Navigating the Retail Landscape: Demystifying Merchandise Planning and Demand Planning

Reg the confusion between Merchandise planning and Demand planning .
𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴

• Merchandise planning and
• Demand planning
are both ways that store owners make sure they have the right things in their store for people to buy.
But they are a bit different.

𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 is like picking out the clothes you want to wear.
Store owners want to make sure they have the right clothes in their store for people to buy. So, they plan ahead by choosing which clothes the store will sell.
Deciding how much to charge for the clothes and making sure they have the right amount of clothes in stock.

𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 is like making a shopping list for a store.
Store owners want to make sure they have enough of the things that people want to buy. So, they plan ahead by
– looking at past sales,
– talking to customers and
– studying the market to predict what people will want to buy in the future.
They also decide how much they should order and when they should order it, and make sure they can get the products from the supplier on time.

Merchandise planning is about 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘁, while
Demand planning is about 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁.