SAS^® Merchandise Allocation

Store allocations are a complex, time-intensive undertaking that provide questionable results for many retailers. Improving the situation usually requires the ability to account for space constraints and local demand – insights that many allocation professionals don't have.

For merchandise managers and store operations managers alike, poor allocations result in missed financial targets and profitability goals. To align allocation efforts and generate better, more consistent margin across items and stores, retailers need a way to perform allocations that account for consumer demand, organizational financial goals, operational constraints and assortment plans.

Better allocation, better profit
SAS Merchandise Allocation provides retailers the ability to fulfill demand by facilitating distribution of the right merchandise to the right stores and channels. Allocations created through this solution are based on fashion and seasonal trends; customer demand; and store, channel and location attributes. Using SAS Merchandise Allocation, retailers can optimize allocations at the item or store level, increase productivity through automation and reduce distribution costs.

• Perform demand-based allocations. SAS Merchandise Allocation enables retailers to optimize allocations using accurate insights into customer demand, thus ensuring that the right merchandise goes to the right stores from the very beginning.

• Ensure consistency and flexibility. The solution provides an automated system for planning and executing allocations based on predefined rules and methodologies. The rules and methods can also be tailored to incorporate merchants' proprietary knowledge about fashion, promotions, seasonal trends and operational constraints. The solution supports allocations based on open-to-ship, relative need, minimum or maximum levels, annualized trending, weeks-of-supply (WOS), demand insight and more.

• Give merchants more time for strategic activities. The solution frees up merchants' time for more strategic tasks, such as product life cycle planning for the next season. Other capabilities for management by exception, automatic batch allocation and data management streamline the allocation process even further.

• Meet financial targets. More than any other solution, SAS Merchandise Allocation makes it easy to optimize the planning process throughout the entire merchandise life cycle by integrating seamlessly with other merchandise planning modules to help you meet sales, revenue and margin goals every time.

SAS Merchandise Allocation is part of SASŪ Integrated Merchandise Planning, which provides complete planning capabilities for the merchandising process, including performance analysis, financial planning, assortment planning, space planning, allocation and more.