Retail Merchandise Financial Planning Reviews and Ratings

What is Retail Merchandise Financial Planning?

Gartner defines the retail merchandise financial planning (MFP) solution market as the planning and analysis of pre- and in-season merchandising strategy that enables merchandisers to optimize sales, profit and inventory, and effectively communicate KPIs to stakeholders across the organization. Modern MFP solutions automate data processing and workflow and leverage AI data analytics and machine learning to create statistical modeling.

MFP is a vital component of retail business planning. It involves merchandisers initiating the strategic planning process for an upcoming season or period and managing its execution during the season. MFP encompasses sales forecasting, inventory receipts, margin and stock-level projections across the product hierarchy, channels, and various product and business attributes. MFP solutions can bridge and facilitate a seamless “talk to finance” working relationship to formulate short- and long-term strategic plans. MFP solution implementations have proven use cases that have delivered direct improvements to KPIs such as reducing inventory levels and increasing profitability.

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Board is the Enterprise Planning Platform built to accelerate business performance and enable continuous planning with greater forecast accuracy to drive confident, aligned decisions.

Its fully integrated planning solution spans the entire enterprise, delivering value for financial and operational planning in one unified platform. Using internal data and expert-curated external indicators, Board provides real-time visibility into your business.

Board offers a highly flexible, collaborative and adaptive user experience, powering executive dashboards and analytic capabilities that allows clear explanation and interpretation delivered through generative AI. This allows organizations to respond in an agile manner: capitalize on opportunities, optimize resources and mitigate risks.

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Anaplan is a scenario planning and analysis platform designed to optimize decision-making in today’s complex business environment so that enterprises can outpace their competition and the market. By building connections and collaboration across organizational silos, our platform surfaces key insights — so businesses can make the right decisions, right now.

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The company focuses on fostering robust planning and intelligent decision-making in businesses. Understanding that global supply chains largely consume the earth’s resources, the company is committed to promoting efficient planning, which enables enterprises to meet their goals while conserving resources. It also addresses the issue of transparency, aiding in the reduction of organizational silos, personal empowerment, and productivity enhancement. This is achieved through their platform and solutions designed to assist enterprises in these key aspects. The company seemingly acknowledges the positive ripple effects that efficient business practices can have on employee well-being and societal contribution.

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Aptean is a global firm specializing in purpose-built, industry-specific software designed to enable manufacturers and distributors to operate and expand their businesses effectively. Aptean offers both cloud and on-premise deployment options for its services. The company's products, services and proficiency support businesses of various sizes. Based in Alpharetta, Georgia, Aptean operates from offices situated in North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.

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Blue Yonder software and services drive digital supply chain transformation. Retailers, manufacturers and logistics service providers worldwide rely on Blue Yonder to optimize and accelerate their supply chain from planning through fulfillment, delivery, and returns. Blue Yonder’s AI-driven supply chain platform and multi-enterprise, multi-tier network enable more accurate forecasting and dynamic management of capacity, inventory and transport. Blue Yonder helps businesses navigate modern supply chain complexity and volatility with more resilient, sustainable supply chains to delight customers, scale profitably, and run flawlessly.

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Centric Software, based in Silicon Valley, primarily offers a platform that is focused on generating a concept to product launch for various consumer goods sectors, including fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor, consumer electronics, cosmetics & personal care, and food & beverage. The company's platform aims to fulfill the requirements of various market participants by aiding them in the production of high-quality, contemporary, and sustainable products. The digital solutions that Centric Software offers, include Centric PLM, Centric Planning, Centric Visual Boards, and Centric Pricing, cater to multiple aspects such as merchandise planning, product development, sourcing, retail planning, pricing, and product assortments. Furthermore, Centric Software's platform seamlessly integrates with multiple systems, including ERP, DAM, PIM, e-com, creative tools like Adobe Illustrator, and several 3D CAD connectors. Centric Software operates as a subsidiary of Dassault Systèmes.

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Fractal is a company that specializes in providing Artificial Intelligence to businesses globally. The company aims to integrate AI, engineering, and design to support decision-making processes within enterprises. It offers several services including Crux Intelligence, which focuses on AI-driven business intelligence; Eugenie.ai, which encompasses AI for sustainability; Asper.ai, concentrating on AI for revenue growth management; and Senseforth.ai, which offers conversational AI for sales and customer service. The company also developed Qure.ai, which utilizes AI in healthcare for tuberculosis and lung cancer detection. At present, Fractal is home to over 4000 employees, with their presence reaching across 16 international locations, encompassing the United States, UK, Ukraine, India, Singapore, and Australia.

