8 Assortment Planning @ Cluster Task

The Assortment Planning @ Cluster task is used to create, adjust, optimize, and align assortment plans to financial targets or available space at the cluster level. Key features in this task include Item Priority Index (IPI) and Market Coverage-based methods that are used to generate initial assortments. SKU count and targets-based constraint options can be used to generate IPI assortments. Demand transference is used to fine-tune the assortments manually. The assortment improvement feature facilitates the automated optimization of assortments according to user-defined constraints. Incremental curves are used to arrive at an optimal assortment range by examining the cannibalization of sales between products in an assortment. In addition, users can leverage science-generated Customer Decision Trees (CDTs) to analyze their assortment. Integration with Assortment and Space Optimization (ASO) is leveraged to align assortments to the available space and finalize actionable, space-optimized assortments.

Item Priority Index (IPI)

Item Priority Index or IPI is a systematic way of generating an assortment based on ranking and scoring items on various user-specified focus areas such as performance, product attributes, loyalty, and market basket. It is recommended that the focus area weights be aligned with the category's role and strategies, for example, a destination category with a traffic building strategy should have high emphasis on performance (Sales U) and product attributes. The system automatically defaults focus area weights based on assigned category roles and strategies. The focus area weights can be overridden by the user in this workbook.

Market Coverage Assortment

The solution also supports an alternate, market-focused approach to generating an assortment using the market coverage approach. Here, the system picks the best selling market SKUs based on user-specified market coverage targets. Note that Market Sales U and Market Sales R data is required for this approach.

CDTs and Demand Transference

Once an assortment is planned using one of the described approaches, it is important to understand how these items interact with each other to impact overall category sales. Demand transference refers to the shift in demand from one SKU to others due to assortment changes. Dropping an easy squeeze 20 ounce (oz) Brand A ketchup from the assortment might result in a significant portion of the demand shifting to the 14 oz and the 32 oz Brand A ketchup easy squeeze. Some amount of the demand may shift to the 20oz Brand A ketchup - regular. However, if both the 20 oz and 14 oz Brand A ketchup easy squeeze bottles are dropped, then the transferences are very different. Some of the 20oz and 14 oz demand will shift to the 32 oz easy squeeze. The solution provides visibility to such demand shifts and incorporates them into assortment plans.

CDTs represent the purchasing behavior of a given consumer segment. They represent the most important attributes driving the customer purchase behavior.

Figure 8-1 is an example of a CDT:

Figure 8-1 CDT Example

As mentioned previously, CDTs can be loaded into the solution from either ORASE or external sources. Once loaded or manually created in the CDT editor and activated in the Category Management Administration workbook, they can be brought into the Assortment Planning workbook. Here, CDTs can be used as an alternate roll-up to view and analyze the assortment along the CDT hierarchy.

Clusters and Trading Areas

The assortment planning process starts by planning assortments at the cluster level. Clusters are externally defined and fed in from the Advanced Clustering solution or other external sources. A number of views in Assortment Planning @ Cluster are either at the cluster level or trading area level. In the base GA solution, clusters are within a trading area.

Task Flow

The Assortment Planning @ Cluster task has the following steps:

• Assortment Setup Step

• Manage IPI Assortment Step

• Manage Market Coverage Assortment Step

• Finalize Assortment for Space Optimization Step

• Import and Review ASO Results Step

• Accept ASO Results and Approve Assortment Step

Figure 8-2 outlines the key steps involved in creating, planning, and approving Assortment Plans at Cluster as well as the key sales measures involved in each step.

Figure 8-2 Key Steps in Creating, Planning, and Approving Assortment Plans at Cluster

Assortment Planning Analysis Workbook

This task uses the Assortment Planning Analysis workbook. For information on creating the workbook, see Create the Assortment Planning Analysis Workbook in Chapter 7.

Assortment Setup Step

The process starts with seeding of the assortment plan from either Last Year, Forecast, or Target data (MFP or CP targets) data.

This step has the following tabs and views:

• Seed and Review Plan Sales Tab:

  1. Seed Sales View

  2. Review and Plan Sales View

• Create Placeholder Items Tab:

  Create Placeholder Items View

• Like Item Mapping Tab:

  1. Use Retail Like Item View

  2. Use Market Like Item View

  3. Use Attribute Like Item View

  4. SKU Attribute Maintenance View

• Review Consumer Segment Status Tab:

  Review Consumer Segments View

• Set IPI Weights Tab:

  1. Review Focus Area Weights View

  2. Review Metric Weights View

  3. Review Attribute Weights View

  4. Review Attribute Value Weights View

  5. Review Consumer Segment Weights View

• Review IPI Scores Tab:

  1. Review Focus Area Score View

  2. Review Consumer Segment Score View

  3. Review IPI Scores View

• Set Assortment Constraints Tab:

  1. Select Eligible and Mandatory Items View

  2. Set IPI Constraints View

  3. Set Market Coverage Constraints View

Seed and Review Plan Sales Tab

Use the views under this tab to seed the working plan sales and review them against the targets.

Custom Menu Option

There is a custom menu option available called Seed Sales. Select the data source in the Seed Source measure from a drop-down selection. The choices are No Action, Forecast, Last Year MFP Target, and CP Target. The appropriate sales values are copied to working plan measures.

At any point in this step, you can run the Seed Sales custom menu option. This populates the sales retail and sales units' numbers in the working plan.

1. Seed Sales View

In the Seed Sales view, choose one of the following options from the drop-down list for the measure -WP Seed Sales: Last Year or Forecast, MFP Target, or CP (Category Plan) Target and execute the Seed Sales custom menu. This populates the WP Sales R and WP Sales U measures. The system computes various variance measures based on the variance of the WP Sales to Last Year, Forecasts, MFP Target, and CP Target.

The seeding option can be defined at the sub-category level, which populates the Working Plan (WP) at the SKU/Item level. This seeding operation seeds sales in WP Sales U and WP Sales R measures. Populating the Forecast Sales U and Forecast Sales R measures is accomplished by running the embedded forecast batch operation. See the Oracle Retail Category Management Implementation Guide for more information on this batch operation.

Figure 8-3 1. Seed Sales View

Table 8-1 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-1 1. Seed Sales Measures

Label	Definition
WP Seed Sales	Contains a drop-down list of options (including Last Year, Forecasts, MFP Target, and CP Target) from which the sales for a working plan assortment can be seeded. Once the drop-down selection is made, the user needs to run the Seed Sales custom menu. This measure is available at the sub-category level and above.
Fc Sales R	Forecasted Sales retail value.
Fc Sales U	Forecasted Sales units.
LY Sales R	Last year's assortment's sales retail value.
LY Sales U	Last year's assortment's sales units.
WP Sales R	The working plan sales retail value.
WP Sales U	The working plan sales units.
MFP Sales R	Merchandise Financial Plan's Sales Retail value.
MFP Sales U	Merchandise Financial Plan's Sales Units.
CP Target Sales R	Approved Category Plan's Target Sales Retail value.
CP Target Sales U	Approved Category Plan's Target Sales Units.
WP Sales var to LY R	The working plan's sales retail value's variance to the same in last year's actuals. Similar measures are available for variance with MFP Target and CP Target: WP Sales var to MFP R and WP Sales var to Tgt R, respectively.
WP Sales var to LY U	Sales retail value's variance between working plan and last year's actuals. Similar measures are available for variance with MFP Target and CP Target: WP Sales var to MFP U and WP Sales var to Tgt U, respectively.
WP Sales var to Fc R	Sales retail value's variance between working plan and forecast.
WP Sales var to Fc U	Sales units' variance between working plan and forecast.

2. Review and Plan Sales View

Once the sales have been seeded, it is possible to plan sales that drive the assortment choices. The planner may choose to plan or override the seeded sales based on business insights and other factors.

Figure 8-4 2. Review and Plan Sales View

It is possible to plan Sales U, Sales R, AUR, and Gross Profit% or plan these as a variance to LY or Forecast.

Table 8-2 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-2 2. Review and Plan Sales Measures

Label	Definition
Fc Sales R	Forecasted Sales Retail.
Fc Sales U	Forecasted Sales Units.
LY Sales AUR	Last year's actual average unit retail value of a SKU. It reflects the average selling price of a SKU at a specific product hierarchy level based on last year's actual sales.
LY Sales R	Last year's sales retail value.
LY Sales U	Last year's sales units.
LY Gross Profit R	Last Year's gross profit retail value from the merchandise.
LY Gross Profit %	Last Year's Gross Profit %.
WP Sales var to LY R	The working plan's sales retail value's variance to the same in last year's actuals. Similar measures are available for variance with Forecast, MFP Target, and CP Target: WP Sales var to Fc R, WP Sales var to MFP R, and WP Sales var to Tgt R respectively.
WP Gross Profit R	Working Plan Gross Profit R. Use this measure to plan Gross Profit R. This measure is then used as an input into Assortment rationalization calculations.
WP Sales var to Fc R	Sales retail value's variance between working plan and forecast
WP Sales var to Fc U	Sales units' variance between working plan and forecast. Similar measures are available for variance with Last Year, MFP Target and CP Target: WP Sales var to LY U, WP Sales var to MFP U, and WP Sales var to Tgt U, respectively.

Create Placeholder Items Tab

The next step in the process is to create new or placeholder items, if there is a business need. Placeholder items are created using Dynamic Product Maintenance (DPM) functionality in RPAS.

For each new item created dynamically using DPM functionality, a duplicate or cloned version of new item in the Right Hand Side (RHS) product hierarchy should be created. RHS stands for right-hand-side product hierarchy, with the normal product hierarchy being referred to as the Left Hand Side (LHS) product hierarchy. In RCM, the RHS hierarchy of an item is used to present demand transference calculations. The RHS Hierarchy is an RPAS concept used to display products on two axes in the same worksheet.

Care should be taken to ensure the new and placeholder item name on LHS exactly matches with the RHS item. Note that the Create Placeholder Items tab is only relevant for dynamically created placeholder items. DPM items and new items can also be generated through batch feeds, for which it is assumed that necessary batch activities initialize the RHS product hierarchy positions.

Use the Create Placeholder Items view to catalog a new SKU/item using a DPM position. This view is used to create a LHS product position and an RHS product hierarchy position.

Create Placeholder Items View

Use this view to create placeholder items using DPM and maintain the RHS product hierarchy for them.

Figure 8-5 Create Placeholder Items View

Table 8-3 lists the measure available in this view.

Table 8-3 Create Placeholder Items Measure

Label	Definition
Create Placeholder Items	This is a dummy measure with a base intersection of LHS SKU/RHS SKU used in order to display a view with LHS Product and RHS Product hierarchies in a view.

Like Item Mapping Tab

This tab enables users to set up new items to be considered in the assortment.

Custom Menu Option

The Seed Like Items custom menu is used to populate the new item's WP Sales U, WP Sales R, WP Gross Profit, WP Gross Profit%, and attribute information from the like items.

The following figure shows the views for this step.

Figure 8-6 Like Item Mapping Step Initial Views

1. Use Retail Like Item View

This view enables users to seed sales for the new item from a like item carried by the retailer.

Figure 8-7 1. Use Retail Like Item View

Pick a like item for the new item without any historical data and then run the Seed Like Items custom menu. This copies the WP Sales and product attributes information from the Retailer Like Item to the new item. It is assumed that any necessary seeding of the plan has occurred prior to like item seeding.

Note: This is an optional action in the workflow to populate working plan sales and product attributes information of a new item or a placeholder item.

Table 8-4 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-4 1. Use Retail Like Item Measures

Label	Definition
WP Retailer Adjustment Ratio %	Provides a facility to adjust a new item's base sales by using a percentage ratio to the sales of the retailer like item.
WP Seed Like Items	A Boolean flag measure, which is required to be checked to seed sales of a new item using like items.
WP Retail Like Item 1 - 3	An item in a retailer's existing assortments used to populate the sales of a new item being added to the assortment using an adjustment ratio.

2. Use Market Like Item View

Use this view to seed sales of the new item from a market like item. Specify an adjustment ratio to ensure sales are scaled to represent retailer's market share.

Figure 8-8 2. Use Market Like Item View

Table 8-5 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-5 2. Use Market Like Item Measures

Label	Definition
WP Market Adjustment Ratio %	The percentage adjustment ratio used to populate base sales of a new item added using market sales of a similar item in the working plan assortment.
WP Seed Like Items	A Boolean flag measure, which is required to be checked to seed sales of a new item using like items.
WP Market Like Item 1 - 3	An item from the market; its market sales are used to populate a new item's sales by using an adjustment percentage ratio.

3. Use Attribute Like Item View

Use this view to populate the product attributes of a new item or a placeholder item.

Figure 8-9 3. Use Attribute Like Item View

Table 8-6 lists the measure available in this view.

Table 8-6 3. Use Attribute Like Item Measure

Label	Definition
WP Attribute Like Item	This measure presents a drop-down list of items to choose from, using which attributes of the like item are copied over to the new item or placeholder item.

4. SKU Attribute Maintenance View

Modify and specify attributes for new items and placeholder items here. Setting up attribute information for new items is important, as this information is used to drive demand transference calculations as well as analyze assortment by CDTs. The scope of maintenance includes adding new attribute values and modifying existing mappings. National brands (Non-PL) and private label (PL) items can be differentiated from one another using SKU attribute maintenance.

Figure 8-10 4. SKU Attribute Maintenance View

Table 8-7 lists the measure available in this view.

Table 8-7 4. SKU Attribute Maintenance Measure

Label	Definition
WP Attribute Value	Defines the attribute value for each attribute name for the SKU. For example, Attribute Name = Brand, Flavor, Size, and so on. Attribute Values for Flavor = Apple, Orange, Grape, Mixed Fruit, and so on.

Review Consumer Segment Status Tab

Use this tab to review the consumer segment distribution across different clusters and trading areas and their respective contribution to the retailer's sales at the category and store cluster level.

Review Consumer Segments View

Use this view to review consumer segments distribution across market (different trading area and clusters) and their respective contribution to retailer sales at the category and store cluster level.

Figure 8-11 Review Consumer Segments View

Table 8-8 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-8 Review Consumer Segments Measures

Label	Definition
Consumer Seg / Category Sales Contribution %	Contribution of a particular consumer segment to a category's retail sales.
Consumer Seg / Store Sales Contribution %	Contribution of a particular consumer segment's contribution to a store's retail sales.
Sales by Consumer Seg R	The sales retail value consumed by a specific consumer segment.
Sales by Consumer Seg U	The sales units consumed by a specific consumer segment.
LY Sales by Consumer Seg R	The sales retail contribution in percentage points by a consumer segment to the overall sales retail in last year's assortment.
LY Sales by Consumer Seg U	The sales units' contribution in percentage points by a consumer segment to the overall sales units in last year's assortment.

Set IPI Weights Tab

The following custom menu options are available:

• Seed IPI Weights – This custom menu option is used to seed the preset IPI weights from the IPI Setup step in Category Management Administration task.

• Calc Cluster IPI Score – This custom menu option is used to calculate IPI scores for the items in the WP assortment based on the user-defined weights. Weights should be defined per the business requirements in this tab before running this custom menu option. The IPI scores are presented in the Review IPI Scores tab.

Figure 8-12 shows the views for this tab.

Figure 8-12 Review IPI Criteria Tab Views

Focus Area Weights

Focus area weights help the user define what areas are of focus for the category:

• How important is the breadth and variety of product attributes?

• How important is a focus on loyalty for this category?

Performance and market basket are other focus areas supported by the solution.

Focus area weights should be chosen to align with broader category role and associated strategies and tactics.

Figure 8-13 shows a best practice point-of-view (POV) on how category roles, strategies, and tactics can inform focus area weights and metric weights within each focus area.

Figure 8-13 Best Practice for Focus Area Weights

Table 8-9 shows the suggested default focus area weights.

Table 8-9 Suggested Default Focus Area Weights

Role	Strategy	Typical Tactics			Suggested Default Focus Area WeightsItem Priority Indexes (IPI)
		Reg. Price	Promotion: Freq./Depth of Price Reduction	Assort.	Perf.	Loyalty	Attributes	Market Basket	Total
Destination	Traffic Building	Low	Freq./Strong	Wide	Medium (Sales U) (50%)	NA	Medium (50%)	NA	100
Routine	Transaction Building	Avg.	Avg./Avg.	Avg.	Medium (50%)	NA	NA	Medium (50%)	100
Routine	Profit Generating	High	Infreq./Weak	Avg.	High (GP) (100%)	NA	NA	NA	100
Routine	Cash Generating	Avg.	Freq./Strong	Avg.	High (Sales $) (100%)	NA	NA	NA	100
Destination	Excitement Generating	Low	Freq./Strong	Wide	High (Sales U) (100%)	NA	NA	NA	100
Occasional	Image Enhancing	Low	Freq./Strong	Wide	NA	NA	High (100%)	NA	100
Convenience	Turf Defending	Avg.	Freq./Strong	Avg.	Medium (50%)	Medium (50%)	NA	NA	100

Table 8-10 shows the associated default metric weights.

Table 8-10 Associated Default Metric Weights

Role	Strategy	Typical Tactics			Suggested Default Metric Weights
		Reg. Price	Promotion: Freq./Depth of Price Reduction	Assort.	Perf.	Loyalty	Attributes	Market Basket
Destination	Traffic Building	Low	Freq./Strong	Wide	Sales U (100%)	NA	Sales U (100%)	NA
Routine	Transaction Building	Avg.	Avg./Avg.	Avg.	Sales U (100%)	NA	NA	Market basket index (50%)
Routine	Profit Generating	High	Infreq./Weak	Avg.	GP (100%)	NA	NA	NA
Routine	Cash Generating	Avg.	Freq./Strong	Avg.	Sales Retail (100%)	NA	NA	NA
Destination	Excitement Generating	Low	Freq./Strong	Wide	Sales U (100%)	NA	NA	NA
Occasional	Image Enhancing	Low	Freq./Strong	Wide	NA	NA	Sales U (100%)	NA
Convenience	Turf Defending	Avg.	Freq./Strong	Avg.	Sales U (100%)	Loyalty Index (100%)	NA	NA

Custom Menu Options

This tab has the following custom menu options:

• Seed IPI Weights

• Calc Cluster IPI Score

1. Review Focus Area Weights View

Focus area weights can be pre-seeded based on the category strategies from the Seed IPI Weights custom menu.

Figure 8-14 1. Review Focus Area Weights and 2. Review Metric Weights Views

Table 8-11 lists the measure available in the Review Focus Area Weights view.

Note: While a number of these weights can be managed at the consumer segment level, it is recommended that a majority of these weights be managed at the All Consumer Segment level, unless specific conditions warrant overriding these at the more granular levels.

Table 8-11 1. Review Focus Area Weights Measure

Label	Definition
WP Focus Area Weight	The user-defined percentage weight for the focus area used in generating a system-recommended IPI assortment. Focus areas available in the application include Attribute, Loyalty, Market Basket, and Performance.

2. Review Metric Weights View

Use this view to review the metric weights and groupings. The seed IPI menu also pre-populates the metric weights based on the focus area. For an example of this view, see Figure 8-14.

Table 8-12 lists the measures available in the Review Metric Weights view.

Note: All metric weights are set per the focus area.

Table 8-12 2. Review Metric Weights Measures

Label	Definition
WP Gross Profit Weight	The user-defined percentage weight to the WP Gross Profit R metric for the given Focus Area. It is used in generating an IPI score and a system-recommended IPI assortment. It is expected to be set to a non-zero value only for the Performance and/or Attributes focus area, per the default metric weights shown in Table 8-10.
WP Gross Profit % Weight	The user-defined percentage weight to the WP Gross Profit % metric for the given Focus Area. It is used in generating an IPI score and a system-recommended IPI assortment. It is expected to be set to a non-zero value only for the Performance and/or Attributes focus area, per the default metric weights table shown in Table 8-10.
WP Loyalty Weight	The user-defined percentage weight to loyalty metric (loyalty index) for the given Focus Area. It is used in generating an IPI score and a system-recommended IPI assortment. It is expected to be set to a non-zero value only for the Loyalty focus area. The Loyalty index is an externally sourced measure that represents the importance of an item, relative to other items, to the loyal customers.
WP Sales R Weight	The user-defined percentage weight given to the WP Sales R metric for the given Focus Area. It is used in generating an IPI score and a system-recommended IPI assortment. It is expected to be set to a non-zero value only for the Performance and/or Attributes focus area, per the default metric weights table shown in Table 8-10.
WP Sales U Weight	The user-defined percentage weight given to the WP Sales U metric for the given Focus Area. It is used in generating an IPI score and a system-recommended IPI assortment. It is expected to be set to a non-zero value only for the Performance and/or Attributes focus area, per the default metric weights table shown in Table 8-10.
WP Market Basket Weight	The user-defined percentage weight assigned to the Market Basket index measure for the given focus area. It is expected to be set to a non-zero value only for the Market Basket focus area. The Market Basket index is an externally sourced measure that represents the importance of an item, relative to other items, in terms of its ability to drive baskets.

3. Review Attribute Weights View

This view enables users to review and override attribute weights that indicate the relative percentage weight of importance of each attribute in the IPI calculations for the Attribute focus area. Note that these weights are only relevant and used for the Attributes focus area.

These attribute weights are expected to be aligned with CDTs and can vary by consumer segment. By default, these weights are fed in from ORASE and can be reviewed and overridden here.

Figure 8-15 3. Review Attribute Weights View

Figure 8-15 indicates that there is a 0.7 or 70 percent emphasis on brand and 0.3 or 30 percent emphasis on (Product) Segment.

Table 8-13 lists the measure available in this view.

