6 Create Merch Plan Targets Task

The Merch Targets role is usually associated with senior and middle management in the merchandise planning organization. The overall goal of the Merch Targets user is to develop strategic and department-level targets that set the financial guidance for the planning organization.

Merch Targets users typically begin planning two to three years before the planning period. This is known as pre-season planning. During this time, Merch Targets users create the Merchandise Financial Plan for the season or for the entire year.

When Merch Targets users open MFP in the RPAS Fusion Client, they are presented with the activity called Create Merch Plan Targets and task of the same name. This task belongs solely to the Merch Targets user. It includes the following four steps:

• Create Targets

• Review and Publish Targets

• Review and Approve Plan

• In Season Review and Re-Project Targets

The first two steps are related to the pre-season creation and publication of targets to the Merch Planner. The third step involves reviewing and approving or rejecting plans submitted by the Merch Plan role. The fourth step is used for in-season adjustments to targets. These tasks and steps are shown in Figure 6-1.

Figure 6-1 Merch Targets Role View: Task and Steps

The Merch Targets user must complete the first three steps to publish the strategic targets to the Merch Plan user. To do this, the Merch Targets user must first build the workbook.

Building the Workbook

To build the Merch Targets role workbook, complete the following steps.

1. Click the Create New Workbook icon in the Create Merch Targets task.

   Figure 6-2 Create New Workbook Icon

   
   

2. 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 6-3 Workbook Wizard: Calendar Selection

   
   

3. 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 Next.

   Figure 6-4 Workbook Wizard: Location Selection

   
   

4. The Product Selection step of the workbook wizard is displayed. Select the location you want to plan and move it to the Selected Items box. Click Finish.

   Figure 6-5 Workbook Wizard: Product Selection

   
   

   The Merch Targets role workbook is built, and the Initialize view opens.

Create Targets

This section provides details about creating targets.

Seed Plan

The first action that the Merch Target users complete when creating new targets is to seed the plan with the Initialize view.

This view is found under the first tab within the Create Targets Step, Seed Plan.

Figure 6-6 Create Targets - Seed Plan: Initialize Plan View

Table 6-1 Top Down Initialize Plan Measures

Measure	Description
Seed Source	The seed source used to seed the working plan. Use this option to seed or not seed the working plan. You can seed with Last Year's (Ly) or Forecast (Fcst) data. Or, you can choose the Blank option if you do not want to seed the working plan.
Seed Info	Includes a few pertinent facts about the last time that the Seed custom menu was executed: last seed source concatenated with last seeded date and the last user to seed. If blank, then the given intersection has never been seeded.

With this view, you can choose to seed your plan with Last Year (Ly) or Forecast (Fcst) data to create a demand curve on which to spread the new plan's initial targets. Or, you can instead choose to not seed the plan, which allows you to create a plan that is not influenced by last year's performance or forecast (plus last year's performance).

In the preceding example, both Half1 and Half2 have been selected to be seeded for the Brick & Mortar channel for the 500 Women's Casuals Traditional department.

Seeding the Plan

When seeding the plan, you can choose which information is seeded. For instance, you can seed just one half or all halves in the task, as shown in Figure 6-6. You can also choose what locations and products to seed.

There are two ways you can seed. You can seed each level individually or you can seed several levels at once by changing the dimension level shown in the view.

Seeding One Level at a Time

As shown in Figure 6-6, only the Brick & Mortar channel and the 500 Women's Casual Traditional division have been selected to be seeded with Ly data. This means that the other product divisions have not been selected to be seeded yet. To seed the next division in the Product dimension within the Brick & Mortar channel, complete the following steps:

1. Click within the dimension field that you want to change, as shown in Figure 6-7.

2. Click the Next or Previous arrow, as shown in Figure 6-7.

   Figure 6-7 Change a Dimension Level with Page Arrows

   
   

3. The page refreshes and the next division in the Product dimension is displayed in the page edge. Note that the Seed Source measure is no longer populated.

4. Select the half that you want to seed with Ly or Adj Forecast.

5. Click the Next arrow to view and seed the next division.

6. When you have selected all the data you want to seed, click Seed in the top right corner.

   Figure 6-8 Seed Button

   
   

7. A confirmation message is displayed, stating that the data has been successfully seeded. Click OK.

   Figure 6-9 Seeding Success Message

   
   

   After you have seeded, the view refreshes and the Seed Info measure contains the last seed source concatenated with the last seeded date and the last user to seed.

Seeding Several Levels at Once

If you want to seed several locations and several products at once, you may want to change the level of the dimensions shown in the page edge.

The default setting of the Initialize Plan view is set to show the Calendar dimension at the half level, the Location dimension at the channel level, and the Product dimension at the division level.