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Oracle is a cloud technology company that offers computing infrastructure and software solutions globally. This organization has developed an autonomous database, the first of its kind, to help manage and secure data. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure presents functionalities to facilitate the transition of workloads from on-site systems to the cloud, and vice versa, as well as between different clouds. Oracle's cloud software applications provide modern tools designed to support sustainable growth and resilience in businesses. Tools developed by Oracle are used by a wide range of users including nonprofit organizations and businesses of various sizes, to aid in operations like supply chain streamlining, human resource management, financial planning and connecting data and global users. Apart from business solutions, Oracle's technology also aids in tasks ranging from government defense to scientific and medical research.

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Centific is a company that offers data-integrated, intelligence-based solutions primarily focused on addressing intricate business challenges. Having two decades of experience in Data and AI, the company assists brands to foster sustainably while building enduring value and customer loyalty. Centific's range of offerings encompasses Generative AI, Data Collection, Curation and Annotation, Localization, Digital Fraud and Safety, and Growth Marketing. The company combines clear vision, proficiency in technology, and operational excellence to assist companies in their pursuit for efficiency and change.

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360-degree AI powered retail automation products are developed by the company, designed to facilitate enterprises in automating intricate workflows and transforming their data into valuable insights. The company synergizes business acumen from first-rate strategy consultants, enhanced machine learning from skilled data scientists, as well as groundbreaking product development from proficient application designers and developers. The solutions offered enable clients to attain success. The company team includes high-tier consultants, data scientists proficient in advanced machine learning, and product developers with a track record of creating winning mobility products. The aim is to integrate high-quality data science within the client's team. The company's delivery model and expertise are developed in a way to help clients attain data science excellence while keeping costs low.

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S5, a company focused on the supply chain and planning space, concentrates on revolutionizing systems related to these domains. It strives to create systems that are attractive, simple, enjoyable, usable, affordable, and efficient. The primary objective it solves is to enhance user experience and effectiveness in supply chain and planning systems. Through these endeavors, S5 aims to contribute to overall productivity in these areas.

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SAP was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Walldorf, Germany. The company employs over 105,000 people globally and develops software solutions for enterprise resource planning (ERP) and related business functions. SAP’s early products, SAP R/2 and SAP R/3, were widely adopted for managing core business processes. Its current ERP platform, SAP S/4HANA, uses in-memory computing to support data-intensive operations and integrates capabilities such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.

SAP offers a portfolio of software applications that support various business functions across industries. These applications are designed to operate on a unified digital platform. As of 2025, SAP reports over 230 million cloud users and provides more than 100 solutions. The company’s offerings are used by organizations to manage finance, human resources, procurement, supply chain, and other operational areas.

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SAS is a global leader in AI and analytics software, including industry-specific solutions. SAS helps organizations transform data into trusted decisions faster by providing knowledge in the moments that matter. SAS gives you THE POWER TO KNOW®.

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ToolsGroup focuses on assisting organizations in achieving their desired service levels while efficiently managing their inventory, irrespective of the complexity of their supply chain or the unpredictability of demand. In an unpredictable world, it equips organizations for any eventualities, including multi-echelon inventory optimization issues and the uncertainties of sporadic demand. ToolsGroup enables these organizations to anticipate more behaviours, guard against unexpected events, and perform at optimum levels. This proficiency lies at the heart of its longstanding relationships with global leaders.

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Solvoyo tackles the issue of over-reliance on manual processes in international supply chain planning. Over-dependence on spreadsheets hinders the sharing of insights across departments, subsequently affecting an organization's ability to swiftly meet customer demands. Traditional ERP systems, partially addressing this problem, only offer rudimentary planning and forecasting logic. In contrast, Solvoyo's platform embraces digital transformation and automation as solutions. This cloud-based SaaS platform harnesses advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to automate decision-making in supply chain planning. With features like demand forecasting, production planning, and network replenishment, it eradicates business silos and further reduces manual labor reliance. The platform’s scalability, analytical potential, and quick implementation cycles have found utility worldwide.

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Features of Retail Merchandise Financial Planning

Updated February 2025

Mandatory Features:

  • Calculate all core merchandising KPIs, including cost of goods sold (COGS), gross margin, mark-down costs and inventory levels.

  • Forecast sales based on all internal data and external sources that can be leveraged to develop a better understanding of the current market trends.

  • Calculate the optimum value of inventory receipts required to achieve the sales plan for preseason and in-season, open-to-buy (OTB).

  • Enable forecasts down to all levels of the product hierarchy and attributes and across all channels. Provide reconciliation support to align merchandise financial plans with assortment planning throughout the process.

Gartner Research