Table 8-13 3. Review Attribute Weights Measure

Label	Definition
WP Attribute Name Weight	This is a user-defined numeric weight assigned to the attribute name to be used for IPI score calculations in the context of working plan assortment for the cluster. This helps the user to put emphasis on a particular attribute name in generating a system-recommended IPI assortment.

4. Review Attribute Value Weights View

In addition to specifying the relative importance of attributes (brand versus flavor versus size), it is also possible to specify attribute value weights to over-emphasize or de-emphasize specific attribute values within a cluster. For example, within the high-end store clusters, the premium brand-tier may need to be given a higher weight to ensure that the premium products get a higher priority than mainstream and value oriented brand-tiers.

Figure 8-16 4. Review Attribute Value Weights View

Table 8-14 lists the measure available in this view.

Table 8-14 4. Review Attribute Value Weights Measure

Label	Definition
WP Attribute Value Weight	This is a user-defined numeric weight assigned to the attribute value to be used for IPI score calculations in the context of working plan assortment for the cluster. This helps the user to emphasize a particular attribute value name in generating a system-recommended IPI assortment. The default value of 1 indicates all attribute values are equally important.

5. Review Consumer Segment Weights View

Use this view to review and specify consumer segment weights to different clusters. This is essentially where clusters are mapped to consumer segments. These weights impact IPI and demand transference calculations.

Figure 8-17 5. Review Consumer Segment Weights View

In the example shown in Figure 8-17, Mainstream store clusters have a 100 percent focus on Soccer Moms where as Premium store clusters have 100 percent focus on Gourmet Shoppers. Note that the solution does allow for multiple consumer segments to be aligned to a store cluster. The resulting IPI would be a blend of the individual consumer segment based IPIs in the proportion of the weights specified here. For this example, the IPI values for Premium stores would be a 100 percent value of the IPI scores for Gourmet shoppers. Details of the IPI calculation logic is covered in the following sections.

Likewise, these weights drive the demand transference calculations. It is important to ensure these weights add up to 100 percent to ensure that the IPI and demand transference results are correct.

Table 8-15 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-15 5. Review Consumer Segment Weights Measures

Label	Definition
WP Consumer Seg Weight	The user-defined percentage weight to a consumer segment within a cluster. It is used to put emphasis on the target consumer segments while generating a system-recommended IPI assortment, as well as generating Demand Transference. It can be different from WP Consumer Seg Distribution and should represent the retailer's target consumer segment distribution.
WP Consumer Seg Distribution	The distribution of different consumer segments currently representing sales within the cluster.

Example of IPI Calculations

The following examples illustrate the underlying IPI calculation logic:

• Example 1: Performance-Based IPI

• Example 2: Performance and Attribute-Based IPI

Example 1: Performance-Based IPI

Consider the following focus area weights, with 100 percent emphasis on performance:

	Performance	Attributes	Loyalty	Market Basket
Focus Area Weights	100%	0%	0%	0%

These are the corresponding metric weights for the Performance Focus Area:

	Gross Profit Weight	Gross Profit % Weight	Sales Unit Weight	Sales R Weight	Loyalty Index Weight	Market Basket Index Weight
Metric Weights	0%	0%	0%	100%	0%	0%

The preceding tables indicate that there is a 100 percent emphasis on the Performance focus area and, within the Performance focus area, Sales R is the metric used to rank and score items based on their performance.

Consider the following Sales R for a five SKU assortment:

Item	Sales R
Item 1: Starbucks	$100
Item 2: Starbucks	$80
Item 3: Starbucks	$60
Item 4: Folgers	$40
Item 5: Folgers	$20

The IPI calculation is essentially an index to average. The average Sales R for the preceding SKU mix is $60. The Sales R of each SKU is divided by this average of $60 to compute the index to average or IPI score.

For example, to compute the IPI for Item 1, the Sales R of 100 is divided by the average of the sum of the Sales R for all the items (100, 80, 60, 40, and 20) divided by the number of items (5).

Item	Sales R	IPI
Item 1: Starbucks	$100	1.67
Item 2: Starbucks	$80	1.33
Item 3: Starbucks	$60	1.0
Item 4: Folgers	$40	0.67
Item 5: Folgers	$20	0.33

The system uses the IPI scores to rationalize the assortment. The higher the IPI score, the more important the item is to the assortment.

Example 2: Performance and Attribute-Based IPI

Consider the following focus area weights, with 50 percent emphasis on performance and 50 percent emphasis on attributes:

	Performance	Attributes	Loyalty	Market Basket
Focus Area Weights	50%	50%	0%	0%

These are the corresponding metric weights for the Performance Focus Area:

	Gross Profit Weight	Gross Profit % Weight	Sales Unit Weight	Sales R Weight	Loyalty Index Weight	Market Basket Index Weight
Metric Weights	0%	0%	0%	100%	0%	0%

These are the corresponding metric weights for the Attribute Focus Area:

	Gross Profit Weight	Gross Profit % Weight	Sales Unit Weight	Sales R Weight	Loyalty Index Weight	Market Basket Index Weight
Metric Weights	0%	0%	0%	100%	0%	0%

These are the Attribute name weights:

	Brand	Flavor	Size
Attribute Weights	100%	0%	0%

The preceding tables indicate that there is an equal emphasis on the Performance and Attribute focus areas. Within the Performance focus area, Sales R is the metric used to rank and score items based on their Performance. Likewise, within the Attribute focus area, Sales R is the metric used to rank and score items within each attribute. Brand gets a 100 percent emphasis within Attribute weights. This means, for the Attribute IPI scoring, items are ranked and scored within each Brand, based on their Sales R.

Consider the following Sales R for a five SKU assortment:

Item	Sales R
Item 1: Starbucks	$100
Item 2: Starbucks	$80
Item 3: Starbucks	$60
Item 4: Folgers	$40
Item 5: Folgers	$20

These are the computed attribute-based IPIs:

The values in the IPI column are calculated by adding 50 percent of the Performance IPI and 50 percent of the Attribute IPI.

Item	Sales R	Performance Index to Average (IPI)	Starbucks Index to Average	Folgers Index to Average	Attribute IPI	IPI
Item 1: Starbucks	$100	1.67	1.25	NA	1.25	1.46
Item 2: Starbucks	$80	1.33	1.0	NA	1.0	1.17
Item 3: Starbucks	$60	1.0	0.75	NA	0.75	0.875
Item 4: Folgers	$40	0.67	NA	1.33	1.33	1.0
Item 5: Folgers	$20	0.33	NA	0.67	0.67	0.5

Thus, the resulting IPI score is a blend of top-selling SKUs by Sale R and top-selling SKUs within each brand (Starbucks and Folgers). The system used IPI scores to rationalize SKUs and recommend an assortment. The higher the IPI score, the more important the SKU is to the assortment.

Using only Performance as a Focus Area would mean Folgers SKUs might get dropped from the assortment. If brand is important for the consumer segments shopping the stores, the assortment planner would want to ensure there are adequate assortment options by each brand for categories where the category roles and strategies warrant this.

Review IPI Scores Tab

This tab has three views.

Figure 8-18 Review IPI Scores Tab View

1. Review Focus Area Score View

Use this view to see the focus area scores. Within each of the focus areas, a score is computed. At this point, you can use the Calc Cluster IPI Score custom menu option to populate values in the next few views.

Figure 8-19 1. Review Focus Area Score View

Table 8-16 lists the measure available in this view.

Table 8-16 1. Review Focus Area Scores Measure

Label	Definition
WP Focus Area Score	An item's IPI score for a specific focus area in the working plan assortment for the cluster.

2. Review Consumer Segment Score View

Use this view to see the consumer segment scores. Each consumer segment score is computed per the consumer segment/trading area based on the weights of the focus areas. A cluster score is then computed based on the relative weight of the consumer segments in each cluster.

Figure 8-20 2. Review Consumer Segment Score View

Table 8-17 lists the measure available in this view.

Table 8-17 2. Review Consumer Segment Score Measure

Label	Definition
WP Consumer Segment Score	An item's consumer segment level IPI score towards a working plan assortment for the cluster.

3. Review IPI Scores View

Use this view to see the IPI scores.

Figure 8-21 3. Review IPI Scores View

Table 8-18 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-18 3. Review IPI Scores Measures

Label	Definition
WP IPI Score	An item's final IPI score at the cluster level.
WP IPI Rank	An ordinal (sequential) rank assigned to an item at the cluster level on the basis of its respective IPI score.

Set Assortment Constraints Tab

Now that the IPI scores have been generated, the next step is to use the IPI scores to generate an assortment (keep/add/drops). The system supports the ability to constrain the assortment or draw the line, based on IPI scores, SKU count, and targets (MFP target/CP target).

Use the views under this tab to set the constraints for system-recommended assortments through the IPI and Market Coverage methods.

This tab has the following views:

1. Select Eligible and Mandatory Items View

2. Set IPI Constraints View

3. Set Market Coverage Constraints View

1. Select Eligible and Mandatory Items View

Use this view to set the assortment eligibility for items and select the mandatory items for assortment generation.

The Assortment Eligibility flag measure is used to define the set of items that should participate in the assortment generation process. Effectively, it is used to select the items that are eligible to be part of the assortment.

Note that if a workbook is built for multiple quarters and an item is marked as mandatory in one of the quarters only, then when aggregating the workbook or a specific worksheet to the year or half-year level, it will appear as a non-mandatory item. The aggregation for this measure on the calendar hierarchy is done with an and operation.

Figure 8-22 1. Select Eligible and Mandatory Items View

Table 8-19 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-19 1. Select Eligible and Mandatory Items View Measures

Label	Definition
LY Market Sales @ Cluster R	Last year's market sales for the cluster. It is typically sourced from third parties providing syndicated data on a quarterly basis.
LY Market Sales Rank	An ordinal rank assigned on the basis of the LY Market Sales R of an item within a product category.
WP Mandatory	A Boolean flag measure used to mark an item as mandatory in a working plan assortment.
WP Assortment Eligibility	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is eligible to be part of the assortment.
Assortment Eligibility Error	This read-only measure is used to present the error in case mandatory items are selected without checking their assortment eligibility flag.

2. Set IPI Constraints View

Use this view to define the constraints for IPI assortment generation. Following are the four available constraint types:

• SKU Count: Use this option to create an IPI assortment by defining the assortment range in the form of the WP Core SKU Count and WP Core + Optn SKU Count measures in line with the available space for the category.

• IPI Thresholds: Use this option to create an IPI assortment by setting the IPI Cutoff Index for Core and Optional Items.

• MFP Target: Use this option to create an IPI assortment using MFP targets.

• CP Target: Use this option to create an IPI assortment using CP targets.

Check the WP Create IPI Assortment flag measure, set the required assortment constraints, and run the Create IPI Assortment @Cluster custom menu.

Optionally, the IPI Apply DT flag measure can be checked to dynamically calculate demand transference affected sales for the assortment being generated. When this option is used, ensure that the reference assortment (WP/CP or WP/LY) is selected under the measure IPI DT KAD Input for demand transference calculations.

Note the following:

• When IPI Constraint Type is selected as SKU Count, WP Core SKU Count and WP Core + Optn SKU Count must be defined.

• When IPI Constraint Type is selected as IPI Thresholds, WP IPI Assort Core Cutoff Index and WP IPI Assort Optn Cutoff Index must be defined.

• When either of the two targets is selected as IPI Constraint Type, then select the IPI Target Alignment and define % of IPI Target for Optn Items, as per business requirement.

For more details, refer to the measure definitions below.

Figure 8-23 2. Set IPI Constraints View

Table 8-20 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-20 2. Set IPI Constraints Measures

Label	Description
IPI Constraint Type	A drop-down measure used to select the constraint type to be used to generate the IPI assortment at the cluster level. The drop-down options are SKU Count, IPI Thresholds, MFP Target, and CP Target.
WP Create IPI Assortment	A Boolean measure that is required to be selected to generate a system-recommended IPI assortment towards a working plan assortment for the cluster.
WP Core SKU Count	The number of core items desired in the IPI Assortment for the cluster when using the SKU Count constraint type.
WP Core + Optn SKU Count	The sum of the core and optional items desired in the IPI assortment for the cluster when using the SKU Count constraint type.
WP IPI Assort Core Cutoff Index	The IPI score for an eligible item to be classified as a core item when generating an IPI assortment at the cluster level using the IPI Thresholds constraint type.
WP IPI Assort Optn Cutoff Index	The IPI score for an eligible item to be classified as an optional item when generating an IPI assortment at the cluster level using the IPI Thresholds constraint type.
IPI Target Alignment	A drop-down measure used to set the alignment to the target plan measure when using the constraint types MFP Target and CP Target at the cluster level. The options in the drop-down are Over, Under, and Closest.
% of IPI Target for Optn Items	A percentage value defined to set the total sales retail value for the optional items over the assortment plan's sales retail value, when using the constraint types MFP Target and CP Target to derive the IPI assortment at the cluster level. This measure facilitates creation of optional items when using the target-constrained methods of IPI assortment generation.
IPI Apply DT	A Boolean flag measure required to be checked if demand transference needs to be applied dynamically to calculate the assortment plan sales while generating the IPI assortment at the cluster level. Demand Transference is applied for each addition of an item to the assortment to reach the assortment plan target.
IPI DT K/A/D Input	A drop-down measure used to provide a reference assortment input for demand transference calculations in the IPI assortment generation at the cluster level. The drop-down options are WP/LY (last year assortment) and WP/CP (current plan assortment).

3. Set Market Coverage Constraints View

Use this view to set the constraints necessary to generate a market coverage assortment. It can be viewed by category, sub-category, and segment for the purpose of setting the market coverage target.

Figure 8-24 3. Set Market Coverage Constraints View

Table 8-21 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-21 3. Set Market Coverage Constraints Measures

Label	Definition
WP Max Core SKU Count	The maximum number of core items in a working plan assortment.
WP Max Core + Optn SKU Count	The maximum number of core plus optional items in a working plan assortment.
WP Min Core Coverage %	The minimum market coverage (Market Sales Retail) of the core items in the working plan assortment. For example, specifying a Min. core Coverage% of 80 percent means all SKUs that contribute to the top 80 percent of the Market Sales Retail will be flagged as core.
WP Min Core + Optn Coverage %	The minimum market coverage (Market Sales Retail) of the core plus the optional items in the working plan assortment. For example, specifying a Min. Core + Optional Coverage% of 90 percent with a Min. Core Coverage% of 80 percent means all SKUs that contribute to the top 80 percent of the Market Sales Retail will be flagged as core and all SKUs contributing between 80 and 90 percent of Market Sales Retail will be flagged as optional.
WP Min Core SKU Count	The minimum number of core SKUs in a working plan assortment. If specified, this serves as the lower bound on the number of core SKUs recommended by the system.
WP Min Core + Optn SKU Count	The minimum number of core plus optional SKUs in a working plan assortment. If specified, this serves as the lower bound on the number of core plus optional SKUs recommended by the system.
WP Max Core SKU Count @ Cat	The maximum number of core SKUs for the category. If specified, this serves as the upper bound on the number of core SKUs recommended by the system for the category.
WP Max Core + Optn SKU Count @ Cat	The maximum number of core plus optional SKUs for the category. If specified, this serves as the upper bound on the number of core plus optional SKUs recommended for the category.
WP Min Core Coverage % @ Cat	The minimum market coverage (Market Sales Retail) of the core items in the working plan assortment for the category.
WP Min Core + Optn Coverage % @ Cat	The minimum market coverage (Market Sales Retail) of the core plus optional items in the working plan assortment for the category.
WP Min Core SKU Count @ Cat	The minimum number of core SKUs in a working plan assortment. If specified, this serves as the lower bound on the number of core SKUs recommended by the system for the category.
WP Min Core + Optn SKU Count @ Cat	The minimum number of core plus optional SKUs in a working plan assortment. If specified, this serves as the lower bound on number of core plus optional SKUs recommended by the system for the category.
Create Market Coverage Assortment	Creates an assortment matching as many constraints as possible.

Manage IPI Assortment Step

Use this step to review, revise, and manage an IPI Assortment.

This step has the following tabs and views:

• Review IPI Assortment Recommendations Tab:

  1a. Review IPI Assortment Recommendation View

  1b. Review IPI DT Details View

  2. IPI Assortment Dashboard View

• Improve IPI Assortment Tab:

  1. Set Parameters for IPI Assortment Improvement View

  2. Review Improved IPI Assortment View

• IPI Ordered Incremental Curve Tab:

  View IPI Ordered Incremental Curve View

Custom Menu Options

The following custom menu options are available:

• Apply DT to IPI

  This custom menu is used to apply demand transference to an assortment, after making changes to the assortment mix, to see the shift in sales between items.

• Apply IPI Assortment Improvement

  This custom menu is used to apply assortment improvement to IPI assortments.

• Accept IPI Assortment Improvement

  This custom menu is used to accept assortment improvement recommendations for an IPI assortment. On acceptance, the assortment improvement recommendations are copied to the IPI assortment (IPI DT Assort type) measures.

• Calc IPI Incremental Curve

  This custom menu is used to generate an IPI-ordered incremental curve for an IPI assortment.

Review IPI Assortment Recommendations Tab

This tab has three views.

1a. Review IPI Assortment Recommendation View

Use this view to review the system-recommended IPI-based assortment. This view also contains demand transference parameters and provides a facility to do what-if analysis by making assortment changes by marking the IPI core or IPI optional flags, thereby adding or removing SKUs/items from the assortment. Keep, Add, and Drop decisions are derived relative to a reference assortment such as an LY (Last Year) assortment or CP (Current Plan) Assortment. Such a reference assortment is used as the base assortment for assortment changes in the form of Keep, Add, and Drop.

Figure 8-25 1a. Review IPI Assortment Recommendation View

Table 8-22 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-22 1a. Review IPI Assortment Recommendation View Measures

Label	Definition
WP IPI Score	An item's final IPI score at the cluster level.
WP IPI Rank	An ordinal (sequential) rank assigned to an item at the cluster level on the basis of its respective IPI score.
WP Mandatory	A Boolean flag measure used to mark an item as mandatory in a working plan assortment for the cluster.
IPI Core Recommended	A system-calculated measure, this measure is set to True if the item is designated as a core item for the IPI-based assortment.
IPI Optn Recommended	A system-calculated measure, this measure is set to True if the item is designated as an optional item for the IPI-based assortment.
WP IPI Assort Core	An editable Boolean measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the IPI Assortment. It can be used to change the core items in an IPI assortment.
WP IPI Assort Optn	An editable Boolean measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the IPI Assortment. It can be used to modify optional items in IPI assortment.
IPI Core/Optn Error	An error flag measure used to highlight a scenario wherein both the core and optional item Boolean flag measures are checked for the same item in a system-recommended IPI assortment.
WP IPI Assort Core Count	The number of core items per the IPI calculations (in a system-recommended IPI assortment) in the working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP IPI Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items per the IPI calculations (in an IPI system-recommended assortment) in the working plan's assortment for the cluster.
LY Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in last year's assortment for the cluster.
LY Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in last year's assortment for the cluster.
LY Assort Core Count	The number of core items in last year's assortment.
LY Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in a last year's assortment.
CP Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the current plan's assortment for the cluster.
CP Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the current plan assortment for the cluster.
CP Assort Core Count	The number of core items in a current plan's assortment for the cluster.
CP Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in a current plan assortment for the cluster.
WP IPI Assort Compare to LY	Keep, Add, or Drop decision on comparing an IPI-based assortment with an LY assortment at the cluster level.
WP IPI Assort Compare to CP	Keep, Add, or Drop decision on comparing an IPI-based assortment with a Current Plan assortment at the cluster level.

Figure 8-26 1a. Review IPI Assortment Recommendation View 2

Note that in Figure 8-26 the measures dimension has been moved to y-axis to view the remaining measures in this view's default profile.

The Review Assortment Recommendation view presents a variety of assortment related information.

The first set of measures displays the core and optional SKUs being recommended by the IPI logic and also allows users to view the LY and CP values for the SKUs in comparison. Users can also view the core and optional SKUs counts for the IPI recommendation as well as CP and LY version of the core and optional SKU counts.

Figure 8-27 1a. Review IPI Assortment Recommendation Example 1

The next set of measures displays the Keep/Add/Drop recommendations compared to CP and LY based on the IPI core designation. Users also have visibility to the Assortment Plan metrics such as the Planned Assortment Sales Units and Retail WP IPI Assort Sales U and WP IPI Assort Sales R.

Figure 8-28 1a. Review IPI Assortment Recommendation Example 2

Demand transference can be used to the see the shift in sales between items in an assortment and to gauge the overall impact on assortment sales with any manual changes made to the assortment.

Assortment changes can be made to the system-recommended assortment and demand transference can be applied to calculate the demand transference affected sales for the assortment. Assortment changes consist of adding new items as core items to the assortment or dropping the existing core items by un-checking their core flags.

Demand transference is applied through the Apply DT to IPI custom menu.

Demand transference specific measures are used to see the impact of demand transference on planned assortments, which facilitates informed decision-making on assortment composition. For example, a high selling SKU may also be a highly substitutable SKU and, therefore, there is an option to replace it in the assortment.

DT can be applied on the planned assortment by first selecting IPI DT K/A/D input to specify the reference assortment, in the form of CP or LY assortments, which should be used for demand transference calculations.

Next run the Apply DT to IPI custom menu. This should populate or update all DT measures, based on the planned assortment.

Figure 8-29 1a. Review IPI Assortment Recommendation Example 3

WP IPI DT Assort Sales has been updated to reflect the planned assortment. In the preceding example, the planned assortment change is a net increase in the number of SKUs (43 core SKUs in CP, 48 core SKUs in WP). The system has predicted how the added SKUs cannibalize the sales of existing SKUs and its net impact on category sales, in the WP IPI DT Assort Sales.

