Mirror of Oracle documentation
Converted for search and offline reading. Authoritative source: Oracle. Diagrams and some complex tables are simplified — check the PDF when in doubt.
8 Create Merch Plan Targets Task
The Planning Manager role is usually associated with senior and middle management in the merchandise planning organization. The objective of the Planning Manager is to develop strategic and department-level targets that set the financial guidance for the planning organization.
Planning Managers typically begin planning at a minimum two to six months in advance of the period being planned. This is known as pre-season planning. During this time, the planning manager will create the high level merchandise financial plan (targets) for the season or for the entire year.
The Planning Manager is presented with the activity called Create Merch Plan Targets and a task of the same name. This task belongs solely to the Planning Manager role.
This task includes the following steps:
-
Create Targets Step
-
Review and Publish Targets Step
-
Review and Approve Plan Step
-
In-Season Review and Re-Project Targets Step
The first two steps are related to pre-season creation and publication of targets to the Merch Planner. The third step involves reviewing and approving or rejecting plans submitted by the Merch Plan role. The fourth step is used for in-season adjustments to targets.
The Planning Manager must complete the first two steps to publish the strategic targets to the Planner.
Create Targets Step
To create the Merch Targets the basic approach is to complete the following steps within the views provided in the Create Targets step:
1. Select VAT and/or Local Currency rates for planning.
2. Seed the plan using Last Year (Ly) or Forecast (Fcst) data to create a base plan.
- Review the Porfolio Optimization data and choose to plan with Portfolio Optimization results.
3. In Sales/Markdowns, plan the sales, markdowns, returns, and so on, you are projecting. Use forecasted sales and Ly as a guide.
4. Plan the required inventory and receipts.
5. Review Gross Margin results.
Tip
As you build your plan, click Commit when you are satisfied with the intermediate state. This creates a permanent snapshot of the as-is state. This creates a restore point you can revert to if you go down a path that is unsatisfactory.
Seed Plan Sub-Step
The first action that the Planning Manager completes when creating new targets is to seed the plan within the Initialize view.
Initialize View
In order to seed the plan, you can first review the Last Year (Ly) plan and forecast in the Sales/ Markdowns tab. This helps you determine which plan you use for seeding.
Table 8-1 Initialize View Measures
| Measure | Description |
|---|---|
| Seed Source | The seed source used to seed the working plan. Use this option to seed or not seed the working plan. You can seed with Last Year (Ly), Forecast (Fcst), or Portfolio Optimization data. Or, you can choose the blank option if you do not want to seed the working plan. |
| Seed Info | Includes a few pertinent facts about the last time that the Seed custom menu was executed: last seed source concatenated with last seeded date and the last user to seed. If blank, then the given intersection has never been seeded. |
| Seed Returns Setup | Use this option to seed the working plan returns. You can seed the returns values with Last Year (Ly) or Forecast (Fcst) data. You can also choose the blank option if you do not want to seed the working plan returns. |
When seeding the plan, you can choose which information is seeded. For instance, you can seed just one half or all halves in the workspace. You can also choose what locations and products to seed.
There are two ways you can seed. You can seed each level individually, or you can seed several levels at once by changing the dimension level shown in the view.
Seeding One Level at a Time
To seed one target at a time you will set the seed source information. Then, to seed the next department in the Product hierarchy within the Brick & Mortar channel, complete the following steps:
1. Click the dimension whose value (position) you want to change..
2. Click the Next or Previous arrow.
• Sales by Type
The measures in this profile display and capture sales and returns figures by type of sale: Regular + Promotional, and Clearance. Regular + Promo, and Clearance added together equate to the total sale or total return.
Start by planning the regular sales. Then, using your marketing calendar as a guide, align the promotional sales to the calendar. Refer to the calendar again for the exit weeks for the products, and plan the clearance sales for those weeks.
The planned figures for these sales types populates the Wp Sales R measure.
• Markdowns by Type
Markdown is the difference between the original retail price and the actual selling price. The measures in this profile display and capture markdown figures as a total as well as by sales type: Regular + Promotional, and Clearance. The markdown types added together equate to the markdown (Wp Markdown POS R).
In the cost method of planning, many companies do not plan markdowns, but planning both promotional and markdowns offers a guide to make decisions and keep aging inventory from becoming an issue.
• Units
Some lines of businesses may prefer to build the plan, or at least closely couple the financial plan, by sales in terms of units. You use this view to review sales units, Average Unit Retail (AUR), and Average Unit Cost (AUC).
• Direct
This measure profile contains the KPIs for direct-to-consumer channels.
• Fulfillment Planning
This measure profile is focused on planning returns which result from Online purchases which are returned to the store. Often a significant portion of those returns are then sent back to the Online Fulfillment warehouses. These returns are rightfully attributed to the Direct channel and impact the net sales.
The restocking costs associated with such returns are reflected in the net gross margin of the Direct channel.
• Fulfillment Ly
This measure profile is used to review last year’s financials for sales returns and returns back to online.
| Returns | MaintenanceSet | up | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| » 8 | ||||||
| (0) | Measure(Defaul | t) + 2 | < 500Women’sCasual | s Tra… © | > | |
| Measure | Calendar | 2/11/2023 t | 2/18/2023 2/25 Tt | /2023 tT | 3/4/2023 3/1 tT | 1/2023 tT |
| Online Retur | ns% | 100.0 % | 100.0 % | 100.0 % | 100.0 % | 100.0% |
| Buy Online | 65.5% | 65.5% | 65.5% | 65.5% | ||
| Buy Online | 34.5% | 34.5% | 34.5% | 34.5% | 34.5% | |
| Store Restoc | king $/ U | ie) | (0) | (e) | (e) | fe) |
| StoretoWar | enonse | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Warehouse | Restocking$/ U | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Return Back | to Online % | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| BuyOnlineP | ick-UpinStore% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| W/F - Sa | lesand Markdow | ns | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vy €8 | Calendar & | GZ | Product & | GZ | |||
| Measure | Calendar | 2/11/2023 T | 2/18/2023 tT | 2/25/2023 T | 3/4/2023 tT | 3/1 | 1/2023 T |
| Wp W/F Sale | s R | 522,339.25 | 631,714.03 | 749,886.42 | 865,378.16 | 644,704.67 | |
| LyW/F Sales | R | 522,339.25 | 631,714.03 | 749,886.42 | 865,378.16 | 644,704.67 | |
| WpW/F Sale | s R var Ly% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | |
| WpW/F Net | Sales R | 522,339.25 | 631,714.03 | 749,886.42 | 865,378.16 | 644,704.67 | |
| WpW/F Net | Sales R % | 100.0% | 100.0 % | 100.0% | 100.0 % | 100.0% | |
| LyW/F Net S | ales R | 522,339.25 | 631,714.03 | 749,886.42 | 865,378.16 | 644,704.67 | |
| LyW/F Net S | ales R% | 100.0 % | 100.0 % | 100.0 % | 100.0 % | 100.0% | |
| WpW/FNet | SalesRvarLy% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Local - S | alesand Markdo | wns | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YB | pontA | 0) | ||||
| Measure | Calendar | 2/11/2023 t | 2/18/2025 T | 2/25/2023 | 3/4/2023 tT T | 3/11/2023 t |
| Wp Sales LR | 1,146,723.76 | 1,362,315.51 | 1,646, | 187.67 1,569,915.15 | 1,309,218.98 | |
| LySalesLR | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 0.00 | 0.00 | ||
| WpMarkdow | n LR | 130,487.79 | 151,315.84 | 184, | 846.22 171,852.99 | 142,696.76 |
| Wp Sales LR | var Ly% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% 0.0% | 0.0% | |
