4. Anticipate and react quickly to changes in consumer needs. A pre-season plan is good only until early consumer buying behavior changes the premises of the plan. The ability to quickly forecast changes in consumer needs is a prerequisite to ensuring that merchants can take corrective pricing, promotions and inventory actions to bring the forecast in line with the plan. The value of re-forecasting is greatly enhanced if:
Re-forecasting also accounts for key supply chain constraints at distribution centers and suppliers.
The underlying plan accounts not only for the impact of changes on the current season, but also for the impact on future seasons through an underlying continuous plan structure.
The in-season management process integrates product price and promotions decisions with assortment decisions.
Using these strategies, retailers can improve a shopper's overall experience and at the same time drive greater revenue by aligning product assortments with localized consumer preferences. To learn more about how i2 solutions, such as Buying and Assortment Management, Allocation and Replenishment Management, Cycle Time Optimization and Merchandise Financial Planning, are helping retailers execute their strategies