Next, the IPI Demand Transferred and Incremental Demand (Lost Demand, as well as the substitutable demand and number of Significant SKU measures) provide insight to the following:

• If this SKU is to be dropped from the assortment, how much of the demand is transferred to other SKUs in the assortment and how much of the demand is lost.

• How many similar SKUs exist in the assortment that will absorb some of the demand, if this SKU is to be dropped.

Figure 8-30 1a. Review IPI Assortment Recommendation Example 4

This information can also be viewed in a graphical form as shown in Figure 8-31. This is a custom view created using the copy view option in RPAS to represent demand transference graphically.

Figure 8-31 1a. Review IPI Assortment Recommendation Example 4 in Graphical Form

The preceding figure indicates that although SKU 1236880 is higher selling than SKU 1236832, it has a higher amount of substitutable demand. SKUs 1234753 and 1236808 are good candidates for drops as a significant portion of their demand is substitutable.

Next is understanding where the demand goes, if a SKU is dropped. This can be easily viewed from highlighting a SKU in the Review IPI Assortment Recommendation screen and right clicking, select Position Filtering and select Review IPI DT Details.

Figure 8-32 1a. Review IPI Assortment Recommendation Example 5

This contextually launches the IPI DT Details view with the z-axis already positioned with the highlighted SKU. It displays the SKUs to which this demand transfers and by what percentage.

1b. Review IPI DT Details View

Use this view to review the demand transference distribution details of any SKU/item in the Review IPI Assortment Recommendation view.

Figure 8-33 1a. Review IPI Assortment Recommendation

Figure 8-34 1b. Review IPI DT Details View

Table 8-23 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-23 1b. Review IPI DT Details Measures

Label	Definition
IPI DT Demand Sales Received %	Refers to a percentage of total sales units of a SKU, getting transferred from it and being received by its respective substitute SKUs in an IPI-based assortment. It is expressed as a percentage of total sales of the SKUs.
WP IPI DT Assort Demand Received Sales U	Sales units that would be transferred to a substitute SKU (shown in the RHS hierarchy) from the SKU dropped (shown in the LHS hierarchy). For example, in the preceding view, if SKU 1236205 were to be dropped from the assortment, WP IPI DT Assort Demand Received Sales U for SKU 1236511 would be 7579 units.
WP IPI DT Assort Demand Received Sales R	Sales Retail value that would be transferred to a substitute SKU (shown in the RHS hierarchy) from the SKU dropped (shown in the LHS hierarchy). For example, in the preceding view, if SKU 1236205 were to be dropped from the assortment, WP IPI DT Assort Demand Received Sales R for SKU 1236511 would be 68263.
WP IPI DT Assort Sales U	The IPI assortment's net sales units after applying demand transference manually or through assortment improvement.
WP IPI DT Assort Sales R	The IPI assortment's net sales retail value after applying demand transference manually or through assortment improvement.

2. IPI Assortment Dashboard View

Use this view to review and compare the alignment of IPI assortment plan numbers to the set targets in the form of MFP and CP targets at the sub-category level and above:

• Assortment Plan numbers consist of measures presenting the Sales Retail, Sales Units, Gross Profit Retail, and Gross Profit %.

• Targets consist of MFP Sales R, MFP Sales U, MFP Gross Profit and MFP Gross Profit %

Figure 8-35 2. IPI Assortment Dashboard View

Table 8-24 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-24 2. IPI Assortment Dashboard View Measures

Label	Description
MFP Gross Profit %	Merchandise Financial Plan's Gross Profit percentage.
MFP Sales R	Merchandise Financial Plan's Sales Retail value.
WP IPI Assort Gross Profit %	IPI Assortment's base gross profit percentage.
WP IPI Assort Sales R	IPI assortment's base sales retail value.
WP IPI Assort Core Count	The number of core items in the IPI assortment.
WP Mandatory Count	The number of items marked as mandatory.
CP Target Gross Profit %	Approve Category Plan's Gross Profit percentage.
CP Target Sales R	Approve Category Plan's Sales Retail value.
LY Gross Profit %	Last Year's Gross Profit percentage. Similar measures in other versions include: WP Gross Profit % and CP Gross Profit %.
LY Sales R	Last Year's Sales Retail value. Similar measures in other versions include: WP Sales R and CP Sales R.
LY Sales U	Last Year's Sales Units. Similar measures in other versions include: WP Sales U, CP Sales U.
LY Assort Core Count	The number of core items in last year's assortment. Similar measures in other versions include: CP Assort Core Count, WP Assort Core Count and LP Assort Core Count.
WP IPI Assort Gross Profit var to LY R	The variance in gross profit retail between the IPI assortment and last year assortment. Similar measures available with comparison to other planning measures include: WP IPI Assort Gross Profit var to CP R, WP IPI Assort Gross Profit var to MFP R, and WP IPI Assort Gross Profit var to Tgt R.
WP IPI Assort Sales var to LY R	The variance in sales retail value between the IPI assortment and last year assortment. Similar measures available with variance to other planning measures include: WP IPI Assort Sales var to CP R, WP IPI Assort Sales var to MFP R, and WP IPI Assort Sales var to Tgt R.
WP IPI Assort Sales var to LY U	The variance in sales units between the IPI assortment and last year assortment. Similar measures available with variance to other planning measures include: : WP IPI Assort Sales var to CP U, WP IPI Assort Sales var to MFP U, and WP IPI Assort Sales var to Tgt U.
WP IPI DT Assort Sales var to LY U	The variance between the IPI assortment's demand transference affected sales units and last year assortment's sales units. Similar measures available with variation to other plan measures: WP IPI DT Assort Sales var to CP U, WP IPI DT Assort Sales var to MFP U, and WP IPI DT Assort Sales var to Tgt U.
WP IPI DT Assort Gross Profit var to LY R	The variance between the IPI assortment's demand transference affected gross profit value and last year assortment's gross profit retail value. Similar measures available with variation to other plan measures: WP IPI DT Assort Gross Profit var to CP R, WP IPI DT Assort Gross Profit var to MFP R, and WP IPI DT Assort Gross Profit var to Tgt R.
WP IPI DT Assort Private Label Sales var to LY U	The variance between the private label item's demand transference affected sales units in the IPI assortment and last year assortment. Similar measures available with variance to other planning measures: WP IPI Assort Private Label Sales var to CP U and WP IPI Assort Private Label Sales var to Tgt U.
WP IPI DT Assort Private Label Sales var to LY R	The variance between the private label item's demand transference affected sales retail value in the IPI assortment and last year assortment. Similar measures available with variance to other planning measures: WP IPI Assort Private Label Sales var to CP R and WP IPI Assort Private Label Sales var to Tgt R.
WP IPI DT Assort Private Label Gross Profit var to LY R	The variance between the private label item's demand transference affected gross profit retail values in the IPI assortment and last year assortment. Similar measures available with variance to other planning measures: WP IPI Assort Private Label Gross Profit var to CP R and WP IPI Assort Private Label Gross Profit var to Tgt R.

Improve IPI Assortment Tab

The assortment improvement process is used to improve the draft assortment plan or the initial assortment on different retail planning parameters such as Sales Units, Sales Retail, and Gross Profit Retail. In principle, assortment improvement automates the manual application of demand transference in the Review Assortment type views and widens its scope by considering all eligible items (Assortment Eligibility flag) in the assortment improvement operation. This includes items that are not part of the draft assortment. This feature provides an option to set the constraints on which assortment improvement must be performed by the system. This feature comes in handy to fine-tune assortment plans per the business requirement.

Assortment improvement provides the following modes (referred to as Improvement Operation) to better the assortment plan, which must be defined before running the assortment improvement operation:

• Add: This mode provides an option to add new items to the assortment to improve any of the three plan parameters: Sales Units, Sales Retail, and Gross Profit Retail. The system searches for the best available options by gauging the quantum of incremental sales for a new item brings to the assortment on addition. The number of items to be added to the assortment must be specified before running the assortment improvement operation.

• Remove: This operation provides an option to remove items from the assortment by looking for the items, which reduces the assortment plan numbers by a relatively minimal value for any of the three parameters set for improvement. The number of items to be removed must be specified.

• Swap: This provides an option to exchange or replace items in an assortment with eligible items outside the assortment to improve the assortment plan on the set parameter with the best available items. The assortment count remains the same in this operation.

• Add with Swap: This option facilitates the addition of eligible items to the assortment while simultaneously exchanging or replacing items in the assortment. The number of items to be added with swap must be set.

• Remove with Swap: This option facilitates the removal of items from the assortment while simultaneously exchanging or replacing items in the assortment. The number of items to be removed with the swap must be defined before applying assortment improvement.

The following parameters must be set before assortment improvement:

• Metric to Improve: Specify the parameters on which the assortment improvement operation must be performed: Sales Units, Sales Retail, and Gross Profit Retail.

• Number of SKUs to Add/Remove: Set the number of items that must be added or removed from the assortment if the improvement operation is Add, Remove, Add with Swap, or Remove with Swap.

• Max % Assortment to Swap: This measure is used to control the percentage of the assortment that can be swapped out during the assortment improvement operation. If the draft assortment is close to the final desired assortment, this parameter can be used to restrict the scope of assortment changes, thus fine-tuning the assortment without extensively searching for swap options. Restricting the scope of assortment changes can also make the assortment improvement operation run more quickly. To not have any restrictions, set the Max % to Swap to 100 percent.

• IPI K/A/D Input: The reference assortment, against which assortment changes to the working plan assortment are measured and demand transference is calculated, needs to be defined. The available options are Last Year Assortment (WP/LY) and Current Plan Assortment (WP/CP).

• Optimization Target: This is an optional setting. The target, to which the assortment improvement operation for the specified metric for improvement needs to align to, must be defined here. The available options are MFP targets and CP targets.

  Specifying a value for the optimization target option directs the assortment improvement operation to make changes in the assortment (either additions or removals) so the resulting assortment has a metric value at or above the target and also has a minimal number of items. If a target is specified, the number of SKUs to add/remove measure is ignored, since the operation determines the appropriate assortment size on its own. In effect, this user-defined assortment improvement parameter takes the highest precedence among all the set parameters. For example, if the Improve Operation is Add and Number of SKUs to Add/Remove = 5 and the Optimization Target is specified, the system will recommend an improved assortment on the basis of set Optimization Target only.

  Note:

  • If both the Number of SKUs to Add/Remove and Optimization Target are defined, the improvement operation will keep adding/removing items until it reaches the Optimization Target. If the improvement operation does not reach the Optimization Target, the improvement operation will stop when it reaches the Number of SKUs to Add/Remove constraint.

  • If an Optimization Target is not specified (option set to None), the improvement operation will stop when it reaches the Number of SKUs to Add/Remove.

  • If Max % Assortment to Swap is defined with an Optimization Target, the Max % Assortment to Swap remains applicable unlike the Number of SKUs to Add/Remove.

Prior to Using Assortment Improvement Functionality:

• An approved category plan must be available. While using the option optimizing to target, category plan target (CP Target) can be used.

• MFP targets must be imported into RCM. While using the option of optimizing to target, MFP target can be used.

• An IPI assortment must be in place.

• Demand transference must be run on the IPI assortment to populate the demand transference measures.

After Completing This Activity:

View the incremental curve based on IPI ranking in the next tab.

1. Set Parameters for IPI Assortment Improvement View

Use this view to set the assortment improvement constraints.

Figure 8-36 1. Set Parameters for IPI Assortment Improvement View

Table 8-25 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-25 1. Set Parameters for IPI Assortment Improvement View Measures

Label	Description
Include for Assortment Improvement	A Boolean measure that needs to be checked to run assortment improvement using the Apply IPI Assortment Improvement custom menu.
Improve Operation	A drop-down measure to select one of the five available options for Assortment Improvement: Add, Remove, Swap, Add with Swap, and Remove with Swap.
Number of SKUs to Add/Remove	This measure is used to define the number of items to be added or removed from the assortment while performing assortment improvement using Add, Remove, Add with Swap, or Remove with Swap modes.
Metric to Improve	A drop-down measure to select the metric on which assortment improvement should be performed. The list of available measures consists of Sales Units, Sales Retail, and Gross Profit Retail.
Max % Assortment to Swap	This measure is used to define the scope of assortment improvement in terms of the percentage of the assortment's range or SKU count that can be swapped.
IPI DT K/A/D Input	This field provides an option to define the assortment with which the working plan assortment should be compared to calculate the Keep, Add, or Drop actions for it.
Optimization Target	This measure is used to define the target to which an assortment plan should align through the assortment improvement operation. The available options are: MFP Target or CP Target. Specifying an optimization target is optional. If it is defined, the specified Metric to Improve, along with the set Optimization Target, determines the metric to which assortment improvement is performed from the following possible combinations: MFP Sales Units, MFP Sales Retail, MFP Gross Profit Retail, CP Target Sales Units, CP Target Sales Retail, or CP Target Gross Profit Retail.

2. Review Improved IPI Assortment View

Use this view to review and compare improved assortment recommendations (Improved Sales U, Improved Sales R, Improved Gross Profit R, Improved Gross Profit %) per the set constraints against the IPI assortment (IPI DT Assort Sales U, IPI DT Assort Sales R, IPI DT Assort Gross Profit R, IPI DT Assort Gross Profit %). If the improved assortment plan meets the required improvement, accept it by checking WP Accept Results for Cluster and running the Accept IPI Assortment Improvement custom menu.

Accepting the assortment improvement results copies the improved assortment plan measures' values to the IPI DT Assort type measures.

The process of accepting an improved assortment also copies the Improved Assort Core measure values to WP IPI Assort Core. This may reset WP IPI Assort Optn for optional items if they have been recommended as core by assortment improvement operation. In addition, it calculates the substitutable demand measures for the accepted Improved Assortment by running demand transference in the background.

Custom Menu

The Apply IPI Assortment Improvement custom menu is used to generate IPI Assortment Improvement recommendations. These recommendations are presented in the Improved Assort type measures. Once the required IPI Assortment Improvement constraints have been set, check the Include for Assortment Improvement flag measure and run this custom menu to generate the assortment improvement recommendations.

Figure 8-37 2. Review Improved IPI Assortment View

Table 8-26 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-26 2. Review Improved IPI Assortment View Measures

Label	Description
WP Accept Results for Cluster	A Boolean flag measure that needs to be checked to accept the assortment improvement results. Acceptance of assortment improvement results copies the assortment improvement recommended plan measures to the respective IPI DT measures.
WP Mandatory	A Boolean flag measure used to mark an item as mandatory in a working plan assortment for the cluster. Similar measures in other versions include: LY Mandatory, CP Mandatory, and LP Mandatory.
WP IPI Assort Core	An editable Boolean measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the IPI Assortment. It can be used to change the core items in an IPI assortment..
WP IPI Assort Core Count	The number of core items in the IPI assortment at the cluster level.
Improved Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the improved assortment or assortment improvement recommended assortment.
Improved Assort Core Count	The number of core items in the improved assortment or assortment improvement recommended assortment.
WP IPI DT Assort Sales U	The IPI assortment's net sales units after applying demand transference manually or through assortment improvement.
WP IPI DT Assort Sales R	The IPI assortment's net sales retail value after applying demand transference manually or through assortment improvement.
WP IPI DT Assort Gross Profit R	The IPI assortment's net gross profit retail value after applying demand transference manually or through assortment improvement.
WP IPI DT Assort Gross Profit %	The IPI assortment's net gross profit percentage after applying demand transference manually or through assortment improvement.
Improved Assort Sales U	The improved assortment's (or Assortment Improvement recommended assortment's) sales units.
Improved Assort Sales R	The improved assortment's (or Assortment Improvement recommended assortment's) sales retail value.
Improved Assort Gross Profit R	The improved assortment's (or Assortment Improvement recommended assortment's) gross profit retail value.
Improved Assort Gross Profit %	The improved assortment's (or Assortment Improvement recommended assortment's) gross profit percentage.
MFP Sales U	Merchandise Financial Plan's Sales Units.
MFP Sales R	Merchandise Financial Plan's Sales Retail value.
MFP Gross Profit R	Merchandise Financial Plan's Gross Profit Retail value.
MFP Gross Profit %	Merchandise Financial Plan's Gross Profit Percentage value.
CP Target Sales U	Category Plan's target Sales Units.
CP Target Sales R	Category Plan's target Sales Retail value.
CP Target Gross Profit R	Category Plan's target Gross Profit Retail value.
CP Target Gross Profit %	Category Plan's target Gross Profit Retail Percentage value.
WP Assortment Eligibility	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is eligible to be part of the assortment for the retailer to stock and sell.
WP Gross Profit %	Working Plan's Gross Profit Retail Percentage value at the cluster level.
WP Gross Profit R	Working Plan's Gross Profit Retail Value at the cluster level.
WP IPI Assort Sales R	The IPI assortment's Sales Retail value at the cluster level.
WP IPI Assort Sales U	The IPI assortment's Sales Units value at the cluster level.
WP IPI Assort Gross Profit %	The IPI assortment's Gross Profit retail percentage value at the cluster level.
WP IPI Assort Gross Profit R	The IPI assortment's Gross Profit Retail value at the cluster level.
WP IPI Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the IPI assortment at the cluster level.
WP IPI Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in the IPI assortment at the cluster level.
WP Sales AUR	Working plan's Average Unit Retail value at the cluster level. It is calculated by dividing total Sales Retail Value by total Sales Units.
WP Sales R	Working Plan's Sales Retail Value at the cluster level.
WP Sales U	Working Plan's Sales Units at the cluster level.

IPI Ordered Incremental Curve Tab

This tab has one view.

View IPI Ordered Incremental Curve View

Use this view to ascertain an optimal assortment range through incremental curve based on IPI ranking. An incremental curve is generated in this view by running the Calc IPI Incremental Curve custom menu.

Incremental curves are used to gauge the correctness of the assortment range by looking at the substitutable and non-substitutable sales of items in an assortment. Incremental sales represent the unique or non-substitutable sales for any item in a given assortment. Incremental curve provides a visibility to the point where the cumulative incremental sales for the assortment flatten out and there is an overlap of sales between the SKUs (also referred to as cannibalization of sales). In effect, there is no significant increase to the assortment's sales with addition of new items. This helps the assortment planner to decide the quantum of substitutable sales that must be planned in case a few SKUs are out of stock. In effect, it facilitates the derivation of an optimal assortment range by providing a visibility to the point at which cumulative incremental sales of an assortment plateau.

Custom Menu

The Calc Incremental Curve custom menu is used to generate an incremental curve based on IPI ordering, so as to derive an optimal assortment range.

Figure 8-38 View IPI Ordered Incremental Curve View

Table 8-27 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-27 View IPI Ordered Incremental Curve View Measures

Label	Description
IPI Cumulative Inc Sales U	The cumulative sum of the incremental sales units when the incremental curve is calculated using IPI ranking.
SKU Label	Item's label.

Manage Market Coverage Assortment Step

Market coverage is defined as the percentage of the total sales of the market that the retailer's assortment covers. In other words, if we look at the overall combined market sales (say for a trading area) of the products in retailer's assortment and put a percentage share to it, the assortment should represent the market coverage of retailer's assortment. For example, the retailer can be carrying 100 SKUS whose combined sales contribute to 90 percent of the overall market sales of that category so the market coverage of retailer's assortment is 90 percent. Similarly, target market coverage is the market coverage retailer is setting as a target.

Market coverage assortments are market-focused assortments. The Market Coverage Assortment generation method facilitates selection of the best selling SKUs in the market for the assortment. It is based on market ranking of SKUs, where market ranking depends on the market sales of SKUs. Market data from third parties like IRI and Nielsen is required for generating market coverage assortments.

Current market coverage of a retailer's assortment needs to be assessed and appropriate target market coverage needs to be set based on retailer's positioning in the market versus competition as well as set category roles, strategies, and tactics. The market coverage assortment is available at the cluster level, and targets can be defined at the category or sub-category levels.

Use this step to review, revise, and manage a market coverage assortment at the cluster level by:

• Reviewing the recommended market coverage assortment

• Making changes and applying demand transference to fine-tune the assortment

• Reviewing the market coverage ordered incremental curve to derive an optimal assortment range

Note that the assortment constraints for market coverage assortment have been set in Assortment Setup step.

This step has the following tab and views:

• Review Market Coverage Assortment Recommendation Tab:

  1a. Review Market Coverage Assortment Recommendation View

  1b. Review Market Coverage DT Details

  2. Market Coverage Assortment Dashboard View

• Market Coverage Ordered Incremental Curve Tab

  View MC Ordered Incremental Curve View

Custom Menu Options

The following custom menu options are available:

• Apply DT to Market Coverage. This custom menu is used to apply and better understand the demand transference impact to the system-recommended market coverage-based assortment.

• Calc MC Incremental Curve. This custom menu is used to generate the incremental curve for the market coverage assortment based on market ranking of SKUs.

Review Market Coverage Assortment Recommendation Tab

This tab has three views.

1a. Review Market Coverage Assortment Recommendation View

Use this view to review the system-recommended market coverage based assortment. This view also contains demand transference parameters and provides a facility to do what-if analysis by making assortment changes. Assortment changes are made by marking or un-marking the market coverage based Core or Optional flags, thereby adding or removing SKUs/items from the assortment. Keep, Add, and Drop decisions are derived relative to a reference assortment such as an LY assortment, CP assortment.