| WpNet Sales | LR | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| LyNetSales | LR | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 0.00 | 0.00 |
Be BO
| 1. Receip | tsand Inve | ntory | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vy 6 | Calendar | & GZ | Location #& G2 | Product #& | |||
| Measure | Cal | endar 2/11/2023 ue | 2/18/2023 ae | 2/25/2023 tT | 3/4/2023 tT | 3/11/2023 tT | 3/18/2023 it |
| WpBOP R | 51,768,621.92 | 51,765,408.78 | 51,759,632.96 | 55,682,378.30 | 55,670,301.02 | 55,664,683.25 | |
| LyBOPR | 41,298,877.14 | 40,032,895.48 | 38,572,417.53 | 44,569,794.66 | 42,536,586.87 | 40,964,118.47 | |
| Wp Receipts R | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3,932,315.06 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| Wp Receipts | MU % | 0.0% | 0.0% | 50.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| LyReceipts R | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3,932,315.06 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| Ly ReceiptsM | U % | 0.0% | 0.0% | 50.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Wp Receipts R | var Ly% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| WpNetSales | R | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 552,507.28 |
| LyNetSalesR | 522,339.25 | 631,714.03 | 749,886.42 | 865,378.16 | 644,704.67 | 552,507.28 |
| 2. Movet | o Clearance | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| v | Calenda & | 7 | Location & G | Product & | |||
| oo | Measure(Default) | + 7 | < Brick&Mortar | > | < 50 | 0 Women’sCasuals | |
| Measure | Calendar | 2/11/2025 t | 2/18/2023 t | 2/25/2023 t | 3/4/2023 t | 3/1 | 1/2023 t |
| LLy NetSales | R | 470,596.06 | 568,267.48 | 675,336.82 | 779,876.17 | 580,428.36 | |
| Ly NetSales R | 522,339.25 | 631,714.03 | 749,886.42 | 865,378.16 | 644,704.67 | ||
| CpNetSalesR | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | ||
| Wp Net Sales | Rvar Cp% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | |
| Wp NetSal R | es varLy% | -100.0 % | -100.0 % | -100.0 % | -100.0 % | -100.0% | |
| Wp Net Sales | R | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| WpNetSales | Reg+PromoR | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 1.Gross | Margin | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vy 6 | Calendar | & GZ | Location & @ | Product | ||
| 1a | < Brick&Mortar | © > < | 500 Women’sCasuals | Tra… ©@ > | ||
| Measure | Cal | endar 7/1/2023 1 | 7/8/2023 7 | 7/15/2023 tr | 7/22/2023 “a | 7/29/2023 T |
| WpGMR | 489,835.60 | 574,752.59 | 534,008.40 | 548,879.65 | 615,585.92 | |
| WpGMR% | 42.9% | 42.8% | 40.3% | 40.3% | 40.2% | |
| LyGMR | 489,835.60 | 574,058.42 | 534,008.23 | 547,264.82 | 615,585.78 | |
| LyGMR% | 42.9% | 42.7% | 40.3% | 40.1% | 40.2% | |
| WpGMRvar | Ly% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.0 % | 0.3% | 0.0% |
| Wp NetGMR | 525,999.44 | 615,954.22 | 574,488.92 | 591,846.20 | 662,802.19 | |
| Wp NetGMR | % | 46.1% | 45.9% | 43.4% | 43.4% | 43.3% |
| LyNetGMR | 524,679.70 | 613,900.84 | 573,789.75 | 587,125.54 | 659,778.70 | |
| Ly NetGMR | % | 46.0% | 45.7% | 43.3% | 43.1% | 43.1% |
| Wp NetGMRv | ar Ly% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.8% | 05% |
| Wp Net Sales | R | 1,141,495.25 | 1,342,876.50 | 1,324,875.70 | 1,363,345.20 | 1,529,939.46 |
| LyNetSales | R | 1,141,495.25 | 1,342,876.50 | 1,324,875.70 | 1,363,345.20 | 1,529,939.46 |
| W/F - Gr | oss Margin | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| v 6 | Location 2 Product & | @ | ||||
| (0D | Measure(D | efault) | + # | S [«< Brick &Mortar | —— ©El < 500Women’sCasuals | |
| Measure | Cal | endar | 9/2/2023 tT | 9/9/2025 tT | 9/16/2023 9/23/2023 tT i | 9/30/2023 tT |
