| Oracle® Retail Merchandise Financial Planning Cost Cloud Service User Guide Release 15.0 E69494-01 |
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| Oracle® Retail Merchandise Financial Planning Cost Cloud Service User Guide Release 15.0 E69494-01 |
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The Merch Plan role is usually associated with the merchandise planner in the merchandise planning organization. During the pre-season, the Merch Plan user receives department targets from the Merch Targets user. The Merch Plan user references those targets when creating the department and subclass targets.
When Merch Plan users open MFP in the RPAS Fusion Client, they are presented with the preseason activity called Create Merch Plan. This plan belongs only to the Merch Plan user. It includes the following steps:
Create Plan
Review and Reconcile
Review and Submit Plan
In-Season Review and Re-Project Plan
In-Season Submit Plan
After Merch Plan users develop the department plan, they submit their plan to the Merch Targets user for approval using the Review and Submit task. This task has two steps:
Review Plan
Submit and Copy Approved Plan
These tasks and steps are shown in Figure 7-1.
The Merch Plan user must complete the first three steps in the Create Merch Plan task in order to create the department plans and submit them for approval to the Merch Targets user. To do this, the Merch Plan user must first build the workbook.
To build the bottom up role workbook, complete the following steps.
Click the Create New Workbook icon in the Create Merch Plan task.
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.
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.
The Product Selection step of the workbook wizard is displayed. Select the company you want to plan and move it to the Selected Items box. Click Finish.
The Merch Plan role workbook is built, and the Initialize view opens.
This section provides details about plan creation.
The first action that the Merch Plan users complete when creating new plans is to seed the plan with the Initialize view. This view is found under the first tab within the Create Plan Step, Seed Plan.
Table 7-1 Merch Plan Initialize Plan Measures
| Measure | Description |
|---|---|
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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. |
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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.
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 7-6. 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.
As shown in Figure 7-6, only the Brick & Mortar channel and the 20 Menswear 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:
Click within the dimension field that you want to change, as shown in Figure 7-7.
Click the Next or Previous arrow, as shown in Figure 7-7.
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.
Select the half that you want to seed with Ly or Adj Ly data.
Click the Next arrow to view and seed the next division.
When you have selected all the data you want to seed, click Seed in the top right corner.
A confirmation message is displayed, stating that the data has been successfully seeded. Click OK.
After you have seeded, the view refreshes and the Last Seed Source and Last Seed Date measures contain the source and date of the last seed.
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:
Click the dimension tile of the dimension level you want to change.
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 7-11, Channel was deselected and all [Location] was selected instead.
Click OK when finished.
Repeat steps 1 through 3 for other dimensions if desired.
After the dimensions are at the level you want, select the halves that you want to seed.
In Figure 7-12, both the Location and Product dimensions are at All, and the halves Half1 FY2020 and Half2 FY2020 to H1TY and H2TY have been set to seed from last year.
When you have selected all the data you want to seed, click Seed in the top right corner, as shown in Figure 7-12.
The view refreshes and the Last Seeded Source and Last Seed Date measures contain the source and date of the last seed. A confirmation message is displayed, stating that the data has been successfully seeded. Click OK.
After you have seeded the divisions, continue to the next tab: Sales and Markdowns.
After you have seeded, develop the sales and markdown plan for those departments. The second tab within the Create Plan step, Sales and Markdowns, has one default view: Sales and Markdowns.
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
Local - Sales and Markdowns
The third tab within the Create Plan step, Receipts and Inventory, has one view: Receipts and Inventory.
After you have seeded, develop the sales and markdown plan for those departments. The last tab within the Create Plan step, Gross Margin, has one default view: Gross Margin.
If 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
Local - Gross Margin
After you have seeded the groups and reviewed the Merch Target plan, you can develop the sales and markdown plan for the subclasses within those departments using the Sales and Markdowns view.
Use the following best practices to plan the sales and markdowns.
Using the default measure profile, which is Sales and Markdowns, review and compare the total sales to the forecast.
Change the measure profile to Sales by Type.
In the Sales by Type measure profile, plan your sales by type. The sales types are Total Sales, Regular + Promo Sales, and Clearance Sales.
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Note: Since sales and markdowns are both planned at the type level, you must first complete the sales by type planning before you can plan the markdowns by type. |
Start by planning the regular sales. Then, using your marketing calendar as a guide, align the promotional sales to the calendar. Refer to the calendar again for the exit weeks for the products and plan the clearance sales for those weeks.
The planned figures for these sales types populates the Wp Sales R measure.
Return to the Sales and Markdowns measure profile.
With the total Wp Sales R populated, you can adjust the total to your plan while still maintaining the relationships between the different sales types.
Plan the shrink with either the Wp Shrink R or Wp Shrink R% measure.
Change the measure profile to Markdown by Type.