This view has four measure profiles:

• WP/CP

• WP/DT

• WP/LP

• WP/LY

Figure 8-39 1a. Review Assortment Recommendation WP/CP Measure Profile View

Table 8-28 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-28 1a. Review Assortment Recommendation WP/CP Measure Profile Measures

Label	Definition
LY Market Sales @ Cluster R	Last year's market sales for the cluster. It is typically sourced from third parties providing syndicated data on a quarterly basis.
LY Market Sales Rank	An ordinal rank assigned on the basis of the LY Market Sales R of an item within a product category.
WP Sales R	The working plan assortment's sales retail value.
WP Mandatory	A Boolean flag measure used to mark an item as mandatory in a working plan assortment for the cluster.
MC Core Recommended	A read-only Boolean measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the Market Coverage Assortment for the cluster. This measure is calculated by the system on the basis of the Market Coverage thresholds set by the user.
MC Optn Recommended	A read-only Boolean measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the Market Coverage Assortment for the cluster. This measure is calculated by the system on the basis of the Market Coverage thresholds set by the user.
WP MC Assort Core	An editable Boolean flag measure used to indicate whether an item is a core item or not as per a Market Coverage Assortment.
WP MC Assort Optn	An editable Boolean flag measure used to indicate whether an item is an optional item or not as per a Market Coverage Assortment.
MC Core/Optn Error	Default Value Error measure if both Core and Optional measures are set to true for an item in a Market Coverage Assortment.
CP Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the current plan's assortment for the cluster.
CP Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the current plan assortment for the cluster.
MC Core Recommended Count	The number of core items in a Market Coverage Assortment per the MC Core Recommended measure.
MC Optn Recommended Count	The number of core items in a Market Coverage Assortment per the MC Optn Recommended measure.
WP MC Assort Core Count	The number of core items in a Market Coverage Assortment per the WP MC Assort Core measure.
WP MC Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in a Market Coverage Assortment per the WP MC Assort Optn measure.
CP Assort Core Count	The number of core items in a current plan's assortment for the cluster.
CP Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in a current plan assortment for the cluster.
MC Core Recommended Sales R %	Market Coverage provided by core SKUs in the recommended assortment (Market Coverage Assortment).
MC Optn Recommended Sales R %	Market Coverage provided by optional SKUs in the recommended assortment (Market Coverage Assortment).
WP MC Assort Core Coverage Sales R %	Market Coverage provided by the core SKUs per the Market Coverage Assortment.
WP MC Assort Optn Coverage Sales R %	Market Coverage provided by the optional SKUs in the Market Coverage Assortment.
CP Assort Core Coverage Sales R %	Market coverage provided by core SKUs in the current plan assortment.
CP Assort Optn Coverage Sales R %	Market coverage provided by optional SKUs in the current plan assortment.

Figure 8-40 1a. Review Market Coverage Assortment Recommendation WP/DT Measure Profile View 1

Table 8-29 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-29 1a. Review Market Coverage Assortment Recommendation WP/DT Measure Profile View 1 Measures

Label	Definition
LY Market Sales @ Cluster R	Last year's market sales for the cluster. It is typically sourced from third parties providing syndicated data on a quarterly basis.
LY Market Sales Rank	An ordinal rank assigned on the basis of the LY Market Sales R of an item within a product category.
WP Sales R	The working plan assortment's sales retail value.
WP Mandatory	A Boolean flag measure used to mark an item as mandatory in a working plan assortment for the cluster.
MC Core Recommended	The number of core items per the Market Coverage calculations in a system-recommended Market Coverage based working plan assortment for the cluster.
MC Optn Recommended	The number of optional items per the Market Coverage calculations in a system-recommended Market Coverage based working plan assortment for the cluster.
WP MC Assort Core	An editable Boolean flag measure used to indicate whether an item is a core item or not as per a Market Coverage Assortment.
WP MC Assort Optn	An editable Boolean flag measure used to indicate whether an item is an optional item or not as per a Market Coverage Assortment.
WP MC Core/Optn Error	Default Value Error measure if both Core and Optional measures are set to true for an item in a Market Assortment.
WP MC Assort Core Count	The number of core items in a Market Coverage Assortment per the WP MC Assort Core measure.
WP MC Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in a Market Coverage Assortment per the WP MC Assort Optn measure.
LY Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in last year's assortment for the cluster.
LY Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in last year's assortment for the cluster.
LY Assort Core Count	The number of core items in last year's assortment.
LY Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in a last year's assortment.
CP Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the current plan's assortment for the cluster.
CP Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the current plan assortment for the cluster.
CP Assort Core Count	The number of core items in a current plan's assortment for the cluster.
CP Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in a current plan assortment for the cluster.

Figure 8-41 1a. Review Market Coverage Assortment Recommendation WP/DT Measure Profile View 2

Table 8-30 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-30 1a. Review Market Coverage Assortment Recommendation WP/DT Measure Profile View 2 Measures

Label	Definition
WP MC Assort Compare to LY	Keep, Add, or Drop decision on comparing a Market Coverage based assortment with an LY assortment at the cluster level.
WP MC Assort Compare to CP	Keep, Add, or Drop decision on comparing a Market Coverage based assortment with a Current Plan assortment at the cluster level.
MC DT K/A/D Input	This field provides an option to the user to choose the reference assortment that is used to compare and calculate Keep, Add, or Drop actions for the working plan assortment for cluster. This measure is specific for a Market Coverage based assortment.
WP MC Assort Sales U	Sales Retail of an item present in the Market Coverage based assortment for a cluster.
WP MC Assort Sales R	Sales Units of an item present in the Market Coverage based assortment for a cluster.
WP MC DT Assort Sales U	Planned Sales Units with Demand Transference impact for the Market Coverage based assortment.
WP MC DT Assort Sales R	Planned Sales Retail with Demand Transference impact for the Market Coverage based assortment.
MC DT No of Significant Substitute SKUs	Refers to the count of SKUs that can absorb the significant chunk of substitutable demand of a SKU in a Market Coverage based working plan assortment for the cluster. Represents the number of SKUs that demand will transfer to, if this SKU is dropped from the assortment.
WP MC DT Substitutable Demand Sales U	Refers to the replaceable sales units of a SKU, in case it is dropped from a Market Coverage based assortment.
WP MC DT Substitutable Demand Sales R	Refers to the respective replaceable sales retail for substitutable sales dollars for a SKU in a Market Coverage based assortment.
WP MC DT Demand Transferred %	Represents the percentage of the total demand of the SKU that will get transferred to other SKUs in the Planned Market assortment if this SKU is to be dropped from the assortment.
WP MC DT Incremental Demand Sales U	Represents the demand units of the SKU that will be lost or not transferred to other SKUs in the Planned Market assortment if this SKU is dropped from the assortment. It represents the true incremental sales of the SKU to the assortment.
WP MC DT Incremental Demand Sales R	Represents the demand retail of the SKU that will be lost or not transferred to other SKUs in the Planned Market assortment if this SKU is dropped from the assortment. It represents the true incremental sales retail of the SKU to the assortment.
WP MC Assort Gross Profit %	The gross profit percentage value in a system-recommended market coverage assortment towards the working plan assortment.
WP MC Assort Gross Profit R	The gross profit retail value in a system-recommended market coverage assortment towards the working plan assortment.

Figure 8-42 1a. Review Market Coverage Assortment Recommendation WP/LP Measure Profile View

Table 8-31 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-31 1a. Review Market Coverage Assortment Recommendation WP/LP Measure Profile Measures

Label	Definition
LY Market Sales @ Cluster R	Last year's market sales for the cluster. It is typically sourced from third parties providing syndicated data on a quarterly basis.
LY Market Sales Rank	An ordinal rank assigned on the basis of the LY Market Sales R of an item within a product category.
WP Sales R	The working plan assortment's sales retail value.
WP Mandatory	A Boolean flag measure used to mark an item as mandatory in a working plan assortment for the cluster.
MC Core Recommended	A read-only Boolean measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the Market Coverage Assortment for the cluster. This measure is calculated by the system on the basis of the Market Coverage thresholds set by the user..
MC Optn Recommended	A read-only Boolean measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the Market Coverage Assortment for the cluster. This measure is calculated by the system on the basis of the Market Coverage thresholds set by the user.
WP MC Assort Core	An editable Boolean flag measure used to indicate whether an item is a core item or not as per a Market Coverage Assortment.
WP MC Assort Optn	An editable Boolean flag measure used to indicate whether an item is an optional item or not as per a Market Coverage Assortment.
MC Core/Optn Error	Default Value Error measure if both Core and Optional measures are set to true for an item in a Market Coverage Assortment.
LP Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in last plan's assortment for the cluster.
LP Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in last plan's assortment for the cluster.
MC Core Recommended Count	The number of core items in a Market Coverage Assortment per the MC Core Recommended measure.
MC Optn Recommended Count	The number of core items in a Market Coverage Assortment per the MC Optn Recommended measure.
WP MC Assort Core Count	The number of core items in a Market Coverage Assortment per the WP MC Assort Core measure.
WP MC Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in a Market Coverage Assortment per the WP MC Assort Optn measure.
LP Assort Core Count	The number of optional items in the last plan's assortment for the cluster.
LP Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in the last plan's assortment for the cluster.
MC Core Recommended Sales R %	Market Coverage provided by core SKUs in the assortment recommended (Market Coverage Assortment).
MC Optn Recommended Sales R %	Market Coverage provided by optional SKUs in the assortment recommended (Market Coverage Assortment).
WP MC Assort Core Coverage Sales R %	Market Coverage provided by the IPI core SKUs in the working plan assortment recommended by the system based on market coverage thresholds set by the user.
WP MC Assort Optn Coverage Sales R %	Market Coverage provided by the optional SKUs in the working plan IPI-recommended assortment.
LP Assort Core Coverage Sales R %	Market coverage provided by core SKUs in the last plan's assortment.
LP Assort Optn Coverage Sales R %	Market coverage provided by optional SKUs in the last plan's assortment.

Figure 8-43 1a. Review Market Coverage Assortment Recommendation WP/LY Measure Profile View

Table 8-32 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-32 1a. Review Market Coverage Assortment Recommendation WP/LY Measure Profile Measures

Label	Definition
LY Market Sales @ Cluster R	Last year's market sales for the cluster. It is typically sourced from third parties providing syndicated data on a quarterly basis.
LY Market Sales Rank	An ordinal rank assigned on the basis of the LY Market Sales R of an item within a product category.
WP Sales R	The working plan assortment's sales retail value.
WP Mandatory	A Boolean flag measure used to mark an item as mandatory in a working plan assortment for the cluster.
MC Core Recommended	A read-only Boolean measure indicating whether an item is a core item per the Market Coverage Assortment for the cluster. This measure is calculated by the system on the basis of the Market Coverage thresholds set by the user.
MC Optn Recommended	A read-only Boolean measure indicating whether an item is an optional item per the Market Coverage Assortment for the cluster. This measure is calculated by the system on the basis of Market Coverage thresholds set by the user.
WP MC Assort Core	An editable Boolean flag measure used to indicate whether an item is a core item or not as per a Market Coverage Assortment.
WP MC Assort Optn	An editable Boolean flag measure used to indicate whether an item is an optional item or not as per a Market Coverage Assortment.
MC Core/Optn Error	Default Value Error measure if both Core and Optional measures are set to true for an item in a Market Coverage Assortment.
LY Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in last year's assortment for the cluster.
LY Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in last year's assortment for the cluster.
MC Core Recommended Count	The number of core items in a Market Coverage Assortment per the MC Core Recommended measure.
MC Optn Recommended Count	The number of core items in a Market Coverage Assortment per the MC Optn Recommended measure.
WP MC Assort Core Count	The number of core items in a Market Coverage Assortment per the WP MC Assort Core measure.
WP MC Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in a Market Coverage Assortment per the WP MC Assort Optn measure.
LY Assort Core Count	The number of core items in last year's assortment.
LY Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in a last year's assortment.
MC Core Recommended Sales R %	Market Coverage provided by core SKUs in the recommended assortment (Market Coverage Assortment).
MC Optn Recommended Sales R %	Market Coverage provided by optional SKUs in the recommended assortment (Market Coverage Assortment).
WP MC Assort Core Coverage Sales R %	Market Coverage provided by the core SKUs per the Market Coverage Assortment.
WP MC Assort Optn Coverage Sales R %	Market Coverage provided by the optional SKUs in the working plan IPI recommended assortment.
LY Assort Core Coverage Sales R %	Market coverage provided by core SKUs in last year's assortment.
LY Assort Optn Coverage Sales R %	Market coverage provided by optional SKUs in last year's assortment.

1b. Review Market Coverage DT Details

Use this view to review the demand transference distribution details of any SKU/item in the Review (Market Coverage) Assortment Recommendation view.

Figure 8-44 1b. Review Market Coverage DT Details View

Table 8-33 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-33 1b. Review Market Coverage DT Details Measures

Label	Definition
Market Coverage DT Demand Sales Received %	Refers to a percentage of the total sales units of a SKU getting transferred from it and being received by its respective Substitute SKUs in a Market Coverage based working plan assortment for the cluster. It is expressed as a percentage of total sales of the SKU.
WP MC DT Assort Demand Received Sales U	Sales units that would be transferred to a substitute SKU (shown in the RHS hierarchy) from the SKU dropped (shown in the LHS hierarchy) in a Market Coverage Assortment.
WP MC DT Assort Demand Received Sales R	Sales Retail value that would be transferred to a substitute SKU (shown in the RHS hierarchy) from the SKU dropped (shown in the LHS hierarchy) in a Market Coverage Assortment.
WP MC DT Assort Sales U	The Market Coverage assortment's net sales units after applying demand transference manually or through assortment improvement.
WP MC DT Assort Sales R	The Market Coverage assortment's net sales retail value after applying demand transference manually or through assortment improvement.

2. Market Coverage Assortment Dashboard View

Use this view to review and compare the alignment of the market coverage assortment plan numbers to the set MFP and CP targets at the sub-category level and above:

• Assortment plan numbers consist of measures presenting the Sales Retail, Sales Units, Gross Profit Retail and Gross Profit %.

• Targets consist of MFP Sales R, MFP Sales U, MFP Gross Profit, and MFP Gross Profit %.

Figure 8-45 2. Market Coverage Assortment Dashboard View

Table 8-34 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-34 2. Market Coverage Assortment Dashboard View Measures

Label	Description
MFP Gross Profit %	Merchandise Financial Plan's Gross Profit percentage.
MFP Sales R	Merchandise Financial Plan's Sales Retail value.
WP MC Assort Gross Profit %	Market Coverage assortment's gross profit percentage.
WP MC Assort Sales R	Market Coverage assortment's sales retail value.
WP MC Assort Core Count	The number of core items in the Market Coverage assortment.
WP Mandatory Count	The number of items marked as mandatory.
CP Target Gross Profit %	Approve Category Plan's Gross Profit percentage.
CP Target Sales R	Approve Category Plan's Sales Retail value.
LY Gross Profit %	Last Year's Gross Profit percentage. Similar measures in other versions include: WP Gross Profit % and CP Gross Profit %.
LY Sales R	Last Year's Sales Retail value. Similar measures in other versions include: WP Sales R and CP Sales R.
LY Sales U	Last Year's Sales Units. Similar measures in other versions include: WP Sales U and CP Sales U.
LY Assort Core Count	The number of core items in last year's assortment. Similar measures in other versions include: CP Assort Core Count, WP Assort Core Count and LP Assort Core Count.
WP MC Assort Count var to LY	The variance in assortment count between the Market Coverage assortment and last year assortment.
WP MC Assort Gross Profit var to LY R	The variance in gross profit retail between the Market Coverage assortment and last year assortment. Similar measures available with comparison to other planning measures: WP MC Assort Gross Profit var to CP R, WP MC Assort Gross Profit var to MFP R, and WP MC Assort Gross Profit var to Tgt R.
WP MC Assort Sales var to LY R	The variance in sales retail value between the Market Coverage assortment and last year assortment. Similar measures available with variance to other planning measures: WP MC Assort Sales var to CP R, WP MC Assort Sales var to MFP R, and WP MC Assort Sales var to Tgt R.
WP MC Assort Sales var to LY U	The variance in sales units between the Market Coverage assortment and last year assortment. Similar measures available with variance to other planning measures: WP MC Assort Sales var to CP U, WP MC Assort Sales var to MFP U, and WP MC Assort Sales var to Tgt U.
WP MC DT Assort Sales var to LY U	The variance between the Market Coverage assortment's demand transference affected sales units and last year assortment's sales retail value. Similar measures available with variation to other plan measures: : WP MC DT Assort Sales var to CP U, WP MC DT Assort Sales var to MFP U, and WP MC DT Assort Sales var to Tgt U.
WP MC DT Assort Sales var to LY R	The variance between the Market Coverage assortment's demand transference affected sales retail value and last year assortment's sales retail value. Similar measures available with variation to other plan measures: WP MC DT Assort Sales var to CP R, WP MC DT Assort Sales var to MFP R, and WP MC DT Assort Sales var to Tgt R.
WP MC DT Assort Gross Profit var to LY R	The variance between the Market Coverage assortment's demand transference affected gross profit retail value and last year assortment's gross profit retail value. Similar measures available with variation to other plan measures: WP MC DT Assort Gross Profit var to CP R, WP MC DT Assort Gross Profit var to MFP R, and WP MC DT Assort Gross Profit var to Tgt R.
WP MC DT Assort Private Label Sales var to LY U	The variance between the private label item's demand transference affected sales units in the Market Coverage assortment and last year assortment. Similar measures available with variance to other planning measures: WP MC Assort Private Label Sales var to CP U and WP MC Assort Private Label Sales var to Tgt U.
WP MC DT Assort Private Label Sales var to LY R	The variance between the private label item's demand transference affected sales retail values in the Market Coverage assortment and last year assortment. Similar measures available with variance to other planning measures: WP MC Assort Private Label Sales var to CP R and WP MC Assort Private Label Sales var to Tgt R.
WP MC DT Assort Private Label Gross Profit var to LY R	The variance between the private label item's demand transference affected gross profit retail values in the Market Coverage assortment and last year assortment. Similar measures available with variance to other planning measures: WP MC Assort Private Label Gross Profit var to CP R and WP MC Assort Private Label Gross Profit var to Tgt R.

Market Coverage Ordered Incremental Curve Tab

This tab has one view.

View MC Ordered Incremental Curve View

Use this view to ascertain an optimal assortment range through incremental curve based on market coverage ranking. An incremental curve is generated in this view by running the Calc MC Incremental Curve custom menu.

Incremental curves are used to gauge the correctness of the assortment range by looking at the substitutable and non-substitutable sales of items in an assortment. Incremental sales represent the unique or non-substitutable sales for any item in a given assortment. Incremental curve provides a visibility to the point where the cumulative incremental sales for the assortment flatten out and there is an overlap of sales between the SKUs (also referred to as cannibalization of sales). In effect, there is no significant increase to the assortment's sales with addition of new items. This helps the assortment planner to decide the quantum of substitutable sales that must be planned in case a few SKUs are out of stock. In effect, it facilitates the derivation of an optimal assortment range by providing a visibility to the point at which cumulative incremental sales of an assortment plateau.

Custom Menu

The Calc MC Incremental Curve custom menu is used to generate an incremental curve based on the market rank ordering for a market coverage assortment, so as to derive an optimal assortment range.

Figure 8-46 View MC Ordered Incremental Curve View

Table 8-35 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-35 View MC Ordered Incremental Curve View Measures

Label	Description
MC Cumulative Inc Sales U	The cumulative sum of incremental sales units when the incremental curve is calculated using Market Coverage ranking.
SKU Label	Item's label.

Finalize Assortment for Space Optimization Step

Use this step to finalize the assortment for space optimization. In this step, assortments are exported to ASO for space optimization. Space optimization aligns the assortment plans to the available space at the stores.

This step has the following tabs and views:

• Review Final Assortment Recommendation Tab:

  1a. Review Final Assortment Recommendation View

  1b. Review DT Details View

  2. Final Assortment Dashboard View

  3. Review Assortment Wedge View

• Assortment Quantification Summary Tab:

  Assortment Quantification Summary View

• Export to ASO Tab:

  1. Role Model & Assort Label View

  2. Export to ASO View

Custom Menu Options

The following custom menu options are available:

• Seed Assortment

  This custom menu option is used to seed the core and optional items in the final assortment for space optimization at the sub-category or category level. The assortment can be seeded by the IPI Assortment, Market Coverage Assortment, Last Year (LY), Last Plan (LP), or Current Plan (CP) Assortment. Select the seeding options from a drop-down selection in the WP Seed Final Core/Optn measure before running this custom menu option.

• Apply DT to Final Assortment

  This custom menu option is used to apply demand transference to the final assortment. Assortment changes can accomplished by marking or un-marking the core and optional item flags. Before running this custom menu option, the user needs to select a reference assortment that the system uses to calculate the Keep/Add/Drop decisions. This reference assortment is selected in the DT Assort K/A/D measure that has two options in the list, WP/LY and WP/CP assortments.

• Export to ASO @ Cluster

  This custom menu is used to export assortment plan details and category plan data to ASO for space optimization at the cluster level.

• Export Updated Plans to ASO

  This custom menu is used to export modified or updated assortment plan numbers to ASO for an already exported assortment plan and the corresponding category plan data.

• Cancel ASO Export

  This custom menu can only be used to cancel exports to ASO, if the data previously exported has not been consumed by ASO from the HSA RDM due to interface issues or the assortment being in the queue for consumption. This custom menu only deletes the exported data from the RDM.

Review Final Assortment Recommendation Tab

This tab has four views and four measure profiles:

• WP/CP

• WP/DT

• WP/LP

• WP/LY

1a. Review Final Assortment Recommendation View

Use this view to review the final system recommended assortment at the cluster level. This view can be used to populate the final assortment for space optimization with an IPI or market coverage assortment. It provides the facility to the user to look at the various recommendations and make decisions to derive a final assortment at the cluster level. The user can either use an assortment purely based on IPI or market coverage through seeding options or manually use a mix of the two types of recommendations.

