9 Create Location Plan Task

Location Planning is the process during which planners create the location plans at the Store level. These plans are then compared to and reconciled against the Merch Plan.

Building the Workbook

To build the workbook, complete the following steps:

1. Click the Create New Workbook icon in the Create Location Plan task.

2. The Product Selection step of the workbook wizard is displayed. Select the department you want to plan and move it to the Selected Items box. Click Next.

   Figure 9-1 Workbook Wizard: Product Selection

   
   

3. The workbook wizard opens at the Calendar Selection step. Select the halves that you want to plan and move them to the Selected Items box. Click Next.

   Figure 9-2 Workbook Wizard: Calendar Selection

   
   

4. The Location Selection step of the workbook wizard is displayed. Select the channels you want to plan and move them to the Selected Items box. Click Finish.

   Figure 9-3 Workbook Wizard: Location Selection

   
   

Create Location Plan

This section describes location plan creation.

Seed Plan

The user can seed from Last Year (Ly), Forecast (Fcst), and Targets (Tgt*). Table 9-1 lists the measures that are seeded for different seeding options. Note that only Target measures that correspond to Variance to Ly (varLy) measures are seeded.

Table 9-1 Seeding Options

Seeded Measure	Seed With Version
Wp Sales R	Ly/Fcst/Tgt*
Wp Sales U	Ly/Fcst/Tgt*
Wp GM R %	Ly/Tgt
Wp Returns R %	Ly/Tgt*
Wp Returns AUR	Ly/Tgt*
Wp Receipts C	Ly
Wp Receipts U	Ly
Wp Shrink C %	Ly
Wp Shrink AUC	Ly
Wp Transfers In/Out C	Ly
Wp Transfers In/Out U	Ly
Wp W/F Owned by Retailer R %	Ly
Wp W/F Markup R %	Ly
Wp W/F Markdown R %	Ly

Sales and Markdowns

After seeding, the user can validate the seeded sales and markdown data in this view.

Figure 9-4 Sales and Markdowns View

Plan Sales/Markdowns View

After you have seeded, develop the sales and markdown location plan for those departments. The second tab within the Create Plan step, Sales/Markdowns, has one default view: Plan Sales and Markdowns.

Figure 9-5 Plan Sales/Markdowns View

If Wholesale Franchise or Local Currency options are provisioned, then there are additional views to support planning Sales/Markdowns that specifically cater to these options.

• Local Currency Plan

• Plan W/F Sales and Markup

Local Currency Plan

The Local Currency step displays your plan using the local currency conversion set up by the administrator.

Figure 9-6 Local Currency Plan View

Plan W/F Sales and Markup

If the Wholesale Franchise options are provisioned, then this additional view will be available to plan additional wholesale/franchise measures in this view.

Figure 9-7 Plan W/F Sales and Markup View

Plan Receipts/Inventory

The third tab within the Create Location Plan step, Inventory/Gross Margin, has two default views: Plan/Receipts and Inventory and Gross Margin.

After you have developed the sales and markdown plan, you develop a receipts and inventory plan that can support the sales and markdown plan. The purpose of this step is to ensure that you have a receipt and inventory plan that supports the sales that you are projecting. Like the Plan Sales and Markdowns View, the Plan Receipts/Inventory view contains several Ly metrics that you can reference when setting your targets. Additional measures can be used to adjust your inventory targets.

Figure 9-8 Plan Receipts/Inventory View

Use the Gross Margin view to evaluate the gross margin created from your sales and markdown plan and receipts and inventory plan. Determine whether the planned gross margin meets your gross margin goal. If it does not, return to the Plan Sales and Markdown Plan and Plan Inventory and Receipt Plan steps to adjust your receipt markups and receipt flow. When you return to the Plan Sales and Markdowns view, adjust the markdown plans, but do not change the sales. Continue this process until you are satisfied with the gross margin.

Figure 9-9 Gross Margin View

If Wholesale Franchise or Local Currency options are provisioned, then there are additional views to support planning sales and markdowns that specifically cater to these options.

• Local Currency Plan

• W/F Gross Margin

The Local Currency Plan view shows the Gross Margin plan using the local currency conversion set up by the administrator.

Figure 9-10 Local Currency Plan

The W/F Gross Margin view shows the planned Wholesale Franchise Gross Margin if this option is provisioned.

Figure 9-11 W/F Gross Margin

Review and Reconcile to MFP

In this step, review and compare your targets to the top down targets to see if you meet the goals created by the top down user. Use the MFP OP and the MFP CP measure profiles to reconcile your location plan to the Merch Plan targets.

Figure 9-12 Review and Reconcile

Review and Approve

In this step, the location planner can review and approve the created location plan. The Review and Approve step contains two views: Review Plan and Approve Plan.

Review Plan

In this step, review the location plan you created. Use the Approve Plan custom menu when you are ready to approve the location plan you created. The purpose of reviewing the plan is so that you can understand the goal that your plan should meet.

Figure 9-13 Review Plan

Approve Plan

When you are ready to approve your working plan, use the Approve Plan view and custom menu Approve Plan. The approved versions are committed after the process is complete.

Figure 9-14 Approve Plan View

Review and Re-Approve

Use this step to review the location plan during in-season for On Order and Open to Buy and to update the plan and reapprove if necessary. The Review and Re-Approve step has two views: Review and Re-Project Plan and Approve Plan.

Figure 9-15 Review and Re-Approve

Review and Re-Project Plan

In this view, the user can review On Order and Open to Buy during the in-season, adjust the planned inventory data as needed, and re-approve the CP plan.

Figure 9-16 Review and Re-Project Plan

Approve Plan

When you are ready to reapprove your working plan during the in-season, use this view and the custom menu Approve Plan to re-approve the plan.

Figure 9-17 Approve Plan View

All Measures

The purpose of this workbook is to allow you to create a view of workbook measures that you may not be able to view at the same time in other views.

Figure 9-18 All Measures

All Measures View

The All Measures view contains all the measures contained in the workbook; however, only the Wp Sales R measure is visible in the default measure profile. All the remaining measures are available via Show/Hide.

Figure 9-19 All Measures View