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.
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.
Among the jargon that is particular to the Retail industry, are clichés that are almost hard coded into our thinking.
Let’s put a few of our old favourites under the microscope to see if they are
a) tried and true,
b) old thinking that is holding us back, or
c) ripe to be reinvented with new purpose.
A year on from my last showreel with Paul Greenberg - I caught up with Wayne Baskin (Deputy CEO, CTO at Booktopia and NORA Network Advisory council member), who did a great job facilitating this chat on a topic that is not always that easy to navigate.
We unpack what Merchandise Planning is all about, clear up some confusion around the term “merchandising”, and reflect on what sets us apart as a business.
This is the topic I formulated for my keynote, as a guest at the World Forum Disrupt, Women in Retail event - capturing key learnings from both my Corporate and Founder journeys.
You can watch the video and download the PDF’s on my Integrity and Decision Making models here.
A privilege to be invited to participate as a partner in this exclusive, inaugural event.
The NORA CEO Symposium brought together 45 CEOs / Chairs and Country Heads of leading Australian retail businesses to discuss the potential and the development of the retail industry.
An afternoon of robust discussion, and an evening of uplifting story telling.
Supply Chain Elegance!
Super to be a guest at this invitation only, C-Level and Supply Chain Management event.
A discussion series on "Digitising Supply Chain Management", hosted by BluJay Solutions and facilitated through The Ortus Club, across Melbourne, Sydney, and Singapore.
Engaging and enjoyable. A great community focused initiative from the team at BluJay.
Take a poll on what Merchandise Planning is and does, and you’ll have your work cut out for you interpreting the responses. I’ve seen and heard many descriptions, most falling short of the true power of Planning.
My mantra “Planning as it should be” is about unlocking that potential.
These 6 P’s explore the less obvious nuances of Merchandise Planning.
We are probably all familiar with the Big Bang theory of evolution.
Restated in novice (likely inaccurate terms) - a random collection of unrelated stuff coming together and transforming into something meaningful.
Here follows a recent experience which prompted me to consider a Big Bang model of consumer behaviour.
At this pivotal time, one of the most powerful factors influencing how the new financial year will start, is how this financial year is going to end.
The closing stock of one time period becomes the opening stock of the next.
This means that how we finish up FY19 is vitally important to how we start FY20;
and how we finish FY19 is directly linked to what we do right now.
Now that we’ve settled down to a panic since my last blog topic, we can start to consider what needs to happen before the end of this financial year.
A Review is a good place to start – an assessment of past performance to gain insights and learnings. What I’ve observed is how many businesses do this step, tick the box and leave it there, without actively translating it into a Preview – an extrapolation of those insights, combined with direction, interpreted into a strategy.
In this industry first event over 2,500 Retailers cast their votes in recognition of 135 Solution Providers, nominated across 34 award categories.
SMART IN PLANNING was nominated in 3 categories and we are beyond thrilled to have won 2 Awards, and have been finalists for a 3rd.
A massive thank you to all our amazing Clients who endorsed us with their vote.