Figure 8-47 1a. Review Final Assortment Recommendation WP/CP Measure Profile View

Table 8-36 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-36 1a. Review Final Assortment Recommendation WP/CP Measure Profile Measures

Label	Definition
WP Mandatory	A Boolean flag measure used to mark an item as mandatory in a working plan assortment for the cluster.
WP IPI Assort Core	An editable Boolean measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the IPI Assortment. It can be used to change the core items in an assortment.
WP IPI Assort Optn	An editable Boolean measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the IPI Assortment. It can be used to modify optional items.
WP MC Assort Core	An editable Boolean flag measure used to indicate whether an item is a core item or not as per a Market Coverage Assortment.
WP MC Assort Optn	An editable Boolean flag measure used to indicate whether an item is an optional item or not as per a Market Coverage Assortment.
WP Seed Final Core/Optn	Contains a drop-down list of values representing the different methods of generating system-recommended assortments to seed the core and optional items in the working plan assortment. Once the drop-down selection is made, the user needs to run the Seed Core/Optional Recommendation custom menu option. This measure is available at the sub-category level and above.
WP Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the working plan's assortment for the cluster.
Assort Core/Optn Error	The Default Value Error measure if both Core and Optional measures are set to true for an item in a Store Assortment.
CP Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the current plan's assortment for the cluster.
CP Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the current plan assortment for the cluster.
WP Final Assortment Compare to CP	Shows whether an item in the final assortment for the cluster is a Keep, Add, or Drop relative to the current plan assortment.
WP Assort Core Count	The number of core items in a working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in a working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP % Contribution of Category Items	The contribution of an item or a product segment (such as, sub-category, CDT product segment, and so on) towards the overall sales of the respective sub-category, category, or a higher product hierarchy level.
CP Assort Core Count	The number of core items in a current plan's assortment for the cluster.
CP Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in a current plan assortment for the cluster.
WP Assort Core Coverage Sales R %	Market Coverage provided by the core items in the working plan's assortment.
WP Assort Optn Coverage Sales R %	Market Coverage provided by the optional SKUs in the working plan's assortment.
CP Assort Core Coverage Sales R %	Market coverage provided by core SKUs in the current plan assortment.
CP Assort Optn Coverage Sales R %	Market coverage provided by optional SKUs in the current plan assortment.

Figure 8-48 1a. Review Final Assortment Recommendation WP/DT Measure Profile View 1 Measures

Table 8-37 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-37 1a. Review Final Assortment Recommendation WP/DT Measure Profile View 1 Measures

Label	Definition
WP Mandatory	A Boolean flag measure used to mark an item as mandatory in a working plan assortment for the cluster.
WP IPI Assort Core	An editable Boolean measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the IPI Assortment. It can be used to change the core items in an IPI assortment.
WP IPI Assort Optn	An editable Boolean measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the IPI Assortment. It can be used to modify optional items in IPI assortment.
WP MC Assort Core	An editable Boolean flag measure used to indicate whether an item is a core item or not as per a Market Coverage Assortment.
WP MC Assort Core Optn	An editable Boolean flag measure used to indicate whether an item is an optional item or not as per a Market Coverage Assortment.
WP Seed Final Core/Optn	Contains a drop-down list of values representing the different methods of generating system-recommended assortments to seed the core and optional items in the working plan assortment. Once the drop-down selection is made, the user needs to run the Seed Core/Optional Recommendation custom menu option. This measure is available at the sub-category level and above.
WP Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the working plan's assortment for the cluster.
Assort Core/Optn Error	Default Value Error measure if both Core and Optional measures are set to true for an item in a Store Assortment.
WP Assort Core Count	The number of core items in a working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in a working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP % Contribution of Category Items	The contribution of an item or a product segment (such as sub-category, CDT product segment, and so on) towards the overall sales of the respective sub-category, category, or a higher product hierarchy level.
WP Final Assort Compare to LY	Shows whether an item in the final assortment for the cluster is a Keep, Add, or Drop relative to last year's assortment.
WP Final Assort Compare to CP	Shows whether an item in the final assortment for the cluster is a Keep, Add, or Drop relative to the current plan assortment.
DT Assort K/A/D Input	This field provides an option to the user to decide the assortment with which the comparison should be done to calculate Keep, Add, or Drop actions for this assortment. This measure is specific for Final Cluster assortment.
WP Use DT Sales	Flag measure to indicate if WP Assort Sales in the final assortment should be populated by updated demand (DT Affected Sales). This measure can be used by checking it and clicking calc button to populate WP Assort Sales with DT Sales.

Figure 8-49 1a. Review Final Assortment Recommendation WP/DT Measure Profile View 2

Table 8-38 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-38 1a. Review Final Assortment Recommendation WP/DT Measure Profile View 2 Measures

Label	Definition
WP Assort Sales U	The sales units in the working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP Assort Sales R	The sales retail value in the working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP DT Assort Sales U	Updated (or DT Affected) Demand Sales Units in the working plan assortment for the cluster. Updated demand sales units compared with baseline demand sales units (WP IPI Assort Sales U) help the user to see the Demand Transference impact on sales units with assortment changes.
WP DT Assort Sales R	Updated (or DT Affected) Demand Sales Retail in the working plan assortment for the cluster. Updated demand sales retail compared with baseline demand sales retail (WP IPI Assort Sales R) helps the user to see the Demand Transference impact on sales retail with assortment changes.
DT No of Significant SKUs	Refers to the count of SKUs that can absorb the significant chunk of substitutable demand of a SKU in a Final Cluster assortment.
WP DT Substitutable Demand Sales U	The sales component of total sales units that represents replaceable sales units (substitutable sales units) of an item/assortment in the working plan assortment for the cluster. In other words, substitutable demand sales units get transferred to substitute items in the working plan assortment for the cluster.
WP DT Substitutable Demand Sales R	The sales component of total sales retail that represents replaceable sales retail (substitutable sales retail) of an item/assortment in the working plan assortment for the cluster.
WP DT Demand Transferred %	Refers to that part of demand (sales units) that has been transferred from the SKU being dropped to the substitute SKUs in a store assortment for a cluster. It reflects the net demand transference - distribution among the substitute SKUs.
WP DT Assort Incremental Demand Sales U	The sales component of total sales units that represents the irreplaceable sales units of an item/assortment in the working plan assortment for the cluster. In other words, as the name suggests, this quantum of sales is lost and does not get transferred to other items in the assortment.
WP DT Assort Incremental Demand Sales R	The sales component of total sales retail that represents the irreplaceable sales retail of an item/assortment in the working plan assortment for the cluster.
WP Assort Gross Profit %	The gross profit percentage in a working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP Assort Gross Profit R	The gross profit retail value in a working plan's assortment for the cluster. Gross Profit Retail is the difference between Sales Retail and Cost of Goods Sold.
WP DT Assort Gross Profit %	The updated (or DT Affected) demand's gross profit retail percentage value specifically for the final assortment for the cluster in the working plan. It is compared with the baseline demand's gross profit retail value (WP Assort Gross Profit R) to see the DT impact on an assortment with assortment changes.
WP DT Assort Gross Profit R	The updated (or DT Affected) demand's gross profit retail value specifically for the final assortment for the cluster in the working plan. It is compared with the baseline demand's gross profit retail value (WP Assort Gross Profit R) to see the DT impact on an assortment with assortment changes.

Figure 8-50 1a. Review Final Assortment Recommendation WP/LP Measure Profile View

Table 8-39 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-39 1a. Review Final Assortment Recommendation WP/LP Measure Profile Measures

Label	Definition
WP Mandatory	A Boolean flag measure used to mark an item as mandatory in a working plan assortment for the cluster.
WP IPI Assort Core	An editable Boolean measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the IPI Assortment. It can be used to change the core items in an IPI assortment.
WP IPI Assort Optn	An editable Boolean measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the IPI Assortment. It can be used to modify optional items in an IPI assortment.
WP MC Assort Core	An editable Boolean flag measure used to indicate whether an item is a core item or not as per a Market Coverage Assortment.
WP MC Assort Optn	An editable Boolean flag measure used to indicate whether an item is an optional item or not as per a Market Coverage Assortment.
WP Seed Final Core/Optn	Contains a drop-down list of values representing the different methods of generating system-recommended assortments to seed the core and optional items in the working plan assortment. Once the drop-down selection is made, the user needs to run the Seed Core/Optional Recommendation custom menu option. This measure is available at the sub-category level and above.
WP Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the working plan's assortment for the cluster.
Assort Core/Optn Error	Default Value Error measure if both Core and Optional measures are set to true for an item in a Store assortment.
LP Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in last plan's assortment for the cluster.
LP Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in last plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP Final Assortment Compare to CP	Shows whether an item in the final assortment for the cluster is a Keep, Add, or Drop relative to the current plan assortment.
WP Assort Core Count	The number of core items in a working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in a working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP % Contribution of Category Items	The contribution of an item or a product segment (such as, sub-category, CDT product segment, and so on) towards the overall sales of the respective sub-category, category, or a higher product hierarchy level.
LP Assort Core Count	The number of optional items in the last plan's assortment for the cluster.
LP Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in the last plan's assortment for the cluster.
LP % Contribution of Category Items	Assortment Planning @ Cluster Last Plan % Contribution of Category Items Percent.
WP Assort Core Coverage Sales R %	Market Coverage provided by the core items in the working plan's assortment.
WP Assort Optn Coverage Sales R %	Market Coverage provided by the optional SKUs in the working plan's assortment.
LP Assort Core Coverage Sales R %	Market coverage provided by core SKUs in the last plan's assortment.
LP Assort Optn Coverage Sales R %	Market coverage provided by optional SKUs in the last plan's assortment.

Figure 8-51 1a. Review Final Assortment Recommendation WP/LY Measure Profile View

Table 8-40 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-40 1a. Review Final Assortment Recommendation WP/LY Measure Profile Measures

Label	Definition
WP Mandatory	A Boolean flag measure used to mark an item as mandatory in a working plan assortment for the cluster.
WP IPI Assort Core	An editable Boolean measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the IPI Assortment. It can be used to change the core items in an IPI assortment
WP IPI Assort Optn	An editable Boolean measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the IPI Assortment. It can be used to modify optional items in IPI assortment.
WP MC Assort Core	An editable Boolean flag measure used to indicate whether an item is a core item or not as per a Market Coverage Assortment.
WP MC Assort Optn	An editable Boolean flag measure used to indicate whether an item is an optional item or not as per a Market Coverage Assortment.
WP Seed Final Core/Optn	Contains a drop-down list of values representing the different methods of generating system-recommended assortments to seed the core and optional items in the working plan assortment. Once the drop-down selection is made, the user needs to run the Seed Core/Optional Recommendation custom menu option. This measure is available at the sub-category level and above.
WP Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the working plan's assortment for the cluster.
Assort Core/Optn Error	Default Value Error measure if both Core and Optional measures are set to true for an item in a Store Assortment.
LY Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in last year's assortment for the cluster.
LY Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in last year's assortment for the cluster.
WP Final Assortment Compare to LY	Shows whether an item in the final assortment for the cluster is a Keep, Add, or Drop relative to last year's assortment.
WP Assort Core Count	The number of core items in a working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in a working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP % Contribution of Category Items	The contribution of an item or a product segment (such as sub-category, CDT product segment, and so on) towards the overall sales of the respective sub-category, category, or a higher product hierarchy level.
LY Assort Core Count	The number of core items in last year's assortment.
LY Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in last year's assortment.
LY % Contribution of Category Items	Assortment Planning @ Cluster Last Year % Contribution of Category Items Percent.
WP Assort Core Coverage Sales R %	Market Coverage provided by the core items in the working plan's assortment.
WP Assort Optn Coverage Sales R %	Market Coverage provided by the optional SKUs in the working plan's assortment.
LY Assort Core Coverage Sales R %	Market coverage provided by core SKUs in last year's assortment.
LY Assort Optn Coverage Sales R %	Market coverage provided by optional SKUs in last year's assortment.

1b. Review DT Details View

Use this view to review the demand transference distribution details of any SKU/item in the final assortment for the cluster in the Review Assortment Recommendation view.

Figure 8-52 1b. Review DT Details View

Table 8-41 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-41 1b Review DT Details Measures

Label	Definition
DT Demand Sales Received %	Refers to a percentage of total sales units of a SKU, getting transferred from it and being received by its respective Substitute SKUs in an IC-based assortment. It is expressed as a percentage of total sales of the SKUs.
WP DT Demand Received Sales U	Sales units that would be transferred to the (RHS) SKU from the SKU if it were to be dropped from the assortment. Substitute SKUs are presented in the RHS product hierarchy.
WP DT Demand Received Sales R	Sales retail that would be transferred to the (RHS) SKU from the SKU if it were to be dropped from the assortment. Substitute SKUs are presented in the RHS product hierarchy.
WP DT Assort Sales U	The demand transference affected sales units of a SKU, which is used as a reference in calculating the demand received sales figures for its substitute SKUs in a store assortment. Substitute SKUs are presented in the RHS product hierarchy.
WP DT Assort Sales R	The demand transference affected sales retail value of a SKU, which is used as a reference in calculating the demand received sales figures for its substitute SKUs in a store assortment.

2. Final Assortment Dashboard View

Use this view to review and compare the alignment of final assortment plan numbers to the set targets in the form of MFP and CP targets at the sub-category level and above:

• Assortment plan numbers consist of measures presenting the Sales Retail, Sales Units, Gross Profit Retail, and Gross Profit %.

• Targets consist of MFP Sales R, MFP Sales U, MFP Gross Profit, and MFP Gross Profit %.

Figure 8-53 2. Final Assortment Dashboard View

Table 8-42 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-42 2. Final Assortment Dashboard View Measures

Label	Description
MFP Gross Profit %	Merchandise Financial Plan's Gross Profit percentage.
MFP Sales R	Merchandise Financial Plan's Sales Retail value.
WP Assort Gross Profit %	Working plan assortment's gross profit percentage.
WP Assort Sales R	Working plan assortment's sales retail value.
WP Assort Core Count	The number of core items in the working plan assortment.
WP Mandatory Count	The number of items marked as mandatory.
CP Target Gross Profit %	Approved Category Plan's Gross Profit percentage.
CP Target Sales R	Approved Category Plan's Sales Retail value.
LY Gross Profit %	Last Year's Gross Profit percentage. Similar measures in other versions include: WP Gross Profit % and CP Gross Profit %.
LY Sales R	Last Year's Sales Retail value. Similar measures in other versions include: WP Sales R and CP Sales R.
LY Sales U	Last Year's Sales Units. Similar measures in other versions include: WP Sales U and CP Sales U.
LY Assort Core Count	The number of core items in last year's assortment. Similar measures in other versions include: CP Assort Core Count, WP Assort Core Count, and LP Assort Core Count.
WP Assort Gross Profit var to LY R	The variance in gross profit retail between the working plan assortment and last year assortment. Similar measures available with comparison to other planning measures: WP Assort Gross Profit var to CP R, WP Assort Gross Profit var to MFP R, and WP Assort Gross Profit var to Tgt R.
WP Assort Sales var to LY R	The variance in sales retail value between the working plan assortment and last year assortment. Similar measures available with variance to other planning measures: WP Assort Sales var to CP R, WP Assort Sales var to MFP R, and WP Assort Sales var to Tgt R.
WP Assort Sales var to LY U	The variance in sales units between the working plan assortment and last year assortment. Similar measures available with variance to other planning measures: WP Assort Sales var to CP U, WP Assort Sales var to MFP U, and WP Assort Sales var to Tgt U.
WP DT Assort Sales var to LY U	The variance between the working plan assortment's demand transference affected sales units and last year assortment's sales units. Similar measures available with variation to other plan measures: WP DT Assort Sales var to CP U, WP DT Assort Sales var to MFP U, and WP DT Assort Sales var to Tgt U.
WP DT Assort Sales var to LY R	The variance between the working plan assortment's demand transference affected sales retail value and last year assortment's sales retail value. Similar measures available with variation to other plan measures: WP DT Assort Sales var to CP R, WP DT Assort Sales var to MFP R, and WP DT Assort Sales var to Tgt R.
WP DT Assort Gross Profit var to LY R	The variance between the IPI assortment's demand transference affected sales retail value and last year assortment's sales retail value. Similar measures available with variation to other plan measures: WP IPI DT Assort Gross Profit var to CP R, WP IPI DT Assort Gross Profit var to MFP R, and WP IPI DT Assort Gross Profit var to Tgt R.

3. Review Assortment Wedge View

Use this view to review and compare the assortments across different clusters under a trading area. It facilitates quick viewing and comparison of the product mix of assortments across various clusters.

Figure 8-54 3. Review Assortment Wedge View

Table 8-43 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-43 3. Review Assortment Wedge View Measures

Label	Description
WP Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the working plan's assortment for the cluster. Similar measures in other versions include: CP Assort Core, LY Assort Core, and LP Assort Core.
WP Mandatory	A Boolean flag measure used to mark an item as mandatory in the working plan assortment for the cluster. Similar measures in other versions include: CP Mandatory, LP Mandatory, and LY Mandatory.
WP Assort Carried	A Boolean flag measure indicating if an item is part of the working plan assortment. Similar measures in other versions include: CP Assort Carried, LP Assort Carried, and LY Assort Carried.
WP Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the working plan assortment or the cluster. Similar measures in other version include: CP Assort Optn, LY Assort Optn, and LP Assort Optn.
WP IPI Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the IPI assortment for the cluster. Similar measures in other versions include: CP IPI Assort Core, LY IPI Assort Core, and LP IPI Assort Core.
WP IPI Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the IPI assortment for the cluster. Similar measures in other versions include: CP IPI Assort Optn, LY IPI Assort Optn, and LP IPI Assort Optn.
WP MC Assort Core	An editable Boolean flag measure used to indicate whether an item is a core item or not as per a Market Coverage Assortment. Similar measures in other versions include: CP MC Assort Core, LY MC Assort Core, and LP MC Assort Core.
WP MC Assort Optn	An editable Boolean flag measure used to indicate whether an item is an optional item or not as per a Market Coverage Assortment. Similar measures in other versions include: CP MC Assort Optn, LY MC Assort Optn, and LP MC Assort Optn.
WP Assort Sales R	The working plan assortment's sales retail value. Similar measures in other version include: CP Assort Sales R and LY Assort Sales R.
WP Assort Sales U	The working plan assortment's sales units. Similar measures in other version include: CP Assort Sales U and LY Assort Sales U.
WP Avg Inv R	The working plan assortment's average inventory retail value.
WP DT Assort Sales R	The working plan assortment's demand transference affected sales retail value.
WP DT Assort Sales U	The working plan assortment's demand transference affected sales units.
MFP Sales R	Merchandise Financial Plan's Sales Retail value.
MFP Sales U	Merchandise Financial Plan's Sales Units.
CP Target Sales R	Approved Category Plan's target sales retail value.
CP Target Sales U	Approved Category Plan's target sales units.
WP AS Combined Assort Sales R	The combined sales retail value in the working plan assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASWP) and cluster level (ACWP) measures. Similar measures in other versions include: LY AS Combined Assort Sales R and CP AS Combined Assort Sales R.
WP AS Combined Assort Sales U	The combined sales units in the working plan assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASWP) and cluster level (ACWP) measures. Similar measures in other versions include: LY AS Combined Assort Sales U and CP AS Combined Assort Sales U.

Assortment Quantification Summary Tab

This tab has one view.

Assortment Quantification Summary View

Use this view to review the targets being achieved by the assortment finalized for the cluster in the previous tab. This view contains measures such as plan measures for Sales Units, Sales R, Gross Profit, Gross Profit %, and so on.This view has three measure profiles:

• WP/CP

• WP/LY

• WP/Tgt

Figure 8-55 Assortment Quantification Summary WP/CP Measure Profile View

Table 8-44 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-44 Assortment Quantification Summary WP/CP Measure Profile Measures

Label	Definition
WP Assort Sales R	The sales retail value in the working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP Assort Sales U	The sales units in the working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP Assort Sales AUR	The average unit retail value of a SKU in a working plan assortment at the cluster level. It reflects the average selling price of a SKU at a specific product hierarchy level.
WP Assort Gross Profit R	The gross profit retail value in a working plan's assortment for the cluster. Gross Profit Retail is the difference between Sales Retail and Cost of Goods Sold.
WP Assort Gross Profit %	The gross profit percentage in a working plan's assortment for the cluster.
CP Assort Sales R	The sales retail value in the current plan assortment for the cluster.
CP Assort Sales U	The sales units in the current plan assortment for the cluster.
CP Assort Sales AUR	Average unit retail value of a SKU in a current plan assortment at the cluster level. It reflects the average selling price of a SKU at a specific product hierarchy level.
CP Assort Gross Profit R	The gross profit retail value in a current plan assortment for the cluster. Gross Profit Retail is the difference between Sales Retail and Cost of Goods Sold.
CP Assort Gross Profit %	The gross profit percentage in the current plan assortment for the cluster.
WP Assort Sales var to CP R	The working plan assortment's sales retail value's variance to the same in the current plan.
WP Assort Sales var to CP U	The working plan assortment's sales units variance to the same in the current plan.
WP Assort Gross Profit var to CP R	The working plan assortment's gross profit value's variance to the same in the current plan.
CP AS Combined Assort Sales R	Effective (or combined) sales retail value in the current plan assortment for the cluster, taking into consideration any store level overrides to the assortment plan in the Assortment Planning @ Store task.
CP AS Combined Assort Sales U	Effective (or combined) sales units in the current plan assortment for the cluster, taking into consideration any store level overrides to the assortment plan in the Assortment Planning @ Store task.
CP AS Combined Assort Sales AUR	Effective (or combined) average unit retail in the current plan assortment for the cluster, taking into consideration any store level overrides to the assortment plan in the Assortment Planning @ Store task.
CP AS Combined Assort Gross Profit R	Effective (or combined) gross profit retail value in the current plan assortment for the cluster, taking into consideration any store level overrides to the assortment plan in the Assortment Planning @ Store task.
CP AS Combined Assort Gross Profit %	Effective (or combined) gross profit percentage in the current plan assortment for the cluster, taking into consideration any store level overrides to the assortment plan (in the Assortment Planning @ Store task.