In the Markdown by Type profile, edit the Wp Markdown Promo R% to adjust the Wp Markdown Promo Rate.
After you have adjusted the sales and markdown plan, continue to the next step: Inventory and Receipt Plan.
After you have developed the sales and markdown plan, 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. There are also additional measures for adjusting your inventory targets. Note that the adjustments you made to the Wp Sales R measure in the Plan Sales and Markdowns view are visible in this view if you have calculated.
Use the following best practices to plan the receipts and inventory.
Plan the receipt flow and then evaluate the average inventory and turn.
Adjust the Wp Stock to Sales C measure accordingly. These adjustments affect the receipts for both the current month and prior month. However, the total plan period receipts do not increase or decrease; they only shift from month to month.
After you have created an achievable receipts and inventory plan, continue to the Gross/Net Margin Plan to see if your sales and inventory plans achieve the gross margin goal you have been given.
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 Sales and Markdown Plan and 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.
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
Local - Gross Margin
Now that you have developed your gross margin plans, continue to the Review and Reconcile to Department Targets step.
After you have seeded, you need to review the department targets that the Merch Targets user has created for you. The purpose of reviewing the targets is so that you can understand the goal that your plan should meet.
The Review with Target view contains the Merch Targets target (Tgt) measures as well as last year (Ly) measures. Use this view to compare the Tgt measures to the corresponding Ly measures. By understanding how the Merch Targets compare to last year's metrics, you can better understand what your plan needs to achieve.
If the Merch Plan user updates the department targets after you have created your subclass plans, you must retrieve those new targets. You can retrieve them in one of two ways. You can build a new workbook that uses the updated department targets from the domain. Or, if you want to bring the new targets into one of your existing tasks, you can refresh the task.
When refreshing a workbook, you can run a refresh rule group that has been configured to retrieve data from the master database.
To refresh a workbook, click Refresh in the toolbar. Or, choose the Refresh option from the Edit menu. Since only one rule group exists for this workbook template, there are no options to choose from. The one refresh rule group runs, and measures configured in that rule group are updated.
For more information about the refresh option, see the Oracle Retail Predictive Application Server User Guide for the Fusion Client. For information about creating refresh rule groups, see the Oracle Retail Predictive Application Server Configuration Tools User Guide.
After you have reviewed and compared the Merch Targets to the last year metrics, continue to the next step: Sales and Markdown Plan.
After you have created your plan, use the default measure profile located on the Review with Target worksheet view to reconcile the Merch Plan to Department Targets.
After you are satisfied that the plan you have created sufficiently meets the Merch Targets, you can submit your plan to the Merch Target user. For more information about submitting the plan, see the Review and Submit Plan Step.
Use these two measure profiles to compare your plan. This view is used to reconcile with the location plan, if such a plan is available.
Wp/LPCp
Wp/OpCp
When you are ready to submit your working plan to the Merch Targets user for approval, continue to Review and Submit Plan task.
In the taskflow, click the Open icon in the Review and Submit Plan task.
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Note: You can either open a workbook or create a new workbook. If you have committed the workbook used in the previous task, you can build a new one and see the data you need. If you did not commit that one, you must open it to complete this process. |
The Open Workbook dialog box opens. Select the workbook that you want to submit and click Open Workbook.
The workbook opens at the Submit Plan view.
When you are ready to submit your working plan to the Merch Targets user for approval, use the Submit Plan view.
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Note: When the Op Approve Enabled measure is selected, you can submit a plan for the Op version. This measure is set by an administrator in the Enable OP Approval administration task. The administrator can select or deselect this option at any time. If the administrator deselects it during the in-season, you will not be able to submit a plan for the Op. The administrator may choose to do this after the planning process has been finalized in order to lock down the Op. If this occurs, you will be unable to submit a plan for the Op and the Merch Targets user will be unable to approve a plan for the Op. |
Select to submit the working plan by using the Wp Submit measure. Options are Submit Op Only, Submit Cp Only, or Submit Op and Cp.
Optional: Enter information about the working plan in the Wp Submit Notes measure.
Click the Submit button at the top right of the view.
A success message is displayed. Click OK to close it.
As a result of running the submit custom menu, the Wp Submit and Wp Submit Info measures are cleared and the Wp Approval Pending check boxes are checked. The Wa Submit By, Wa Submit Date, and Wa Submit Info measures are populated. In addition, your working plan is copied into a Waiting for Approval (Wa) plan.
After the Merch Targets user approves or rejects the Wa plan, you can see the approval or rejection information by accessing the Review Plan Approval Status view in the Original Plan Submit step.
After you have submitted your plan to the Merch Targets user, the Merch Targets user approves or rejects your submitted plan.
If the plan is approved, you must run the custom menu, Copy Approved Plan, in order to move the approved Wa to the Cp/Op versions.
If the plan is rejected, adjust your plan using the steps described in this chapter and submit it again. 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) data.