To change the dimension level shown in the page edge or grid, complete the following steps:

1. Click the dimension tile of the dimension level you want to change.

   Figure 6-10 Location Dimension Tile

   
   

2. The dimension window is displayed. Select the level of the dimension that you want to appear in the page edge. If you want to view more than one level at a time in the page edge or grid, select multiple levels. In Figure 6-11, Channel was deselected and all [Location] was selected instead.

   Figure 6-11 Location Dimension Window

   
   

3. Click OK when finished.

4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 for other dimensions, if desired.

5. After the dimensions are at the level you want, select the halves that you want to seed.

   In Figure 6-12, both the Location and Product dimensions are at All, and the halves Half1 FY2020 and Half2 FY2020 have been set to seed from last year.

6. When you have selected all the data you want to seed, click Seed in the top right corner, as shown in Figure 6-12.

   Figure 6-12 Seed Several Levels at Once

   
   

7. The view refreshes and the Seed Info measure contains the last seed source concatenated with the last seeded date and the last user to seed. A confirmation message is displayed, stating that the data has been successfully seeded. Click OK.

   Figure 6-13 Seeding Success Message

   
   

   After you have seeded the divisions, continue to the next step: Sales/Markdowns.

Sales and Markdowns

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

Figure 6-14 Sales and Markdowns View

If the Wholesale Franchise or Local Currency options are provisioned, then there are additional views to support planning sales and markdowns specifically catered to those options:

• W/F - Sales and Markdowns

  Figure 6-15 W/F - Sales and Markdowns View

  
  

• Local - Sales and Markdowns

  Figure 6-16 Local - Sales and Markdowns View

  
  

Receipts and Inventory

The third tab within the Create Targets step, Receipts and Inventory, has one view: Receipts and Inventory.

Figure 6-17 Receipts and Inventory View

Gross Margin/Net Margin

After you have seeded, develop the sales and markdown targets for those departments. The last tab within the Create Targets step, Gross Margin, has one default view: Gross Margin.

Figure 6-18 1. Gross Margin/Net Margin View

If the Wholesale Franchise or Local Currency options are provisioned, then there are additional views to support planning Gross Margin specifically catered to those options:

• W/F - Gross Margin

  Figure 6-19 W/F - Gross Margin View

  
  

• Local - Gross Margin

  Figure 6-20 Local - Gross Margin View

  
  

To create the Merch Targets, one approach is to complete the following steps within the views described above:

1. Seed the plan using Last Year or Forecast to create a base plan. All percentage measures will be seeded to maintain same percentage as Last Year. For example: Wp Gross Margin%, Wp Shrink C%.

2. Net Sales Cost will be seeded with values to maintain the same last year Gross Margin%.

3. Enter the Wp Sales R that you are projecting. Use Fcst Sales R as a guide.

4. Enter the projected Wp Gross Margin% at month level and click Calculate in order to calculate the Wp Gross Margin R and Wp Net Sales C.

5. Plan the required inventory by adjusting Wp Stock to Sales Ratio. Adjust other seeded inventory measures such as Wp Shrink C ands Wp MOS C and plan the Wp Receipts C.

Review and Publish Targets

In the Review Targets step, review the targets you created in the Create Targets step.

The next action that the Merch Target users complete is to review and publish their targets.

Review Targets

In this view, review the targets you created in the previous step. If you need to alter the targets shown in this view, return to the Create Targets step to edit them there.

Note: If you have not published Merch Targets yet, the Tgt measures have no values.

Figure 6-21 Review Targets View

If you are satisfied with the target plan you have created, proceed to the next Merch Target role step: Publish Targets.

Publish Targets

Publishing a target copies your Merch Target Wp measure information to the Tgt measures in your task, and then it commits those target measures to the database so that Merch Plan users can retrieve those targets.

The Tgt measures are shown in the Review Targets view found in the Review and Publish Targets step. These measures initially have zero values. After the targets are published in this step, these measures are populated with the target information.

Figure 6-22 Publish Targets

To publish the targets, complete the following steps.

1. Select the halves in the Wp Publish Targets measure that you want to publish.

2. If needed, enter relevant information in the Wp Publish Notes measure. This is optional.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for other locations and products if necessary.

4. Click Publish Targets. This button is located in the top right corner.

5. A success message is displayed. Click OK to close it.

   Figure 6-23 Success Message - Publish Targets

   
   

6. The view refreshes the data in the Wp Publish Targets and the Wp Publish Notes measures. It populates the data for Tgt Publish Notes measure as name:date:notes.

   Figure 6-24 Successfully Published Targets

   
   

Next Steps

After you have published your targets and committed your task, the Merch Plan user can use the targets to create a plan. To learn about the Merch Targets user's role, see Chapter 7.

If you need to revise your targets at any time during the pre-season, you can follow the same procedures described in this chapter. Since you have already created a working plan, there is no need to seed the task again, unless you want to start again with Ly (Last Year) or Fcst (Forecast) data.