RETAIL BASICS IN MERCHANDISE MANAGEMENT
Foundations of Buying & Merchandise Planning Bundle
Our old Foundations course has been superseded by the Foundations of Buying & Merchandise Planning Bundle.
This combines the following three courses:
- Understanding the Retail Product Lifecycle – will give you an understanding of the roles and responsibilities, as well as the important tasks that are carried out at various stages of the product lifecycle.
- Understanding Retail Calculations & Jargon – covers all the key retail KPIs, how they are calculated and why they are important
- Planning & Building the Range – uses a fictitious retailer and buying/planning team to guide you through the process of creating the merchandise financial plan, developing an option-based framework and building a product range that meets financial goals and customer expectations.
What you will learn
- Current trends and complexities affecting retailers today
- The retail cycle and the roles and responsibilities within a retail business
- The high-level tools, techniques and processes within the retail cycle that bring products to market
- The key concepts, calculations and drivers used within typical retail organisations
- How to perform key retail calculations
- Commonly used retail commercial terms
- How and why we create a pre-season merchandise plan
- How to create category sales plans
- Recognise the six different assortment strategies and how these impact range breadth, width and depth
- Calculate the number of options to buy and the units to buy for each option
- How to construct a balanced, customer-focused range
Modules in more detail
Understanding the Retail Product Cycle
The retail landscape – Identify global retailers, the changes the sector has seen in recent years, and the impact of online retailing
Retail structures – Introduce common retail structures, the key roles and their responsibilities
The retail cycle – As the main part of the course, this module provides an overview of the six high-level steps that all retailers use to manage their business, including the key activities at each stage
Emerging trends – An opportunity to explore some of the topics that are re-shaping the retail landscape of today and consider whether they will have a positive or negative impact on the future of retailing
Understanding Retail Calculations & Jargon
- Sell through & Rate of Sale
- OTB (Open to buy)
- Permanent & Promotional Markdowns
- Flat & Forward Cover
- Intake & Selling Margin
- WSSI (Weekly Sales, Stock & Intake Report)
- Stockturn and Sales Density
- LFL (Like for Like) and BTA (Balance to Achieve)
- Searchable glossary with over 300 terms and abbreviations
Planning & Building the Range
Introduction to pre-season planning – how and why we plan. What are the levels of pre-season planning? What is merchandise mix and assortment strategy?
The Merchandise Financial Plan – what is it and why is it used by retailers? Step-by-step guide to creating your plan
Developing the Assortment Framework – how to quantify the number of options and the number of units per option based on key factors
Building the Range – how to turn the option framework into a product range plan
Who is this course for
This course is best suited for junior members of the buying/planning or merchandise department, e.g. assistant buyers or assistant merchandise planners, trainees and allocators, demand planners, or analysts.
It would also benefit those working in a marketing, product development, retail operations or supply chain role who wish to enhance their skills and knowledge of the buying and merchandise planning function.
4 x fortnightly payments of $136.13 (inc GST)
Unsure if a course is right for you...
If you are uncertain whether a course is at the right level for you, then take an assessment through the Numensa Assessment Centre. We have six different assessments, three for buying and three for planning.
- Entry – for anyone new to retail or working in a buyer’s admin or allocator level
- Intermediate – for anyone working at the assistant/junior buyer/planner level
- Advanced – for anyone working at a buyer/planner or senior buyer/planner level
At a glance...
- 8 online modules
- 16 short videos
- 1 searchable glossary
- Total learning time = 6+ hours
- Works across PC, tablet and phone
- Full audio voiceover
- Interactive e-learning with quizzes and action plans
- Theories and strategies behind decisions
- Full access for 6 months
- Developed by retail buying & planning professionals
- Digital certificate on completion
Creating a Strategy
This series of five online modules underpins an understanding of the development of creating a robust strategy which meets the needs of the customer, and delivers the goals of the business.
4 x fortnightly payments of $96.25 (inc GST)
Introduction to Negotiation Skills
This series of four online modules explores the process of negotiation and provides useful skills, tips and techniques to enable you to plan, prepare and conduct negotiations more effectively.
4 x fortnightly payments of $151.25 (inc GST)
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