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’s Range and Assortment Solution equips retailers with the tools to optimize product mix and channel assortment—driving profitability, improving inventory management, and effortlessly aligning assortments with local customer demand.
Merchant-friendly and highly adaptable assortment planning features can improve forecast accuracy and automate processes to support faster decision-making. Key highlights of this solution include seamless integration of merchandise financial planning, range & assortment, and allocation & replenishment—all underpinned by predictive analytics.
With scalability designed to handle SKU and store-level decisions, Board delivers high performance and adaptability for today’s retail environment. The solution also effectively delivers extensibility, effortlessly ingesting new retail data sources to keep your merchandising strategies ahead of the curve.
Anaplan for Merchandising is a software designed to support retail organizations in planning and managing merchandising strategies. The software enables users to optimize product assortments, plan inventory levels, and allocate resources effectively across stores and channels. It provides real-time collaboration and scenario modeling capabilities, helping businesses respond to market changes and align merchandising decisions with financial and operational objectives. The software also allows for better demand forecasting and performance tracking, supporting data-driven decisions to enhance assortment planning, stock management, and overall merchandise financial planning processes.
o9 Digital Brain Platform is a software designed to support integrated business planning and operations for enterprises across industries. The software enables organizations to model supply chain networks, conduct scenario analysis, forecast demand, and optimize inventory and procurement strategies. It leverages advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and knowledge management capabilities to provide a unified view of data from multiple sources. The software is intended to address challenges related to transparency and coordination in end-to-end planning, facilitating agile decision-making and process automation. It offers configurable modules for demand planning, supply chain management, financial planning, and commercial management, aiming to improve responsiveness and align planning with execution.
Aptean Merchandise Financial Planning is a software designed to facilitate financial planning processes for retail and merchandise organizations. The software enables users to forecast sales, plan inventory, manage budgets, and align financial objectives with merchandising strategies. It supports the development of financial plans across multiple channels and product categories, helping businesses balance stock levels and optimize cash flow. The software provides tools for analyzing performance metrics and assists in the identification of trends and deviations in financial outcomes. By automating planning workflows, the software aims to streamline collaboration among planning teams and enhance decision making related to purchasing, allocation, and pricing strategies within merchandising operations.
Blue Yonder Order Management & Commerce is a software designed to optimize and orchestrate omnichannel order fulfillment for retailers and businesses. The software enables seamless integration of order processes from multiple channels, including online and in-store, allowing organizations to manage inventory, process orders, and fulfill customer demands efficiently. It provides functionalities such as real-time inventory visibility, intelligent order routing, and automated workflows to support accurate and timely delivery. By consolidating order data, the software helps improve order accuracy and unify commerce operations, addressing business challenges related to order complexity, fragmented systems, and customer experience across various sales channels.
Centric Planning is a software designed to support end-to-end planning processes for businesses, with a focus on categories such as retail, fashion, and consumer goods. The software enables users to manage assortment, merchandise, financial, and demand planning, offering tools for scenario modeling and forecasting. Centric Planning provides integrated analytics and data visualization to help organizations streamline decision-making, optimize inventory, and align product offerings with market demand. The software supports collaboration across teams and departments to increase planning accuracy and drive operational efficiency by addressing challenges related to product lifecycle management, supply chain coordination, and demand fluctuations.
Fractal Merchandize Analytics and Planning is a software designed to support retail and consumer businesses in optimizing their merchandise management processes. The software utilizes analytical methodologies to assist organizations in forecasting demand, managing inventory, and optimizing assortments. It offers features such as data-driven insights into sales patterns, automated replenishment recommendations, and scenario planning for product allocation across various channels and locations. By leveraging predictive modeling and advanced analytics, the software aims to address business challenges related to inventory control, stockouts, overstock situations, and profitability. Its functionalities enable users to align sales, inventory, and merchandising strategies with market trends and internal business goals.