Figure 8-56 Assortment Quantification Summary WP/LY Measure Profile View

Table 8-45 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-45 Assortment Quantification Summary WP/LY Measure Profile Measures

Label	Definition
LY Gross Profit R	Last Year Gross Profit Retail.
LY Gross Profit %	Last Year Gross Profit Percent.
WP Assort Sales R	The sales retail value in the working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP Assort Sales U	The sales units in the working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP Assort Sales AUR	The average unit retail value of a SKU in a working plan assortment at the cluster level. It reflects the average selling price of a SKU at a specific product hierarchy level.
WP Assort Gross Profit R	The gross profit retail value in a working plan's assortment for the cluster. Gross Profit Retail is the difference between Sales Retail and Cost of Goods Sold.
WP Assort Gross Profit %	The gross profit percentage in a working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP Assort Sales var to LY R	The working plan assortment's sales retail value's variance to the same in last year's actuals.
WP Assort Sales var to LY U	The working plan assortment's sales units variance to the same in last year's actuals.
WP Assort Gross Profit var to LY R	The working plan assortment's gross profit value's variance to the same in last year's actuals.
WP AS Combined Assort Sales R	The effective (or combined) sales retail value in the working plan assortment for the cluster, taking into consideration any store level overrides in the Assortment Plan @ Store task.
WP AS Combined Assort Sales U	The effective (or combined) sales units in the working plan assortment for the cluster, taking into consideration any store level overrides in the Assortment Plan @ Store task.
WP AS Combined Assort Sales AUR	The effective (or combined) average unit retail value in the working plan assortment for the cluster, taking into consideration any store level overrides in the Assortment Plan @ Store task.
WP AS Combined Assort Gross Profit R	The effective (or combined) gross profit retail value in the working plan assortment for the cluster, taking into consideration any store level overrides in the Assortment Plan @ Store task.
WP AS Combined Assort Gross Profit %	The effective (or combined) gross profit percentage in the working plan assortment for the cluster, taking into consideration any store level overrides in the Assortment Plan @ Store task.

Figure 8-57 Assortment Quantification Summary WP/Tgt Measure Profile View

Table 8-46 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-46 Assortment Quantification Summary WP/Tgt Measure Profile Measures

Label	Definition
Target Sales R	Target Sales Retail from the Category Plan.
Target Sales U	Target Sales Units from the Category Plan.
Target Sales AUR	Target Sales Average Unit Retail from the Category Plan.
Target Gross Profit R	Target Gross Profit Retail from the Category Plan.
Target Gross Profit %	Target Gross Profit Percent from the Category Plan.
WP Assort Sales R	The sales retail value in the working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP Assort Sales U	The sales units in the working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP Assort Sales AUR	The average unit retail value of a SKU in a working plan assortment at the cluster level. It reflects the average selling price of a SKU at a specific product hierarchy level.
WP Assort Gross Profit R	The gross profit retail value in a working plan's assortment for the cluster. Gross Profit Retail is the difference between Sales Retail and Cost of Goods Sold.
WP Assort Gross Profit %	The gross profit percentage in a working plan's assortment for the cluster.
WP Assort Sales var to Tgt R	The working plan assortment's sales retail value's variance to the same in the target plan (approved category plan).
WP Assort Sales var to Tgt U	The working plan assortment's sales units variance to the same in the target plan (approved category plan).
WP Assort Gross Profit var to Tgt R	The working plan assortment's gross profit value's variance to the same in the target plan (approved category plan).
WP AS Combined Assort Sales R	The effective (or combined) sales retail value in the working plan assortment for the cluster, taking into consideration any store level overrides in the Assortment Plan @ Store task.
WP AS Combined Assort Sales U	The effective (or combined) sales units in the working plan assortment for the cluster, taking into consideration any store level overrides in the Assortment Plan @ Store task.
WP AS Combined Assort Sales AUR	The effective (or combined) average unit retail value in the working plan assortment for the cluster, taking into consideration any store level overrides in the Assortment Plan @ Store task.
WP AS Combined Assort Gross Profit R	The effective (or combined) gross profit retail value in the working plan assortment for the cluster, taking into consideration any store level overrides in the Assortment Plan @ Store task.
WP AS Combined Assort Gross Profit %	The effective (or combined) gross profit percentage in the working plan assortment for the cluster, taking into consideration any store level overrides in the Assortment Plan @ Store task.

Export to ASO Tab

This tab has two views to fulfill the requirements of exporting assortment plan and category plan data to the ASO solution.

Note: Before exporting to ASO, make sure that the store level assortment plan has been explicitly committed to RPAS DB.

Exported assortment plans are optimized in ASO based on the available space and recommendations are sent back to RCM.

RPAS-based Hybrid Storage Architecture (HSA) is used to provide a near real-time round-trip integration between RCM and ASO. The Oracle Database schema, RPAS Data Mart (RDM), is used to store data being exchanged between RCM and ASO.

Note, if there is an active export existing for a category, new exports cannot be made to ASO.

The import from ASO into RCM is accomplished in the next step, Import and Review ASO Results.

1. Role Model & Assort Label View

Use this view to select the category role assignment model for categories that must be exported to ASO at the cluster level.

Figure 8-58 1. Role Model & Assort Label View

Table 8-47 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-47 1. Role Model & Assort Label Measures

Label	Definition
WP Select Final Role Model	This is a drop-down selection measure used to select the category role assignment model whose data will be exported. There are two models available for role assignment to categories, Model A and Model B.
WP Assort Label	The system-generated label (based on category and quarters) displayed for a working plan assortment being exported for assortment space optimization. This assortment label can also be user-defined.
Active Export Exists @Cat	This read-only Boolean measure indicates if there are any active exports present for the category, where the ASO results are expected back. ASO can accept only one export for a category at a time. If this Boolean measure is checked, the system will not allow an export from RCM to ASO.

2. Export to ASO View

Use this view to select the clusters for which assortment plan and category plan data (in the form of roles, strategies and tactics) must be exported to ASO for space optimization. Check the WP Export to ASO flag measure for the clusters and run the Export to ASO @Cluster custom menu.

Figure 8-59 2. Export to ASO View

Table 8-48 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-48 2. Export to ASO Measures

Label	Definition
WP Export to ASO	A Boolean flag measure, at the cluster level, which needs to be checked before running the Export to ASO @Cluster custom menu.
ASO Export Status	This read-only measure is used to display the status of exports to ASO.
Last Exported Ver	Assortment plans exported for space optimization are identified by the assortment set and corresponding version. Assortment set is a sequential system-generated number assigned to an assortment plan exported for a specific product category, trading areas, and quarters. Assortment Set Version is a sequential system-generated number, representing the number of exports against a specific assortment set. Last Exported version is a system-generated number for an assortment set, used to identify the last assortment plan exported for space optimization.
Active Exports Exists	This system-generated Boolean flag measure is used to identify the presence of any active exports for assortment space optimization for a product category, clusters under trading areas, and quarters for which the optimization results are yet to be imported.
Last Exported Date	The date on which an assortment plan was exported for assortment space optimization for the given trading areas, quarters, and product category.
WP Export Updated Plan	This Boolean flag measure is used to export updated or changed assortment plan numbers for an already exported assortment plan for space optimization at the category level. The Export Updated Plans to ASO custom menu is used to do the export after checking this flag measure.
�ASO Results Imported	This Boolean flag measure is used to indicate the import of assortment space optimization results for a specific cluster and product category at least once. This measure remains checked if the imports have happened at least once.
ASO Results Accepted	This system-generated Boolean flag measure is used to indicate if the assortment space optimization results have been accepted at least once for a cluster and product category.

Custom Menus

Export to ASO @Cluster: This custom menu is used to export assortment plan details and category plan data to ASO for space optimization at the cluster level.

Export Updated Plans to ASO: This custom menu is used to export updated assortment plan numbers to ASO for an already exported assortment plan and corresponding category plan data.

Cancel ASO Export: This custom menu can only be used to cancel exports to ASO, if the data previously exported has not been consumed by ASO from the HSA RDM due to interface issues or the assortment being in the queue for consumption. This custom menu only deletes the exported data from the RDM.

Import and Review ASO Results Step

The process of space optimization of an assortment at the cluster level, through integration with ASO, consists of the following actions:

1. Export the cluster level assortment with a space optimization request.

2. Import the ASO results after the assortment's space optimization in ASO.

3. Review and compare the ASO results with the exported assortment as well as other versions of the assortment such as LY, CP, and LP.

4. Accept the ASO results and review the space-optimized assortment.

5. Formalize the placeholder items in the assortment.

6. Approve and finalize the space-optimized assortment for implementations.

Use this step to review and import ASO results, location-wise or space-wise, and compare them against the exported assortment plan and other versions of the assortment plan.

The previously exported assortment plan is space optimized in ASO and then the ASO recommended assortment, assortment plan, and space productivity information are exported back to RCM. This is a near real-time process, as the interface batch scripts are scheduled to run on a fixed interval of time. Once the exports are available from ASO, a custom menu is run to import the available ASO results from RDM into RCM workbooks.

Space productivity information is comprised of parameters, such as average service levels, stock cover in number of days, allocated space (number of facings, facings length), and so on.

Prior to starting this step:

• The assortment plan must be exported to ASO with a space optimization request.

• Space optimization for the exported assortment plan must be complete in ASO and the ASO results must be exported back to RCM.

After completing this step:

If ASO results are meeting the expectations, that is, they are in line with overall business plan objectives and targets, then proceed to the next step, Accept and Approve ASO Results.

This step has the following tabs and views:

• Import and Review ASO Results Tab:

  1. Import ASO Results View

  2. ASO Assortment Summary View

  3. ASO Assortment Details and Space Productivity View

• Import and Review ASO Results Tab:

  1. ASO Assortment by Location View

  2. ASO Assortment by Space View

Custom Menu Option

This step has one custom menu option.

Import ASO Results

This custom menu is used to import ASO results consisting of recommended assortment, assortment plan, and space productivity information.

Import and Review ASO Results Tab

This tab has three views.

1. Import ASO Results View

Use this view to import assortment space optimization results from ASO. Check the WP ASO Import flag measure at the all [Location] level and run the Import ASO Results custom menu. This will import all the available and relevant space optimization results from ASO stored in RPAS Data Mart (RDM). Relevant optimization results here refer to ASO results for the last export made to ASO from the respective workbook. The WP ASO Import flag measure is reset once the imports are completed successfully and the corresponding positions for the ASO Import Status flag measure are updated.

Figure 8-60 1. Import ASO Results View

Table 8-49 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-49 1. Import ASO Results View Measures

Label	Description
Assort Label	The system-generated label displayed for a working plan assortment that was last exported for assortment space optimization. It can be changed to a custom, user-entered assortment label.
Last Exported Ver	Assortment plans exported for space optimization are identified by the assortment set and corresponding version. Assortment set is a sequential system-generated number assigned to an assortment plan exported for a specific product category, trading areas and quarters. Assortment Set Version is a sequential system generated number, representing the number of exports against a specific assortment set. Last Exported version is a system-generated number for an assortment set, used to identify the last assortment plan exported for space optimization.
Active Export Exists	This system-generated Boolean flag measure is used to identify the presence of any active exports for assortment space optimization for a product category, clusters under trading areas, or quarters for which the optimization results are yet to be imported. This measure is reset to False once the ASO results are successfully imported.
Last Exported Date	The date on which an assortment plan was exported for assortment space optimization for the given trading areas, quarters, and product category.
WP ASO Import	This user-entered Boolean/flag measure is used to trigger the import of assortment space optimization results. This measure can be checked at the all locations level to import all the relevant (where active exports exist) and available optimization results for the workbook. Once the import is completed, this flag measure is reset.
ASO Import Status	This system-generated measure is used to indicate the successful import of assortment space optimization results for a specific cluster and product category. It is also used to present a warning message in case of the removal of a mandatory item in the space optimization results.
ASO Results Imported	This Boolean/flag measure is used to indicate the import of assortment space optimization results for a specific cluster and product category at least once. This measure remains checked, if the imports have happened at least once.
ASO Results Imported Date	The date on which the assortment space optimization results were imported.
ASO Results Accepted	This system-generated Boolean/flag measure is used to indicate, if the assortment space optimization results have been accepted at least once for a cluster and a product category.
Exported to ASO	This system-generated Boolean flag measure is used to indicate the successful export of assortment plans for space optimization at least once. It is not reset on successful import of optimization results.
Assort Set	Assortment plans exported for space optimization are identified by the assortment set and corresponding version. Assortment set is a sequential system-generated number assigned to an assortment plan exported for a specific category, trading areas, and quarters. On Assortment Finalization for implementation, the assortment set number is incremented by one for the clusters under the same trading areas. After an assortment is finalized for implementation, if more exports for space optimization are done to ASO, the Assort Set number is incremented by 1. It is also incremented by 1, in the case of cancellation of exported assortments.
ASO Results Accepted By	The user who has accepted the assortment space optimization results.
ASO Results Accepted Date	The date on which the assortment space optimization results were accepted.
Last Exported By	The user who last exported an assortment plan for space optimization.
Last Exported ID	The system-generated Assortment ID for an exported assortment plan for space optimization. It is a concatenation of the internal product category ID, quarter, and year for an assortment set.
ASO Results Imported By	The user who last imported assortment space optimization results.

Custom Menu

Use the Import ASO Results custom menu in this view to import the space optimization results from ASO. The WP ASO Import measure needs to be checked at the all [Location] level to run this custom menu.

2. ASO Assortment Summary View

Use this view to review and compare the summary of ASO recommended results with the exported working plan (WP), assortment plan for space optimization, current plan, and last year assortment plan at the cluster level.

The ASO recommended assortment plan is available at the SKU/Store level only. Several SKU count measures are used to present SKU/Store level information at the cluster level.

Figure 8-61 2. ASO Assortment Summary View

Table 8-50 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-50 2. ASO Assortment Summary View Measures

Label	Description
WP Mandatory Count	The number of mandatory items in a working plan assortment for the cluster. Similar measures in other versions include: LY Mandatory Count, CP Mandatory Count, and LP Mandatory Count.
WP Assort Core Count	The number of core items in a working plan assortment for the cluster level. Similar measures in other versions include: LY Assort Core Count, CP Assort Core Count, and LP Assort Core Count.
WP Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in a working plan assortment at the cluster level. Similar measures in other versions include: LY Assort Optn Count, CP Assort Optn Count, and LP Assort Optn Count.
WP Assort Sales U	The sales units in the working plan's assortment for the cluster. Similar measures in other versions include: LY Assort Sales U and CP Assort Sales U.
WP Assort Sales R	The sales retail value in the working plan's assortment for the cluster. Similar measure in other versions: LY Assort Sales R and CP Assort Sales R.
WP Assort Gross Profit R	The gross profit retail value in a working plan's assortment for the cluster. Gross Profit Retail is the difference between Sales Retail and Cost of Goods Sold. Similar measures in other versions include: LY Assort Gross Profit R and CP Assort Gross Profit R.
WP Assort Gross Profit %	The gross profit percentage in a working plan's assortment for the cluster. Similar measures in other versions include: LY Assort Gross Profit % and CP Assort Gross Profit %
ASO Assort Core Distinct Count	The number of unique or distinct core items in an ASO recommended assortment for the cluster. Note that ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
ASO Assort Core Max Count	The maximum number of core items in a store under a cluster/trading area in an ASO recommended assortment for the cluster. Note that the ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
ASO Assort Core Min Count	The minimum number of core items in a store under a cluster/trading area in an ASO recommended assortment for the cluster. Note that the ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
ASO Assort Sales U	The sales units in an ASO recommended assortment. Note that the ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
ASO Assort Sales R	The sales retail value in an ASO recommended assortment. Note that the ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
ASO Assort Gross Profit R	The gross profit retail value in an ASO recommended assortment. Note that the ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
ASO Assort Gross Profit %	The gross profit retail percentage in an ASO recommended assortment. Note that the ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
LY AS Combined Assort Core Distinct Count	The combined number of unique or distinct core items in last year's assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASLY) and cluster level (ACLY) measures. Similar measures in other versions include: WP AS Combined Assort Core Distinct Count, CP AS Combined Assort Core Distinct Count, and LP AS Combined Assort Core Distinct Count.
LY AS Combined Assort Core Max Count	The maximum number of core items in a store under a cluster/trading area in last year's assortment, taking into consideration both store level (ASLY) and cluster level (ACLY) measures. Similar measures in other versions include: WP AS Combined Assort Core Max Count, CP AS Combined Assort Core Max Count, and LP AS Combined Assort Core Max Count.
LY AS Combined Assort Core Min Count	The minimum number of core items in a store under a cluster/trading area in last year's assortment, taking into consideration both store level (ASLY) and cluster level (ACLY) measures. Similar measures in other versions include: WP AS Combined Assort Core Min Count, CP AS Combined Assort Core Min Count, and LP AS Combined Assort Core Min Count.
LY AS Combined Assort Sales U	The combined sales units in last year's assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASLY) and cluster level (ACLY) measures. Similar measures in other versions include: WP AS Combined Assort Sales U and CP AS Combined Assort Sales U.
LY AS Combined Assort Sales R	The combined sales retail value in last year's assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASLY) and cluster level (ACLY) measures. Similar measures in other versions include: WP AS Combined Assort Sales R and CP AS Combined Assort Sales R.
LY AS Combined Assort Gross Profit R	The combined gross profit retail value in last year's assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASLY) and cluster level (ACLY) measures. Similar measures in other versions include: WP AS Combined Assort Gross Profit R and CP AS Combined Assort Gross Profit R.
LY AS Combined Assort Gross Profit %	The combined gross profit retail percentage in last year's assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASLY) and cluster level (ACLY) measures. Similar measures in other versions include: WP AS Combined Assort Gross Profit % and CP AS Combined Assort Gross Profit %.
WP AS Combined Assort Optional Distinct Count	The combined number of unique or distinct optional items in last year's assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASLY) and cluster level (ACLY) measures. Similar measures in other versions include: WP AS Combined Assort Optn Distinct Count, CP AS Combined Assort Optn Distinct Count, and LP AS Combined Assort Optn Distinct Count.
WP AS Combined Assort Optional Max Count	The combined maximum number of optional items in last year's assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASLY) and cluster level (ACLY) measures. Similar measures in other versions include: WP AS Combined Assort Optn Max Count, CP AS Combined Assort Optn Max Count, and LP AS Combined Assort Optn Max Count.
WP AS Combined Assort Optional Min Count	The combined minimum number of optional items in last year's assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASLY) and cluster level (ACLY) measures. Similar measures in other versions include: WP AS Combined Assort Optn Min Count, CP AS Combined Assort Optn Min Count, and LP AS Combined Assort Optn Min Count.
WP AS Combined Assort Mandatory Distinct Count	The combined number of unique or distinct mandatory items in last year's assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASLY) and cluster level (ACLY) measures. Similar measures in other versions include: WP AS Combined Assort Mandatory Distinct Count, CP AS Combined Assort Mandatory Distinct Count, and LP AS Combined Assort Mandatory Distinct Count.
WP AS Combined Assort Mandatory Max Count	The combined maximum number of mandatory items in last year's assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASLY) and cluster level (ACLY) measures. Similar measures in other versions include: WP AS Combined Assort Mandatory Max Count, CP AS Combined Assort Mandatory Max Count, and LP AS Combined Assort Mandatory Max Count.
WP AS Combined Assort Mandatory Min Count	The combined minimum number of mandatory items in last year's assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASLY) and cluster level (ACLY) measures. Similar measures in other versions include: WP AS Combined Assort Mandatory Min Count, CP AS Combined Assort Mandatory Min Count, and LP AS Combined Assort Mandatory Min Count.
WP ASO Assort # Facings	The number of facings allotted to a SKU in the planograms (POGs) in a store layout after the working plan assortment's space optimization by ASO. This measure is an output from ASO. Similar measures in different versions include: LY ASO Assort # Facings, CP ASO Assort # Facings, and LP ASO Assort # Facings.
WP ASO Assort Avg Days of Supply	The inventory (or stock cover) carried by a store, measured as the average number of days the inventory available at the store will last in the WP version of the assortment plan. This measure is part of the ASO result. Similar measures in different versions include: LY ASO Assort Avg Days of Supply, CP ASO Assort Avg Days of Supply, and CP ASO Assort Avg Days of Supply.
WP ASO Assort Avg Service Level	The average service level that represents the probability an item's availability at a store in the working plan assortment. This measure is an output from ASO. Similar measures in different versions include: LY ASO Assort Avg Service Level, CP ASO Assort Avg Service Level, and LP ASO Assort Avg Service Level.
WP ASO Assort Facings Length	The length of the number of facings allotted to a SKU in the POGs in a store layout after the working plan assortment's space optimization by ASO. This measure is an output from ASO. Similar measures in different versions include: LY ASO Assort Facings Length, CP ASO Assort Facings Length, LP ASO Assort Facings Length.
WP ASO POG Length	The length of the POG in which a SKU is merchandised at the store per the working plan assortment's space optimization by ASO. This measure is an output from ASO. Grouping of stores in the form of space clusters is done on the basis of POG length.
WP ASO POG Loc Count	The number of locations in which a particular planogram is used to display merchandise at a store per the working assortment's space optimization by ASO. This measure is an output from ASO.
WP Assort Carried	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is part of the working plan assortment. Core items are part of the assortment. Similar measures in other versions include: LY Assort Carried, CP Assort Carried, and LP Assort Carried.
WP Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the working plan's assortment for the cluster. Similar measures in other versions include: LY Assort Core, CP Assort Core, and LP Assort Core.

