WHY IS RETAIL SO TEDIOUS? YOU'RE NOT USING MODERN MERCHANDISE PLANNING SOFTWARE!
When companies grow rapidly, non-optimised processes quickly reach their limits. This also applies to planning processes, especially if they are carried out purely in Excel. Time-consuming, error-prone, inhomogeneous – Excel processes can hardly cope with dynamic, complex planning requirements.
Success in retail: Customised planning solutions for complex purchasing plans
Europe’s largest online platform for fashion, reached its limits with Excel-based purchasing planning. The dynamic business environment could only be captured inadequately, and there was a risk of losing sight of important key factors.
Business Intelligence for more efficiency, speed and accuracy in planning
With the introduction of Jedox, an efficient and homogeneous planning process was to be established for the complex pre- and in-season planning. For this purpose, relevant data from different previous systems were to be integrated. The aim was to achieve top-down planning of financial targets combined with bottom-up planning at a more detailed level of the product hierarchy. As a result, it should be possible to derive qualified guidelines for product ranges and optimise the supply chain and warehousing.
Self-service BI in action
Zalando pursued a strong self-service BI approach when working with Jedox. Therefore, the intensive involvement of the subsequent key users was already central during the introduction of Jedox. Thanks to Jedox training, the project team was soon well-versed in the use of the software and – with technical advice from bdg – took over the creation of templates for planning and the development of reports. In order to further simplify planning for individual company departments, the bdg consultants developed the possibility of integrating plan values via upload from Excel files into the purchasing planning in Jedox, in addition to the classic input of plan figures.
Radical reduction of planning time and effort
Planning time and effort were radically reduced thanks to the implementation of Jedox. The quality of the planning was also increased: Through the integration of different data sources and the definition of central KPIs, a homogenisation took place that made it possible to bring together different brands, product categories and styles to be planned across departments.
“With Jedox and bdg, we have developed a unique solution for our purchasing planning in the category of management. This gives us significant gains in efficiency, speed and accuracy,” says Melanie Adler, Teamlead Assortment Planning and Controlling at Zalando.
You can find out more about retail and MFP in our whitepaper Better Retail Planning.
Want more details on this success story? Read the success story Success Story.
