2023 recognises 50 Australian SMEs who are selected for demonstrating exceptional hiring and retention strategies.
You can read more here.
Honoured to be named in the Top 50 Small Business Leaders Report of 2022, published by Inside Small Business.
Each year, the report celebrates the achievements and innovation of pioneers in the small-business sector, with the last couple of years adding “a huge dose of resilience into the recipe that makes a leader”, according to Inside Small Business.
You can read the full article here.
Clichés are commonplace across the retail industry, but I think some of these clichés may be doing more harm than good.
I’ve put a few of our old favourites under the microscope to see if they can be considered tried and true thinking and are worthy of keeping around, or whether they’re archaic and it’s time to move on.
You can read the full article here.
An important part of a stock planner’s job is mitigating risk. This carries a natural association with the concept of pessimism, resulting in a reputation for only seeing the downside. I have a different view. Stock planners are often able to see things others don’t, by employing lateral thinking …
You can read the full article here.
Abhishek Vohra, CEO of Okkular.io, interviewed our Founder, Susan Martin, to talk Retail … Tech, Trends and Covid times. Headline topics from this casual Q&A format:
Challenges businesses are still grappling with 6+ months into Covid
Coping with the accelerated transition to ecommerce; Excel; Data vs Gut Feel decision making
Leadership styles, Productivity and getting cut through in times of Covid
Watch the full video for all the insights. 🎥 🎥 🎥 Video below (runtime 29:11 mins)
Australian Fashion Council caught up with a handful of members from across the industry to see how they’re navigating these unprecedented times.
In their article, Meet SMART IN PLANNING CEO & Founder Susan Martin, they explore these topics:
Key challenges that you, and others in your community, are facing around COVID-19?
What are some of the opportunities for our industry that you see coming out of this crisis?
How will you be passing the time during social distancing, and how can people get involved?
Click HERE to access the full interview, and see what Susan and the team have been nurturing these past few months.
Merchandise Planning FAQ's unpacked from Susan’s interview with Inside Retail.
🎥 Video runtime 22 mins (segmented into topics).
You can watch the video here.
Merchandise Planning is about getting the most out of your inventory - how it’s planned, invested, flowed and traded - to achieve the most profitable outcomes
You can watch the webcast here.
This workshop was aimed at emerging and start up brands and labels, creating awareness of key Merchandise Planning principles to deal with stock and cash flow.
Stock assessment and options for dealing with overstocks
Pricing and Foreign Exchange impacts
Measures to track progress
You can watch the webcast here.
Advice and support to navigate what comes next during this unique time in Retail.
focusing on actions for now, the medium and longer term horizons
putting key issues on your radar
reminding you of important Planning principles that are more relevant than ever
You can watch the summarised video of the IFAB webcast here.
What’s the answer to recurring markdown and promotional pain? Better inventory management - of course!
Asked by Inside Retail to contribute to this critical topic, and happy to share my thoughts.
You can read the full article here.
In this Q&A interview with ARA, I cover my views and experience on popular topics:
career path, and where I started
investment in Merchandise Planning
challenges I have faced
what drives me, if not a catchy motivational quote
my advice for anyone looking to get into Merchandise Planning
You can watch the video here.
