+61 3 9694 4455 info@numensa.com.au

People are an organisation’s greatest asset…

In the dynamic world of retailing having a team of highly trained, highly motivated professionals will deliver competitive advantage. We develop and deliver training programs to enhance the capabilities of retail merchandise teams.

At Numensa our team has years of retailing experience on which to draw, across a range of retail support office roles within a variety of industries, including, fashion, general merchandise, homewares, convenience and supermarket.

Our programs are designed with adult learners in mind and include a combination of thought-provoking theory and relevant case studies.  We have a range of ‘off-the-peg’ courses, can tailor the content to your company’s needs or develop something truly bespoke.

Below are some of our most popular courses.

Foundations of Buying and Planning

This 2-day Foundations of Buying & Merchandise Planning program covers the theoretical principles used in buying and merchandise planning as well as the key metrics used in a retail business. Focussing on a specific business category for your business, you will learn how a buyer and planner work together to plan, buy and trade a range through the season.

The course is very interactive using a combination of theory, video, case studies and exercises to assist the learner’s understanding whilst developing key merchandise management skills.

Course Modules

  1. The World of Buying and Planning
  2. Pre-Season Planning I
  3. Pre-Season Planning II
  4. The Merchandise Financial Plan
  5. Sales & Profits I
  6. Sales & Profits II
  7. Range promotion
  8. Managing Suppliers

This course would suit…

Junior members of the merchandise team e.g. assistant buyers or planners, trainee buyers or planners, allocators or buying/merchandise assistants. It would also suit people who work directly with merchandise teams, e.g. suppliers or marketing teams who wish to gain a greater understanding of merchandise management.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course you will be able to:

  • Recognise how the buyer and planner work collaboratively
  • Define how to develop a pre-season financial plan for a category
  • Demonstrate the considerations in planning a range and the importance of the customer
  • Evaluate the impact of markdown on sales & profits
  • Demonstrate how to best manage and align suppliers to a category

Merchandise Planning Workshops

A series of three half-day merchandise planning workshops designed to give participants global best-practice skills in pre-season planning, effective stock management and assortment planning.

Each workshop covers the theory behind these important merchandise planning methodologies (the what), practical learning exercises (the how), as well as realistic industry based scenarios (the why).  Learners come away fully armed with practical tips and tools that they can immediately use back in their business.

Course Modules

  1. Workshop 1: Pre-Season Planning
  2. Workshop 2: Effective Stock Management
  3. Workshop 3: Assortment Planning

NB. Workshops can be taken as a standalone, or as a series of three, each building on the other. Each workshop lasts 3-4 hours and is delivered in a classroom style. The workshops combine theory, case studies, video and practical exercises. Participants also come away with spreadsheets and tools (USB). As this is a fairly intensive workshop, the group size is limited to 6-8 people.

This course would suit…

Workshops 1 and 2 are ideally suited to those working in merchandise planning as junior planners, assistant/trainee planners or allocators or for planners or small business owners where the merchandise planning function is not as advanced.
Workshop 3 is ideal for those working in buying as junior buyers, assistant/trainee buyers or for small business owners.
Prerequisites: Numensa’s Foundations of Buying and Merchandise Planning course or equivalent knowledge is recommended. A good knowledge of excel is required.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course you will be able to:

  • Understand the process of developing a merchandise plan
  • Appreciate the financial benefits of effective planning
  • Understand the theory behind effective stock management
  • Improve understanding of width vs depth
  • Analyse previous range assortment history and make projections based on latest trend and market information
  • Develop skills for successful completion of each step of the merchandise planning process

Retail Financials

This 1-day course is designed to equip today’s young retail professional with core retail maths skills. With the advent of spreadsheets, pre-populated formulas and our reliance on computers many younger members of the merchandise team are unfamiliar with manually calculating key retail metrics.  This course not only shows you how to perform those calculations, but also explains why these metrics are used in retail.

Course Modules

  1. Strategy
  2. Plan
  3. Buy
  4. Move
  5. Trade
  6. Review

This course would suit…

Buyers, Merchandise Planners, Assistant Buyers and Assistant Planners needing to reinforce the financial and mathematical theories that are fundamental in retail.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course you will be able to:

  • Comprehend the core purpose of the merchandise department in delivering overall sales and profit targets
  • Define the key financial metrics used across a retail business and their importance in evaluating profitability
  • Calculate key financial metrics at each stage of the merchandise management cycle
  • Identify the steps involved in developing the merchandise financial plan
  • Determine the impact markdown (promotional and clearance) has on profit

Negotiation Skills

The Numensa Negotiation Skills for Buyers and Merchandise Planners is specifically designed to enhance the capabilities of retail merchandise teams.  This course will equip you with the relevant knowledge and skills enabling you to be a stronger negotiator.  Using a combination of theory, case studies, as well as buyer/supplier role play simulations, this course will build your confidence and help you to develop your own negotiating style.