Measure Profiles

The ASO Assortment Summary view is used to review and compare ASO results in relation to the exported assortment, in particular, and other versions (LY, LP and CP) of assortment plan. Combined measure profiles are used to capture assortment plan information when there are store level assortment plans under a cluster level assortment plan.

Combined WP/Combined CP: This profile is used to compare ASO results summary in relation to the combined working plan assortment with the combined current plan assortment.

Combined WP/Combined LP: This profile is used to compare the ASO results summary combined with the working plan assortment and last plan assortment.

Combined WP/Combined LY: This profile presents a comparison of ASO results summary in relation to the combined working plan assortment with the combined last year's assortment plan.

WP+LY+Combined LY: This is the default measure profile used to compare the ASO results summary in relation to a working plan assortment at the cluster level (which was exported to ASO), last year's assortment plan at the cluster level, and last year's combined assortment plan.

3. ASO Assortment Details and Space Productivity View

Use this view to review and compare the details of the ASO results comprised of the ASO recommended assortment, plan and space productivity information, the exported working plan assortment, other versions (LY, LP and CP), and their combined versions along with their space productivity information.

This view can be viewed at the space cluster level. A space cluster is a subset of store clusters used in assortment planning. It is a grouping of stores based on the POG (planogram) used by a SKU across the location hierarchy. Planograms are identified by the POG Length measure. POG Length is presented as a location hierarchy attribute and standard RPAS split view functionality is used to view this worksheet at a space cluster level. Refer to the RPAS user guide for more details on RPAS split view functionality.

Figure 8-62 3. ASO Assortment Details and Space Productivity View

Table 8-51 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-51 3. ASO Assortment Details and Space Productivity View Measures

Label	Description
WP Assort Carried	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is part of the working plan assortment for the cluster. Core items are part of the assortment. Similar measures in other versions include: LY Assort Carried, CP Assort Carried, and LP Assort Carried.
WP Mandatory	A Boolean flag measure used to mark an item as mandatory in a working plan assortment for the cluster.
WP Mandatory Count	The number of mandatory items in a working plan assortment for the cluster. Similar measures in other versions: LY Mandatory Count, CP Mandatory Count, and LP Mandatory Count.
WP Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the working plan's assortment for the cluster. Similar measures in other versions include: LY Assort Core, CP Assort Core, and LP Assort Core.
WP Assort Core Count	The number of core items in a working plan assortment for the cluster level. Similar measures in other versions: LY Assort Core Count, CP Assort Core Count, and LP Assort Core Count.
WP Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the working plan's assortment for the cluster. Similar measures in other versions include: LY Assort Optn, CP Assort Optn, and LP Assort Optn.
WP Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in a working plan assortment at the cluster level. Similar measures in other versions: LY Assort Optn Count, CP Assort Optn Count, and LP Assort Optn Count.
WP Assort Sales U	The sales units in the working plan's assortment for the cluster. Similar measures in other versions: LY Assort Sales U and CP Assort Sales U.
WP Assort Sales R	The sales retail value in the working plan's assortment for the cluster. Similar measure in other versions: LY Assort Sales R and CP Assort Sales R.
WP Assort Gross Profit R	The gross profit retail value in a working plan's assortment for the cluster. Gross Profit Retail is the difference between Sales Retail and Cost of Goods Sold. Similar measures in other versions: LY Assort Gross Profit R and CP Assort Gross Profit R.
WP Assort Gross Profit %	The gross profit percentage in a working plan's assortment for the cluster. Similar measures in other versions: LY Assort Gross Profit % and CP Assort Gross Profit %.
ASO Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in an ASO recommended assortment. Note that ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
ASO Assort Core Distinct Count	The number of unique or distinct core items in an ASO recommended assortment for the cluster. Note that ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
ASO Assort Core Max Count	The maximum number of core items in a store under a cluster/trading area in an ASO recommended assortment for the cluster. Note that ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
ASO Assort Core Min Count	The minimum number of core items in a store under a cluster/trading area in an ASO recommended assortment for the cluster. Note that ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
ASO Assort Store Core Count	The number of core items in a store in an ASO recommended assortment. Note that ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
WP ASO Assort Facings Length	The length of the number of facings allotted to a SKU in the POGs in a store layout after the working plan assortment's space optimization by ASO. This measure is an output from ASO. Similar measures in different versions include: LY ASO Assort Facings Length, CP ASO Assort Facings Length, and LP ASO Assort Facings Length.
WP ASO Assort # Facings	The number of facings allotted to a SKU in the POGs in a store layout after the working plan assortment's space optimization by ASO. This measure is an output from ASO. Similar measures in different versions include: LY ASO Assort # Facings, CP ASO Assort # Facings, and LP ASO Assort # Facings.
WP ASO Assort Min Service Level	The minimum of the average service level values among all the stores under the cluster in the working plan assortment. In general, high service levels are indicative of the fact that there are less stock-out situations, which is good for the business. Average service level data is supplied by ASO. Similar measures in different versions include: LY ASO Assort Min Service Level, CP ASO Assort Min Service Level, and LP ASO Assort Min Service Level.
WP ASO Assort Avg Service Level	The average service level that represents the probability an item's availability at a store in the working plan assortment. This measure is an output from ASO. In general, high service levels are indicative of the fact that there are less stock-out situations, which is good for the business. Similar measures in different versions include: LY ASO Assort Avg Service Level, CP ASO Assort Avg Service Level, and LP ASO Assort Avg Service Level.
WP ASO Assort Avg Days of Supply	The inventory (or stock cover) carried by a store, measured as the average number of days the inventory available at the store will last in the WP version of the assortment plan. This measure is part of the ASO result. Similar measures in different versions include: LY ASO Assort Avg Days of Supply, CP ASO Assort Avg Days of Supply, and CP ASO Assort Avg Days of Supply.
ASO Assort Sales R per Linear Unit	The sales retail value return per linear unit of facings length in the ASO recommended assortment.
ASO Assort Sales R per facing	The sales retail value return per facing in the ASO recommended assortment.
ASO Assort Gross Profit R per Linear Unit	The gross profit retail value return per linear unit in the ASO recommended assortment.
ASO Assort Gross Profit R per facing	The gross profit retail value return per facing in the ASO recommended assortment.
ASO Assort Sales U	The sales units in an ASO recommended assortment. Note that ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
ASO Assort Sales R	The sales retail value in an ASO recommended assortment. Note that ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
ASO Assort Gross Profit R	The gross profit retail value in an ASO recommended assortment. Note that ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
ASO Assort Gross Profit %	The gross profit retail percentage in an ASO recommended assortment. Note that ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
LY AS Combined Assort Core	A combined Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in last year's assortment. It is calculated by taking into consideration the core flag measures both at the cluster level (LY Assort Core) and store level (AS LY Assort Core). Similar measures in other versions: WP AS Combined Assort Core, CP AS Combined Assort Core, and LP AS Combined Assort Core.
LY AS Combined Assort Core Distinct Count	The combined number of unique or distinct core items in last year's assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASLY) and cluster level (ACLY) measures. Similar measures in other versions: WP AS Combined Assort Core Distinct Count, CP AS Combined Assort Core Distinct Count, and LP AS Combined Assort Core Distinct Count. This type measure is known as a Combined Assort Core Distinct Count measure.
LY AS Combined Assort Core Max Count	The maximum number of core items in a store under a cluster/trading area in last year's assortment, taking into consideration both store level (ASLY) and cluster level (ACLY) measures. Similar measures in other versions: WP AS Combined Assort Core Max Count, CP AS Combined Assort Core Max Count, and LP AS Combined Assort Core Max Count.
LY AS Combined Assort Core Min Count	The minimum number of core items in a store under a cluster/trading area in last year's assortment, taking into consideration both store level (ASLY) and cluster level (ACLY) measures. Similar measures in other versions: WP AS Combined Assort Core Min Count, CP AS Combined Assort Core Min Count, and LP AS Combined Assort Core Min Count.
LY AS Combined Assort Sales U	The combined sales units in last year's assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASLY) and cluster level (ACLY) measures. Similar measures in other versions: WP AS Combined Assort Sales U and CP AS Combined Assort Sales U.
LY AS Combined Assort Sales R	The combined sales retail value in last year's assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASLY) and cluster level (ACLY) measures. Similar measures in other versions: WP AS Combined Assort Sales R and CP AS Combined Assort Sales R.
LY AS Combined Assort Gross Profit R	The combined gross profit retail value in last year's assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASLY) and cluster level (ACLY) measures. Similar measures in other versions: WP AS Combined Assort Gross Profit R and CP AS Combined Assort Gross Profit R.
LY AS Combined Assort Gross Profit %	The combined gross profit retail percentage in last year's assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASLY) and cluster level (ACLY) measures. Similar measures in other versions: WP AS Combined Assort Gross Profit % and CP AS Combined Assort Gross Profit %.
LY AS Combined Assort Sales R per Linear Unit	The combined sales retail value return per linear unit of facings length in last year's assortment at the cluster level. It is calculated by dividing LY AS Combined Assort Sales R by LY ASO Assort Facings Length. Similar measures in other versions: WP AS Combined Assort Sales R per Linear Unit and CP AS Combined Assort Sales R per Linear Unit.
LY AS Combined Assort Sales R per facing	The combined sales retail value return per facing in last year's assortment at the cluster level. It is calculated by dividing LY AS Combined Assort Sales R by LY ASO Assort # Facings. Similar measures in other versions: WP AS Combined Assort Sales R per facing and CP AS Combined Assort Sales R per facing.
LY AS Combined Gross Profit R per Linear Unit	The combined gross profit retail value return per linear unit of facings length in last year's assortment at the cluster level. It is calculated by dividing LY AS Combined Gross Profit R by LY ASO Assort Facings Length. Similar measures in other versions: WP AS Combined Gross Profit R per Linear Unit and CP AS Combined Gross Profit R per Linear Unit.
LY AS Combined Gross Profit R per facing	The combined gross profit retail value return per facing in last year's assortment at the cluster level. It is calculated by dividing LY AS Combined Gross Profit R by LY ASO Assort # Facings. Similar measures in other versions: WP AS Combined Gross Profit R per facing and CP AS Combined Gross Profit R per facing.
LY Assort Sales R per Linear Unit	The sales retail value return per linear unit of facings length in last year's assortment at the cluster level. It is calculated by dividing LY Assort Sales R by LY ASO Assort Facings Length.
LY Assort Sales R per facing	The sales retail value return per linear unit of facings length in last year's assortment at the cluster level. It is calculated by dividing LY Assort Sales R by LY ASO Assort # Facings.
LY Assort Gross Profit R per Linear Unit	The gross profit retail value return per linear unit of facings length. It is calculated by dividing LY Gross Profit R by LY ASO Assort Facings Length.
LY Assort Gross Profit R per facing	The gross profit retail value return per facing. It is calculated by dividing LY Gross Profit R by LY ASO Assort # Facings.
WP ASO POG Length	The length of the POG in which a SKU is merchandised at the store per the working plan assortment's space optimization by ASO. This measure is an output from ASO. The grouping of stores in the form of space clusters is done on the basis of POG length.
WP ASO POG Loc Count	The number of locations in which a particular planogram is used to display merchandise at a store per the working assortment's space optimization by ASO. This measure is an output from ASO.

Measure Profiles

The ASO Assortment Details and Space Productivity view is used to review details of the ASO results in the form of assortment plan and space productivity information. Combined measure profiles are used to capture assortment plan information when there are store level assortment plans under a cluster level assortment plan.

Combined WP/Combined CP: This presents a comparison of ASO assortment plan details and space productivity information in relation to the combined working plan assortment and combined current plan assortment.

Combined WP/Combined LP: This presents a comparison of ASO assortment plan details and space productivity information in relation to the combined working plan assortment and combined last plan assortment.

Combined WP/Combined LY: This presents a comparison of ASO assortment plan details and space productivity information in relation to the combined working plan assortment and combined last year's assortment plan.

WP/Combined LY: This is the default view measure profile. It presents a comparison of ASO assortment plan details and space productivity information in relation to the working plan assortment at the cluster level (which was exported to ASO) and combined last year's assortment plan.

ASO Assortment by Location and Space Tab

This tab has two views.

1. ASO Assortment by Location View

Use this view to review the ASO recommended assortment from a location-specific point of view. Compare the presence of an item across different locations under the trading area and cluster in the ASO recommended assortment in relation to the presence in the exported working plan assortment. This view includes the number of locations that an item is marked as mandatory, core, and optional in the working plan assortment (as well as many other versions of plan). Also included is the number of locations that an item is marked as core in the ASO recommended assortment

This view can be displayed at the space cluster level, which is a subset of the store clusters used in assortment planning. Space clusters is a grouping of stores based on the POG used by a SKU across the location hierarchy. Planograms are identified by the POG Length measure, which is presented as a location hierarchy attribute to view the assortment by space clusters.

Figure 8-63 1. ASO Assortment by Location View

Table 8-52 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-52 1. ASO Assortment by Location View Measures

Label	Description
WP Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the working plan's assortment for the cluster. Similar measures in other versions: LY Assort Core, CP Assort Core, and LP Assort Core.
WP Mandatory	A Boolean flag measure used to mark an item as mandatory in a working plan assortment for the cluster. Similar measures in other versions: LY Mandatory, CP Mandatory, and LP Mandatory.
WP Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the working plan's assortment for the cluster. Similar measures in other versions: LY Assort Optn, CP Assort Optn, and LP Assort Optn.
WP Assort Number of Locations for Core	The number of locations at which an item is marked as core in the working plan assortment. Similar measures in other versions: LY Assort Number of Locations for Core, CP Assort Number of Locations for Core, and LP Assort Number of Locations for Core.
WP Assort Number of Locations for Mandatory	The number of locations at which an item is marked as mandatory in the working plan assortment. Similar measures in other versions: LY Assort Number of Locations for Mandatory, CP Assort Number of Locations for Mandatory, and LP Assort Number of Locations for Mandatory.
WP Assort Number of Locations for Optn	The number of locations at which an item is marked as optional in the working plan assortment. Similar measures in other versions: LY Assort Number of Locations for Optn, CP Assort Number of Locations for Optn, and LP Assort Number of Locations for Optn.
ASO Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in an ASO recommended assortment. Note that the ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
ASO Assort Number of Locations for Core	The number of locations at which an item is marked as core in the ASO recommended assortment.
WP ASO POG Length	The length of the POG in which a SKU is merchandised at the store per the working plan assortment's space optimization by ASO. This measure is an output from ASO. The grouping of stores in the form of space clusters is done on the basis of POG length.
WP AS Combined Assort Core	A combined Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the working plan assortment. It is calculated by taking into consideration core flag measures both at the cluster level (WP Assort Core) and store level (AS WP Assort Core). Similar measures in other versions: LY AS Combined Assort Core, CP AS Combined Assort Core, and LP AS Combined Assort Core.
WP AS Combined Assort Optn	A combined Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the working plan assortment. It is calculated by taking into consideration optional flag measures both at cluster level (WP Assort Optn) and store level (AS WP Assort Optn). Similar measures in other versions: LY AS Combined Assort Optn, CP AS Combined Assort Optn, and LP AS Combined Assort Optn.
WP AS Combined Mandatory	A combined Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a mandatory item in the working plan assortment. It is calculated by taking into consideration mandatory flag measures both at the cluster level (WP Assort Mandatory) and store level (AS WP Assort Mandatory). Similar measures in other versions: LY AS Combined Assort Mandatory, CP AS Combined Assort Mandatory, and LP AS Combined Assort Mandatory.
WP Assort Carried	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is part of the working plan assortment. Core items are part of the assortment. Similar measures in other versions: LY Assort Carried, CP Assort Carried, and LP Assort Carried.
WP AS Combined Assort Carried	A combined Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is part of the working plan assortment. Core items are part of the assortment. It is calculated by taking into consideration core flag measures both at the cluster level (WP Assort Core) and store level (AS WP Assort Core). Similar measures in other versions: LY Assort Carried, CP Assort Carried, and LP Assort Carried.
AS WP Assort Carried	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is part of the working plan assortment for the store. Core items are part of the assortment. Similar measures in other versions: AS LY Assort Carried, AS CP Assort Carried, and AS LP Assort Carried.
AS WP Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the working plan's assortment for the store. Similar measures in other versions: AS LY Assort Core, AS CP Assort Core, and AS LP Assort Core.
AS WP Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the working plan's assortment for the store. Similar measures in other versions: AS LY Assort Optn, AS CP Assort Optn, and AS LP Assort Optn.
AS WP Mandatory	A Boolean flag measure used to mark an item as mandatory in a working plan assortment for the store. Similar measures in other versions: AS LY Mandatory, AS CP Mandatory, and AS LP Mandatory.

Measure Profiles

The ASO Assortment by Location view is used to review the ASO assortment, location-wise. Combined measure profiles are used to capture the assortment plan information when there are exception store level assortment plans under a cluster level assortment plan.

Combined CP/ASO: This measure profile presents an ASO recommended assortment with the combined current plan assortment for location-wise comparison.

Combined LP/ASO: This measure profile presents an ASO recommended assortment with the combined last plan assortment for a location-wise comparison.

Combined LY/ASO: This measure profile presents an ASO recommended assortment with the combined last year assortment for a location-wise comparison.

Combined WP/ASO: This measure profile presents an ASO recommended assortment with the combined working plan assortment for a location-wise comparison.

WP/ASO: This is the default measure profile. It presents an ASO recommended assortment with the working plan assortment (exported assortment to ASO) for a location-wise comparison.

2. ASO Assortment by Space View

Use this view to review the space allocated to an item across different locations under the trading area and cluster in an ASO recommended assortment. It also presents a comparison of space allocated to an item with other versions of the assortment such as, CP, LP, and LY.

This view can be viewed at the space cluster level, which is a subset of store clusters used in assortment planning. A space cluster is a grouping of stores based on the POG used by a SKU across the location hierarchy. Planograms are identified by the POG Length measure.

Figure 8-64 2. ASO Assortment by Space View

Table 8-53 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-53 2. ASO Assortment by Space View Measures

Label	Description
WP Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the working plan's assortment for the cluster. Similar measures in other versions: LY Assort Core, CP Assort Core, and LP Assort Core.
WP Mandatory	A Boolean flag measure used to mark an item as mandatory in a working plan assortment for the cluster. Similar measures in other versions: LY Mandatory, CP Mandatory, and LP Mandatory.
WP Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the working plan's assortment for the cluster. Similar measures in other versions: LY Assort Optn, CP Assort Optn, and LP Assort Optn.
WP Assort Number of Locations for Core	The number of locations at which an item is marked as core in the working plan assortment. Similar measures in other versions: LY Assort Number of Locations for Core, CP Assort Number of Locations for Core, and LP Assort Number of Locations for Core.
WP Assort Number of Locations for Mandatory	The number of locations at which an item is marked as mandatory in the working plan assortment. Similar measures in other versions: LY Assort Number of Locations for Mandatory, CP Assort Number of Locations for Mandatory, and LP Assort Number of Locations for Mandatory.
WP Assort Number of Locations for Optn	The number of locations at which an item is marked as optional in the working plan assortment. Similar measures in other versions: LY Assort Number of Locations for Optn, CP Assort Number of Locations for Optn, and LP Assort Number of Locations for Optn.
ASO Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in an ASO recommended assortment. Note that the ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
ASO Assort Number of Locations for Core	The number of locations at which an item is marked as core in the ASO recommended assortment.
WP ASO Assort Facings Length	The length of the number of facings allotted to a SKU in the POGs in a store layout after the working plan assortment's space optimization by ASO. This measure is an output from ASO. Similar measure in different versions: LY ASO Assort Facings Length, CP ASO Assort Facings Length, and LP ASO Assort Facings Length.
WP ASO Assort # Facings	The number of facings allotted to a SKU in the POGs in a store layout after the working plan assortment's space optimization by ASO. This measure is an output from ASO. Similar measure in different versions: LY ASO Assort # Facings, CP ASO Assort # Facings, and LP ASO Assort # Facings.
WP ASO POG Length	The length of the POG in which a SKU is merchandised at the store per the working plan assortment's space optimization by ASO. This measure is an output from ASO. The grouping of stores in the form of space clusters is done on the basis of POG length.
WP AS Combined Assort Core	A combined Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the working plan assortment. It is calculated by taking into consideration core flag measures both at the cluster level (WP Assort Core) and store level (AS WP Assort Core). Similar measures in other versions: LY AS Combined Assort Core, CP AS Combined Assort Core, and LP AS Combined Assort Core.
WP AS Combined Assort Optn	A combined Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the working plan assortment. It is calculated by taking into consideration optional flag measures both at the cluster level (WP Assort Optn) and store level (AS WP Assort Optn). Similar measures in other versions: LY AS Combined Assort Optn, CP AS Combined Assort Optn, and LP AS Combined Assort Optn.
WP AS Combined Mandatory	A combined Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a mandatory item in the working plan assortment. It is calculated by taking into consideration mandatory flag measures both at the cluster level (WP Assort Mandatory) and store level (AS WP Assort Mandatory). Similar measures in other versions: LY AS Combined Assort Mandatory, CP AS Combined Assort Mandatory, and LP AS Combined Assort Mandatory.
WP Assort Carried	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is part of the working plan assortment. Core items are part of the assortment. Similar measures in other versions: LY Assort Carried, CP Assort Carried, and LP Assort Carried.
WP AS Combined Assort Carried	A combined Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is part of the working plan assortment. Core items are part of the assortment. It is calculated by taking into consideration core flag measures both at the cluster level (WP Assort Core) and store level (AS WP Assort Core). Similar measures in other versions: LY Assort Carried, CP Assort Carried, and LP Assort Carried.

