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THE BDG MAGAZINE
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The Great Vibe Coding Distraction in Retail Planning
Vibe coding can create impressive dashboards and prototypes quickly, but retail planning involves far more than a polished interface. From MFP and WSSI to assortment planning and replenishment, reliable solutions need robust logic, governance, integration and specialist retail expertise.
Why Retailers Should Bring Merchandise Planning and FP&A Together
Merchandising and finance are often planning the same retail reality from different places. By connecting merchandise planning and FP&A in one system, retailers can reduce manual reconciliation, align commercial assumptions and make faster decisions across demand, dispatch, margin, stock and cash.
“AI is a magnifying glass, not a crystal ball”
AI is not a crystal ball for fashion retail. It will not predict every trend, bestseller or customer shift with certainty. Its real value is as a magnifying glass, helping merchandising teams see demand, stock, margin and allocation decisions more clearly so they can make faster, sharper and more confident commercial decisions.
Will AI replace the CFO? Not quite.
Agentic AI is fundamentally reshaping the finance function – faster than most people expect. CFO Kyanush Kay and Jochen Heßler (bdg) discuss the reality of Excel, the AI hype, and what it all means for the CFO role.
5 Steps to a Successful AI Project
Artificial intelligence promises immense potential: automated decision-making, more accurate forecasts, and more efficient processes. Yet there is often a wide gap between vision and reality: AI initiatives are launched with great enthusiasm – and all too often end in disillusionment.
The good news is that with a structured approach, the most common pitfalls can be avoided.
In this article, we outline a pragmatic 5-step approach that significantly increases the likelihood of success for your AI project – regardless of your industry.
Why Every Retailer Needs a Store Performance Dashboard That Store Teams Actually Use
Store performance dashboard: A store performance dashboard is a real-time retail reporting tool that gives store managers visibility of sales, footfall, conversion, staffing and stock in one place. By replacing static reports with live retail KPIs and drill-down insights, it enables faster in-day decision making and improves overall store performance.
How Store Dashboards Transform Christmas Trading
Christmas trading is the most chaotic, but wonderful time of the year in retail. Stores are under pressure, queues are longer, stock turns faster, and customer expectations are somehow higher than ever.
The DCF method explained: How modern property valuation works
Real estate represents significant assets. A precise valuation of such properties is essential – for financial reporting in accordance with international accounting standards such as IFRS, for investor communication or for strategic management decisions. A particularly widespread and recognised method is the Discounted Cash Flow method, or DCF for short. But how exactly does this method work – and why is it considered to be so particularly meaningful?
Agentic AI – the future of EPM?
Artificial Intelligence has already become a fixture in Enterprise Performance Management (EPM). While many companies are still familiarising themselves with classic AI functionalities, a new and even more transformative development in the field of AI is already knocking on the door: Agentic AI.
Why Smart Liquidity Planning Is A Lifeline For Modern Businesses
Liquidity issues continue to be one of the most overlooked threats to a company’s health, especially when everything else appears to be going well. Orders are flowing in, profits look healthy, yet a single payment delay or miscalculation can bring operations to a halt.
Debunking the Biggest Myths About Planning Solutions: What You Really Need to Know
Planning solutions have long been misunderstood as complex, exclusive, or outdated—but the reality is far more exciting. Modern EPM tools are adaptable, user-friendly, and designed to empower businesses of all sizes to make smarter decisions every day.
Why Functional Expertise is Essential in Modern Software Implementations
Functional expertise is essential for successful software implementation in today’s fast-moving, AI-driven landscape. Businesses need partners who offer industry-specific insight and end-to-end solutions that align with strategic goals and unlock competitive advantage.
Maximising Customer Lifetime Value: The Cohort Plan Advantage
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is not just a number – it can be a blueprint for long term success! Enter the cohort plan, a powerful technique that’s revolutionising how businesses optimise CLV.
5 steps to get ready for ESG reporting
Starting in 2025, the days of optional sustainability practices are over for many businesses. Here’s your step-by-step guide to getting ready for ESG reporting!
Maximizing your Business Planning Software ROI
Optimizing the ROI of your Business Planning Software is obviously a priority. So how would you go about it and what are the prerequisites?
The Jedox Integrator: Let’s integrate Jedox into … well, everything!
“Jedox (22), looking to build real, deep, and functional connections to interface, integrate and consolidate with each other. Loves to extract, loads, transforms and makes plans for the future together.”
4 steps to turn your 5-year retail strategy into a buy plan
Learn how easy it can be to turn the 5-year strategy of your retail business into a buy plan! Believe it or not, key elements will be done at the push of a button.
Reach the optimum in Allocation and Replenishment
Allocation & Replenishment is complex – and getting it right just isn’t easy! Sending the wrong stock to stores, or more commonly sending the wrong quantities to stores, is super common in retail. But it doesn’t have to be! Read on and learn how a systemic solution for allocation and replenishment can support you in this increasingly complex task.
The Four Phases of a Budget Cycle – Made Easy with the Right BI Tool
Have you ever thought about why the regular financial budget season spans over three months? It‘s because Controlling and FP&A departments have to walk a tightrope between accuracy and timely completion as they often rely on a variety of spreadsheets. What falls short is the flexibility to react to today’s world with its rapid market dynamics. Read on to learn how the right BI tool can help!
Free Your Assortment Planning from the Wedge
If it’s not just potatoes, shoes or open doors you think of when you hear the word “wedge”, then read on! If you’re in merchandising, you’ll want to learn how to replace the Wedge with an Assortment Planning tool that will maximise sales, profit, customer retention and market share.
The Great Vibe Coding Distraction in Retail Planning
Vibe coding can create impressive dashboards and prototypes quickly, but retail planning involves far more than a polished interface. From MFP and WSSI to assortment planning and replenishment, reliable solutions need robust logic, governance, integration and specialist retail expertise.
Planning Transformed: How Hawes & Curtis Elevated Sales and Stock Visibility
Heritage menswear brand Hawes & Curtis had outgrown their Excel-based planning setup, with stock intake and weekly performance becoming increasingly difficult to track as the business grew. Working with bdg, they implemented a tailored MFP and WSSI solution on Board, giving the team real-time visibility of sales and stock, a structured weekly planning process, and the confidence to build and maintain their own reports going forward.
Why Retailers Should Bring Merchandise Planning and FP&A Together
Merchandising and finance are often planning the same retail reality from different places. By connecting merchandise planning and FP&A in one system, retailers can reduce manual reconciliation, align commercial assumptions and make faster decisions across demand, dispatch, margin, stock and cash.
“AI is a magnifying glass, not a crystal ball”
AI is not a crystal ball for fashion retail. It will not predict every trend, bestseller or customer shift with certainty. Its real value is as a magnifying glass, helping merchandising teams see demand, stock, margin and allocation decisions more clearly so they can make faster, sharper and more confident commercial decisions.
Agentic AI in BI & EPM: Whitepaper for CFOs & Controlling
AI agents are fundamentally transforming forecasting, planning and closing processes — not at some point in the future, but right now. This white paper outlines what is realistically achievable today, where the real risks lie, and how to achieve this step by step.
Will AI replace the CFO? Not quite.
Agentic AI is fundamentally reshaping the finance function – faster than most people expect. CFO Kyanush Kay and Jochen Heßler (bdg) discuss the reality of Excel, the AI hype, and what it all means for the CFO role.