Course Modules

  1. The Theory of Effective Negotiation
  2. Developing the Supplier Strategy
  3. Why Negotiations Go Wrong
  4. Personal Bargaining Inventory
  5. Expanding the Fixed Pie
  6. The Impact of Culture on Negotiations
  7. Negotiation Role Play Briefing
  8. The Negotiation

This course would suit…

All team members who would benefit from improving their negotiation skills and confidence to ensure success.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course you will be able to:

  • Comprehend the theories of negotiation and how to apply these theories to win-win negotiations
  • Comprehend the importance of research and planning in the negotiation process
  • Develop strategies and tactics for key suppliers
  • Increase your awareness of the cultural differences in negotiation
  • Determine how your negotiating style impacts upon your negotiations

Strategic Buying

The global retail market has undergone a seismic shift. With an onslaught of pure-play as well as multi-channel online competition and the global expansion of retail behemoths, domestic retailers need highly skilled, strategically competent teams who can not only withstand the offensive, but are capable of delivering real competitive advantage to the business.

At the end of this program, participants will have the ability to identify and develop new strategic opportunities, have a greater understanding of global retail trends around the Omni-channel, sustainable as well as experiential retailing, and be able to effectuate a strategic consumer centric plan.

Course Modules

  1. Introduction to strategic thinking
  2. Sustainable business
  3. Buying strategically
  4. Changing retail environment and emerging consumer trends
  5. Category management

This course would suit…

Those people with at least 5 years experience in buying or merchandise planning, or someone working in a marketing or supply chain function that wishes to develop their strategic retailing capabilities.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course you will be able to:

  • Understand the impact a merchandise would have on a business
  • Conduct a post-seasonal analysis, interpret data and set benchmarks
  • Develop a store sales plan by month, week etc.
  • Re-forecast and re-plan closer to season

Retail Challenge Series

Numensa has teamed up with the UK’s leading retail training provider and has the exclusive licence to deliver their highly acclaimed Retail Challenge Series…

The three separate challenges each focus on a different aspect of the merchandise team’s role. The 2-day Range Building Challenge is a fast-paced, competitive experience that encourages collaboration and cross-functional working as teams strive to create product ranges that meet customer expectations, exceed business goals and deliver profit. The 1-day Profit Challenge focuses on activities designed to improve profit-related decision-making in a pressurised retail environment. The 1-day Trading Challenge puts the team through a series of life-like trading scenarios designed to show the team how to optimise in-season performance.

This course would suit…

This course is designed to sharpen the skills of retail merchandise teams and focussing on increasing sales and profits, the Retail Challenge Series uses a team-based, interactive approach.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course you will be able to:

  • Describe the key profit levers and understand how each one influences profitability
  • Understand how their own decisions can directly impact profitability
  • Identify personal actions within role which can positively impact profitability
  • Recognise the importance and value of working as a team to improve profitability
  • Understand the dynamics, challenges, complexities and stages involved in successful range building
  • Work more efficiently and effectively across functions by exploring how each area within a commercial function contributes to range building, and how people and teams work together to optimise results
  • Validate their current knowledge and capability levels to determine further training needs that support successful range building and personal development
  • Explore the thought processes involved in trading a category or department within a multi- channel business
  • Understand the key elements of trading and how they can be applied within their role
  • ‘Tell the story’ behind the numbers and present memorable summary trading information
  • Recognise the importance and value of working as a team to make trading decisions

Bite Sized Learning

In these days of increasing business pressures and fewer pairs of hands on deck.  Training and developing the merchandise team needs to be balanced with operational efficiencies.  Sometimes it is not just possible to take a whole team ‘off the floor’ for a day or two days at a time.

Our solution, bite-sized or chunk learning.  We’ve broken down our courses into a series of 2-hour long workshops, where the learner gets to concentrate on developing their skills in a particular area.

Bite sized courses include…

  • Basic retail maths
  • The merchandise financial plan
  • Managing the open-to-buy
  • Assortment planning
  • Negotiation

 

To improve your teams' capabilities...

13 + 7 =

 

Numensa Pty Ltd

68-72 York St

South Melbourne

VIC 3205

+61 3 9694 4455

 

info@numensa.com.au