Measure Profiles

The ASO Assortment by Space view is used to review space allocated to items in the ASO recommended assortment. Combined measure profiles are used to capture assortment plan information when there are store level assortment plans under a cluster level assortment plan.

Combined WP/ASO/CP/LY: This measure profile is used to view and compare the space information of the combined working plan assortment, ASO assortment, current plan assortment, and last year's assortment.

WP/ASO/CP/LY: This is the default measure profile. It is used to view and compare space information of the working plan assortment, ASO assortment, current plan assortment, and last year's assortment.

Accept ASO Results and Approve Assortment Step

Use this step to accept ASO results, review the space optimized assortment, approve it, and finalize it for implementation.

Prior to starting this step:

The ASO results should have been imported and reviewed in the previous step.

After completing this step:

Space optimized assortments are finalized for implementation under this step. If there is a need for store-level assortments under a cluster, prior to approving an assortment under this step, the next step is to go to Assortment Planning @Store.

This step has the following tabs and views:

• Accept ASO Results and Review Assortment Tab:

  1. Accept ASO Results View

  2. Review Space Optimized Assortment View

• Approve Assortment Tab:

  Approve Assortment View

• Finalize Assortment for Implementation Tab:

  Finalize Assortment for Implementation View

Custom Menu Options

This step has the following custom menu options.

Accept ASO Results

This custom menu is used to accept ASO results after importing and reviewing them.

Approve Assortment @Cluster

This custom menu is used approve an assortment at the cluster level.

Finalize Assortment to ASO

This custom menu is used to finalize the assortment for space optimization.

Accept ASO Results and Review Assortment Tab

This tab has two views.

1. Accept ASO Results View

Use this view to accept ASO results, which have been reviewed in the previous step and been found to be in line with the business requirements. Review the clusters for the ASO results that have been imported. Check the WP Accept flag measure for clusters, where ASO results must be accepted, choose the required option in WP Accept Type from the drop-down selection, and run the custom menu Accept ASO Results. The two options for accepting ASO results are:

• ASO Assortment and Plan: This option is used to copy the ASO recommended assortment plan, as it is, into the store level measures.

• ASO Assortment only: This option is used to copy only the assortment (product-mix) from the ASO results. The assortment plan numbers are then derived by applying demand transference using the difference between the original working plan exported for space optimization and the ASO recommended assortment as the basis for the calculation.

Figure 8-65 1. Accept ASO Results View

Table 8-54 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-54 1. Accept ASO Results View Measures

Label	Description
Assort Label	The system-generated label displayed for a working plan assortment that was last exported for assortment space optimization.
Last Exported Ver	Assortment plans exported for space optimization are identified by the assortment set and corresponding version. the assortment set is a sequential system-generated number assigned to an assortment plan exported for a specific product category, trading areas, and quarters. The Assortment Set Version is a sequential system-generated number, representing the number of exports against a specific assortment set. Last Exported version is a system-generated number for an assortment set, used to identify the last assortment plan exported for space optimization.
Last Active Export	A Boolean measure used to indicate if there are any active exports, where the assortment space optimization results are expected.
Exported to ASO	A Boolean measure used to indicate if an assortment has been exported to ASO for space optimization.
Last Exported Date	The date on which an assortment was last exported to ASO.
ASO Results Imported	A Boolean measure used to indicate if ASO results have been imported.
ASO Results Imported Date	The date on which ASO results were imported.
WP Accept	A Boolean flag measure that needs to be marked to run the Accept ASO Results custom menu.
WP Accept Type	A drop-down measure used to enter the accept type before running the Accept ASO Results custom menu. There are two options available: ASO Assortment only: Used to accept only the ASO assortment recommendation. ASO Assortment and Plan: Used to accept both the ASO assortment and plan recommendation.
ASO Results Accepted	A Boolean measure used to indicate if ASO results have been accepted.
ASO Results Accepted Date	The date on which ASO results were accepted.

Custom Menus

Use the Accept ASO Results custom menu to accept the ASO results. The ASO results can be accepted in two ways:

• ASO Assortment and Plan: This option is used to copy the ASO recommended assortment plan, as it is, into the store level measures.

• ASO Assortment only: This option is used to copy only the assortment (product-mix) from the ASO results. The assortment plan numbers are derived by applying demand transference for the difference between the original working plan exported for space optimization and the ASO recommended assortment.

2. Review Space Optimized Assortment View

Use this view to review the space-optimized assortment and its space productivity information, after accepting the ASO results, and compare it with different versions of the assortment plans such as, LY, CP, and LP.

The ASO results are available at the SKU/Store level and, on acceptance, are stored in the store level measures (AS WP), which is referred to as the space optimized assortment. Space productivity information is also updated to the working plan measures as part of acceptance.

Combined measures are used to present the assortment plan information at the cluster level by capturing this information from both cluster level measures and store level measures. Store level measures provide specific information about assortments for stores, whose assortments have been planned on an exceptional basis.

This view can be viewed at the space cluster level, which is a subset of store clusters used in assortment planning. Space clusters is the grouping of stores based on the POG used by a SKU across the location hierarchy. Planograms are identified by the POG Length measure. POG Length is presented as a location hierarchy attribute to view the assortment by space clusters.

Figure 8-66 2. Review Space Optimized Assortment View

Table 8-55 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-55 2. Review Space Optimized Assortment View Measures

Label	Description
AS WP Assort Carried	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is part of the working plan assortment for the store. Core items are part of the assortment. Similar measures in other versions: AS LY Assort Carried, AS CP Assort Carried, and AS LP Assort Carried.
AS WP Mandatory	A Boolean flag measure used to mark an item as mandatory in a working plan assortment for the store. Similar measures in other versions: AS LY Mandatory, AS CP Mandatory, and AS LP Mandatory.
AS WP Mandatory Count	The number of mandatory items in a working plan assortment for the store. Similar measures in other versions: AS LY Mandatory Count, AS CP Mandatory Count, and AS LP Mandatory Count.
AS WP Assort Core	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the working plan's assortment for the store. Similar measures in other versions: AS LY Assort Core, AS CP Assort Core, and AS LP Assort Core.
AS WP Assort Core Count	The number of core items in a working plan assortment for the store. Similar measures in other versions: AS WP Assort Core Count, AS WP Assort Core Count, and AS WP Assort Core Count.
AS WP Assort Optn	A Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is an optional item in the working plan's assortment for the store. Similar measures in other versions: AS LY Assort Optn, AS CP Assort Optn, and AS LP Assort Optn.
AS WP Assort Optn Count	The number of optional items in a working plan assortment at the store level. Similar measures in other versions: AS LY Assort Optn Count, AS CP Assort Optn Count, and AS LP Assort Optn Count
AS WP Assort Sales U	The sales units in the working plan's assortment for the store. Similar measures in other versions: AS LY Assort Sales U and AS CP Assort Sales U.
AS WP Assort Sales R	The sales retail value in the working plan's assortment for the store. Similar measures in other versions: AS LY Assort Sales R and AS CP Assort Sales R.
AS WP Assort Gross Profit R	The gross profit retail value in a working plan's assortment for the store. Gross Profit Retail is the difference between Sales Retail and Cost of Goods Sold. Similar measures in other versions: AS LY Assort Gross Profit R and AS CP Assort Gross Profit R.
AS WP Assort Gross Profit %	The gross profit percentage in a working plan's assortment for the store. Similar measures in other versions: AS LY Assort Gross Profit % and AS CP Assort Gross Profit %.
ASO Assort Store Core Count	The number of core items in a store in an ASO recommended assortment. Note that the ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
WP ASO Assort Facings Length	The length of the number of facings allotted to a SKU in the POGs in a store layout after the working plan assortment's space optimization by ASO. This measure is an output from ASO. Similar measures in different versions: LY ASO Assort Facings Length, CP ASO Assort Facings Length, and LP ASO Assort Facings Length.
WP ASO Assort # Facings	The number of facings allotted to a SKU in the POGs in a store layout after the working plan assortment's space optimization by ASO. This measure is an output from ASO. Similar measures in different versions: LY ASO Assort # Facings, CP ASO Assort # Facings, and LP ASO Assort # Facings.
WP ASO Assort Min Service Level	The minimum of the average service level values among all the stores under the cluster in the working plan assortment. In general, high service levels are indicative of the fact that there are less stock-out situations, which is good for the business. Average service level data is supplied by ASO. Similar measures in different versions include: LY ASO Assort Min Service Level, CP ASO Assort Min Service Level, and LP ASO Assort Min Service Level.
WP ASO Assort Avg Service Level	The average service level that represents the probability an item's availability at a store in the working plan assortment. This measure is an output from ASO. In general, high service levels are indicative of the fact that there are less stock-out situations, which is good for the business. Similar measures in different versions include: LY ASO Assort Avg Service Level, CP ASO Assort Avg Service Level, and LP ASO Assort Avg Service Level.
ASO Assort Sales R per Linear Unit	The sales retail value return per linear unit of facings length in the ASO recommended assortment.
ASO Assort Sales R per facing	The sales retail value return per facing in the ASO recommended assortment.
ASO Assort Gross Profit R per Linear Unit	The gross profit retail value return per linear unit in the ASO recommended assortment.
ASO Assort Gross Profit R per facing	The gross profit retail value return per facing in the ASO recommended assortment.
ASO Assort Sales U	The sales units in an ASO recommended assortment. Note that the ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
ASO Assort Sales R	The sales retail value in an ASO recommended assortment. Note that the ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
ASO Assort Gross Profit R	The gross profit retail value in an ASO recommended assortment. Note that the ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.
ASO Assort Gross Profit %	The gross profit retail percentage in an ASO recommended assortment. Note that the ASO results (recommendations) data is available at the SKU/Store level.�
AS LY Assort Sales R per Linear Unit	The sales retail return per linear unit of facings length in last year's assortment at the store level. It is calculated by dividing AS LY Assort Sales R by LY ASO Assort Facings Length. Similar measures in other versions: AS WP Assort Sales R per Linear Unit, and AS CP Assort Sales R per Linear Unit.
AS LY Assort Sales R per facing	The sales retail return per facing in last year's assortment at the store level. It is calculated by dividing AS LY Assort Sales R by LY ASO Assort # Facings. Similar measures in other versions: AS WP Assort Sales R per facing, CP AS Assort Sales R per facing.
AS LY Assort Gross Profit R per Linear Unit	The gross profit retail return per linear unit of facings length in last year's assortment at the store level. It is calculated by dividing AS LY Gross Profit R by LY ASO Assort Facings Length. Similar measures in other versions: AS WP Assort Gross Profit R per Linear Unit and AS CP Assort Gross Profit R per Linear Unit.
AS LY Assort Gross Profit R per facing	The gross profit retail return per facing in last year's assortment at the store level. It is calculated by dividing AS LY Assort Gross Profit R by LY ASO Assort # Facings. Similar measures in other versions: AS WP Assort Gross R per Facing and CP AS Assort Gross Profit R per Facing.
WP AS Combined Assort Core	A combined Boolean flag measure indicating whether an item is a core item in the working plan assortment. It is calculated by taking into consideration the core flag measures both at the cluster level (WP Assort Core) and store level (AS WP Assort Core). Similar measures in other versions: LY AS Combined Assort Core, CP AS Combined Assort Core, and LP AS Combined Assort Core.
WP AS Combined Assort Core Distinct Count	The combined number of unique or distinct core items in the working plan assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASWP) and cluster level (ACWP) measures. Similar measures in other versions: LY AS Combined Assort Core Distinct Count, CP AS Combined Assort Core Distinct Count, and LP AS Combined Assort Core Distinct Count.
WP AS Combined Assort Core Max Count	The maximum number of core items in a store under a cluster/trading area in the working plan assortment, taking into consideration both store level (ASWP) and cluster level (ACWP) measures. Similar measures in other versions: LY AS Combined Assort Core Max Count, CP AS Combined Assort Core Max Count, LP AS Combined Assort Core Max Count.
WP AS Combined Assort Core Max Count	The maximum number of core items in a store under a cluster/trading area in the working plan assortment, taking into consideration both store level (ASWP) and cluster level (ACWP) measures. Similar measures in other versions: LY AS Combined Assort Core Max Count, CP AS Combined Assort Core Max Count, and LP AS Combined Assort Core Max Count.
WP AS Combined Assort Core Min Count	The minimum number of core items in a store under a cluster/trading area in the working plan assortment, taking into consideration both store level (ASWP) and cluster level (ACWP) measures. Similar measures in other versions: LY AS Combined Assort Core Min Count, CP AS Combined Assort Core Min Count, and LP AS Combined Assort Core Min Count.
WP AS Combined Assort Sales U	The combined sales units in the working plan assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASWP) and cluster level (ACWP) measures. Similar measures in other versions: LY AS Combined Assort Sales U and CP AS Combined Assort Sales U.
WP AS Combined Assort Sales R	The combined sales retail value in the working plan assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASWP) and cluster level (ACWP) measures. Similar measures in other versions: LY AS Combined Assort Sales R and CP AS Combined Assort Sales R.
WP AS Combined Assort Gross Profit R	The combined gross profit retail value in the working plan assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASWP) and cluster level (ACWP) measures. Similar measures in other versions: LY AS Combined Assort Gross Profit R and CP AS Combined Assort Gross Profit R.
WP AS Combined Assort Gross Profit %	The combined gross profit retail percentage in the working plan assortment at the cluster level, taking into consideration both store level (ASWP) and cluster level (ACWP) measures. Similar measures in other versions: LY AS Combined Assort Gross Profit % and CP AS Combined Assort Gross Profit %.
WP AS Combined Assort Sales R per Linear Unit	The combined sales retail value return per linear unit of facings length in the working plan assortment at the cluster level. It is calculated by dividing WP AS Combined Assort Sales R by WP ASO Assort Facings Length. Similar measures in other versions: LY AS Combined Assort Sales R per Linear Unit and CP AS Combined Assort Sales R per Linear Unit.
WP AS Combined Assort Sales R per facing	The combined sales retail value return per facing in the working plan assortment at the cluster level. It is calculated by dividing WP AS Combined Assort Sales R by WP ASO Assort # Facings. Similar measures in other versions: LY AS Combined Assort Sales R per facing and CP AS Combined Assort Sales R per facing.
WP AS Combined Gross Profit R per Linear Unit	The combined gross profit retail value return per linear unit of facings length in the working plan assortment at the cluster level. It is calculated by dividing WP AS Combined Gross Profit R by WP ASO Assort Facings Length. Similar measures in other versions: LY AS Combined Gross Profit R per Linear Unit and CP AS Combined Gross Profit R per Linear Unit.
LY AS Combined Gross Profit R per facing	The combined gross profit retail value return per facing in the working plan assortment at the cluster level. It is calculated by dividing WP AS Combined Gross Profit R by WP ASO Assort # Facings. Similar measures in other versions: LY AS Combined Gross Profit R per facing and CP AS Combined Gross Profit R per facing
WP ASO Assort Avg Days of Supply	The inventory (or stock cover) carried by a store, measured as the average number of days the inventory available at the store will last in the WP version of the assortment plan. This measure is part of the ASO result. Similar measure in different versions: LY ASO Assort Avg Days of Supply, CP ASO Assort Avg Days of Supply, and CP ASO Assort Avg Days of Supply.
WP ASO POG Length	The length of the POG in which a SKU is merchandised at the store per the working plan assortment's space optimization by ASO. This measure is an output from ASO. The grouping of stores in the form of space clusters is done on the basis of POG length.
WP Mandatory Count	The number of mandatory items in a working plan assortment for the cluster. Similar measures in other versions: LY Mandatory Count, CP Mandatory Count, and LP Mandatory Count.
AC WP Mandatory	Reference Boolean measure used in the store level views to view the items marked as mandatory in the working plan assortment at the cluster level. Similar measures in other versions: AC LY Mandatory, AC CP Mandatory, and AC LP Mandatory.
AC WP Mandatory Count	Reference measure used in the store level views to view the number of items marked as mandatory in the working plan assortment at the cluster level. Similar version in other measures: AC LY Mandatory, AC CP Mandatory, and AC LP Mandatory.

Measure Profiles

Cluster - Combined WP/Combined CP: This measure profile is applicable when you look at the view at the cluster level on the location hierarchy. It presents a comparison of the combined working plan for the space optimized assortment with the combined current plan assortment.

Cluster - Combined WP/Combined LP: This measure profile is applicable when you look at the view at the cluster level on the location hierarchy. It presents a comparison of the combined working plan of the space optimized assortment with the combined last plan assortment.

Store - WP/CP: This measure profile is applicable when you look at the view at the store level on the location hierarchy. It presents a comparison of the working plan for the space optimized assortment with the current plan assortment.

Store - WP/LP: This measure profile is applicable when you look at the view at the store level on the location hierarchy. It presents a comparison of the working plan for the space optimized assortment with the last plan assortment.

Store - WP/LY: This measure profile is applicable when you look at the view at the store level on the location hierarchy. It presents a comparison of the working plan for the space optimized assortment with the last year assortment.

WP/LY: This measure profile is useful to compare a cluster level assortment without any store exceptions with the space-optimized assortment.

Approve Assortment Tab

This tab has one view.

Approve Assortment View

Use this view to approve the assortment by checking the WP Approve to CP measure in two ways:

• The Space Optimized Assortment can be approved by checking the Use ASO Results Boolean flag measure. The Space Optimized Assortment is the ASO recommended assortment that is stored in store-level measures (AS WP type measures).

• The cluster level assortment that was originally exported for space optimization to ASO can be approved by un-checking the Use ASO Results flag measure.

Note that in case Assortment Space Optimization (through integration with ASO) functionality is not being used for a category's assortment plan, then keep the Use ASO Results flag unchecked to approve the assortment.

Prior to approving the assortment, the placeholder items, which are part of the assortment, must be formalized. Formalization is done through a batch process and the workbook needs to be re-built once formalization is complete for the formalized items to reflect in the views. For information on formalization, see Chapter 3.

Figure 8-67 Approve Assortment View

Table 8-56 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-56 Approve Assortment View Measures

Label	Description
Assort Label	The system-generated label displayed for a working plan assortment that was last exported for assortment space optimization.
Last Exported Ver	Assortment plans exported for space optimization are identified by the assortment set and corresponding version. Assortment set is a sequential system-generated number assigned to an assortment plan exported for a specific product category, trading areas, and quarters. Assortment Set Version is a sequential system-generated number, representing the number of exports against a specific assortment set. Last Exported version is a system-generated number for an assortment set, used to identify the last assortment plan exported for space optimization.
Last Active Export	A Boolean measure used to indicate if there are any active exports, where the assortment space optimization results are expected.
Exported to ASO	This system-generated Boolean/flag measure is used to indicate the successful export of assortment plans for space optimization. It is not reset on successful import of optimization results.
ASO Results Imported	This Boolean flag measure is used to indicate the import of assortment space optimization results for a specific cluster and product category at least once. This measure remains checked if the imports have happened at least once.
ASO Results Accepted	This system-generated Boolean flag measure is used to indicate if the assortment space optimization results have been accepted at least once for a cluster and a product category.
WP Use ASO Results	This Boolean flag measure provides an option to choose accepted ASO results while approving an assortment. If this Boolean flag measure is checked, the accepted ASO results (in Store level - AS WP measures) are approved, otherwise, the assortment plan that was exported (in Cluster level - ACWP measures) is approved.

Custom Menu

Use the Approve Assortment @Cluster custom menu in this view to approve the assortment. It runs the approval process in two ways:

• Approve the space optimized assortment: If the WP Use ASO Results measure is checked, it approves the assortment in the store level measures, where the space optimized assortment details are populated.

• Approve the originally exported assortment for space optimization: If the WP Use ASO Results measure is not checked, it approves the assortment at the cluster level measures.

Finalize Assortment for Implementation Tab

This tab has one view.

Finalize Assortment for Implementation View

Use this view to finalize the assortment for implementation. All clusters and stores, in the case of store level assortment plans, must be approved for the assortment to be finalized for implementation. On finalization, formalization information is exported to ASO and a signal is sent to ASO to go ahead with the implementation at the stores through a space management system.

Figure 8-68 Finalize Assortment for Implementation View

Table 8-57 lists the measures available in this view.

Table 8-57 Finalize Assortment for Implementation View Measures

Label	Description
Assort Label	The system-generated label displayed for a working plan assortment that was last exported for assortment space optimization.
Assort Set	Assortment plans exported for space optimization are identified by the assortment set and corresponding version. Assortment set is a sequential system-generated number assigned to an assortment plan exported for a specific category, trading areas, and quarters. On the assortment finalization for implementation, the assortment set number is incremented by 1 for the clusters under the same trading areas.
Approved to CP	A Boolean flag measure used to indicate if an assortment has been approved.
WP Assort Finalize	A Boolean flag measure that needs to be checked before running the custom menu to finalize the assortment.
Assort Finalized	A Boolean flag measure used to indicate if the assortment has been finalized.
Finalized ASO Assort Set	The assortment set number that has been finalized in ASO.
Finalized Assort Set	The assortment set that was last finalized.

Note: The Finalized ASO Assort Set measure confirms finalization of the assortment in ASO. This data is made visible in the workbook by refreshing the workbook or rebuilding the workbook after the batch process has been completed in RCM and ASO.

Custom Menus

Use the Finalize Assort to ASO custom menu to finalize the assortment for implementation. Formalization information for the placeholder items, in the form of formalized items to placeholder items mapping information is sent to ASO as part of the finalization process. It also signals ASO to go ahead with the implementation of the assortment at the stores through a space management system.