Oracle Retail Inventory Planning and Management software supports retailers in optimizing inventory levels across multiple channels. The software provides tools for demand forecasting, inventory allocation, replenishment planning, and stock monitoring. It enables users to analyze sales trends, automate replenishment processes, reduce out-of-stock situations, and manage product assortments based on real-time data. Through integration with existing retail systems, the software assists businesses in maintaining inventory accuracy, improving productivity, and increasing visibility into inventory movement throughout the supply chain. This contributes to effective merchandise planning and helps organizations align inventory investments with consumer demand and financial objectives.
Pitaya is a software developed to support data labeling and annotation tasks across various machine learning and artificial intelligence projects. The software enables users to manage labeling workflows and quality assurance processes for image, text, audio, and video data. Pitaya offers automation features that streamline annotation and facilitates collaboration among teams working on large-scale datasets. The software integrates with other machine learning platforms to optimize model training and evaluation by providing accurately labeled data. Pitaya addresses the business problem of maintaining consistency, scalability, and accuracy in data preparation, which is essential for developing effective AI models and applications.
PlanSmart is a software designed to assist businesses with merchandise planning and forecasting. The software provides features for demand prediction, optimized inventory management, and automated replenishment planning. PlanSmart leverages data analytics to generate actionable insights that support decision-making in areas such as assortment, allocation, and pricing. By streamlining planning processes and providing visibility into performance metrics, the software addresses challenges associated with overstocking, stockouts, and inaccurate sales forecasting, enabling organizations to improve operational efficiency and maintain balanced inventory levels.
S5 is a software designed to support organizations in managing operational performance through real-time data analytics and monitoring. The software provides tools for collecting, visualizing, and analyzing data from multiple sources to help users make informed decisions. S5 enables tracking of key performance indicators, facilitates incident reporting, and supports alarm and event management. The software aims to address the business need for improved visibility and control over operational processes, helping organizations optimize efficiency and mitigate risks. It is suitable for complex environments where centralized control and actionable insights are critical for operational effectiveness.
SAP S/4HANA Retail for Merchandise Management is software designed to support core retail processes, including merchandise planning, procurement, inventory management, and pricing. The software facilitates integration across various retail functions, enabling real-time data processing and analysis. It helps businesses optimize stock levels, monitor sales trends, and manage purchasing cycles for improved efficiency. By automating tasks such as replenishment and assortment planning, the software supports retailers in responding to market demand and reducing operational complexities. It addresses business requirements for visibility and control over merchandise operations, supporting decision-making through embedded analytics and streamlining end-to-end retail workflows.
SAS Merchandise Planning is a software designed to support retail organizations in managing and optimizing their merchandise planning processes. The software enables businesses to forecast demand, plan assortments, manage inventory, and align product allocation with consumer demand and business objectives. It provides tools that help analyze sales data, identify trends, and improve decision-making throughout the merchandise lifecycle. SAS Merchandise Planning is used to address challenges related to overstock, stockouts, and the need for accurate forecasting across various retail channels, helping organizations improve inventory efficiency and streamline planning operations.
SO99plus is a supply chain planning software that focuses on demand forecasting, inventory optimization, and replenishment planning for businesses operating in sectors such as retail, distribution, and manufacturing. The software uses probabilistic forecasting and machine learning algorithms to analyze sales data, manage stock levels, and optimize inventory policies. It addresses the challenge of balancing service levels with inventory investment and helps organizations respond to variability in demand and supply. SO99plus supports scenario planning, multi-echelon inventory modeling, and integration with enterprise resource planning systems. The software is designed to automate decision-making processes, improve supply chain visibility, and enhance operational efficiency across complex networks.
Solvoyo is a software platform designed to address supply chain planning challenges by offering analytics-driven solutions for demand forecasting, inventory optimization, production planning, and logistics management. The software combines automation and advanced analytics to enable the integration and synchronization of planning processes across procurement, manufacturing, distribution, and fulfillment functions. Solvoyo supports scenario analysis, allowing users to evaluate the impact of different variables on supply chain outcomes. The software is configurable and supports various industries by providing insights that help reduce costs, improve service levels, and enhance inventory visibility. Solvoyo is deployed in cloud environments, allowing scalable and collaborative planning for organizations seeking to optimize their end-to-end supply chain operations.
Features of Retail Merchandise Financial Planning
Updated February 2025Mandatory 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.














