Question

As a buyer, consider when making decisions on preparing a six-month merchandise plan? Describe three sources.

Answer 1

As a buyer making a 6 months merchandise plan ,my key objectives are "

1. Drive revenues for the organisation

2. Achieving #1 means driving better sell through rates

3. Achieving better full price sales i.e. better margins

4. Driving category share of the category under management

5. Efficient management of inventory i.e. set limits for no. of days of stock to hold whilst ensuring no loss of sale due to stock outs

Hence to achieve the above , some key factors that I have to keep in mind :

1. Clear definition of the target audience i.e. who is supposed to buy the merchandise .

2. Define clearly the universe and current buy basket of the customer - map the share of my product in this and set targets

3. Ensuring supply chain robustness - preparing vendors with capabilities to meet requirements and back -up vendors in case of disruptions.

4. Pricing is a key factor and driving cost efficiencies ensures that I can price product competitively. Deciding the full price and price offs is a key part of the merchandising plan

5. Ensuring robust logistics from storage to stores and figuring out the optimum stock per store is another factor to consider in making the merchandise plan

to summarise the factors fall under

1. who is the customer ? know the customer and their buy basket and price sensitivity

2. Suppliers - develop a robust set of suppliers who can deliver in time and as per plan

3. Logistics and store level stocking norms