| WpW/FGM | R | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| Wp W/FGM | R% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% 0.0% | 0.0% | |
| LyW/FGMR | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 0.00 | 0.00 | ||
| LyW/FGMR | % | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% 0.0% | 0.0% | |
| WpW/FGM | R varLy% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% 0.0% | 0.0% | |
| Wp W/F Net | SalesR | 862,018.63 | 936,086.28 | 818,375.23 1,004,619.01 | 1,278,934.95 | |
| LyW/F Net S | alesR | 862,018.63 | 936,086.28 | 818,375.23 1,004,619.01 | 1,278,934.95 | |
| Wp W/F Mar | kdown R | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| LyW/F Mark | down R | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| MerchTarget | Notes |
Local - Gross Margin View
If the Local Currency option is provisioned, then there is an additional view to support planning Gross Margin.
The key planning KPIs contributing to gross margin are available in local currency for crossreferencing and high-level planning.
Review and Publish Targets Step
The Review and Publish Targets step is performed after you have completed creation or revision of targets in the Create Targets step. You can choose to review and publish many targets at once or one at a time as you complete building the targets of each Dept/Channel/ Half.
The key action in this task is publishing the targets so that your planners can view them and begin to build their plans. To learn about the Planner’s role, see Chapter 8.
If you need to revise your targets at any time during the pre-season, you can follow the same procedures described in this chapter. Since you have already created a working plan, there is no need to seed the task again, unless you want to start over with Ly (Last Year) or Fcst (Forecast) data.
Review Targets Sub-Step
In this sub-step, review the targets you created in the previous step. If you need to alter the targets, return to the Create Targets step to make edits.
Review Targets View
There are several measure profiles in this view to quickly guide you to the plans you wish to review:
- Default
This measure profile shows the main Working Plan metrics for comparison with last year metrics. This is the profile you will use after initially performing the Create Targets step.
- Tgt with Cp
This measure profile shows the main Working Plan metrics for comparison with Current Plan metrics. Current Plan is a version of the plan that is approved in-season (and is actualized for elapsed/historical periods).
- Tgt with Op
This measure profile shows the main Working Plan metrics for comparison with Original Plan metrics. Original Plan is the plan as it was initially approved-typically it got approved pre-season and stays fixed when the period becomes in-season.
| ~ ReviewTargets | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Calendar Fy | Locat | ion & GZ | |||
| o | Measure(unsaved) +¥ | #@ | < | Brick& Mortar © | > | |
| Calendar | 1/7/2023 | 1/14/2023 | 1/21/2023 | 1/28/2023 | 2/4/2023 | 2/11/2023 |
| Measure | ||||||
| Wp Sales R | 193,012.28 | 173,547.46 | 232,561.89 | 251,457.36 | 267,665.01 | 222,920.14 |
| LySalesR | 175,465.71 | 157,770.42 | 211,419.90 | 228,597.60 | 243,331.83 | 202,654.67 |
| Wp Sales R varLy% | 10.0% | 10.0 % | 10.0 % | 10.0 % | 10.0% | 10.0% |
| Wp Sales R var Fest% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | -744% |
| Wp NetSales R | 172,351.49 | 102,424.89 | 137,571.56 | 149,059.53 | 157,885.42 | 132,493.22 |
| Ly Net Sales R | 156,683.17 | 93,113.54 | 125,065.05 | 135,508.66 | 143,532.20 | 120,448.38 |
| WpNetSalesR var Ly% | 10.0% | 10.0% | 10.0% | 10.0% | 10.0% | 10.0% |
| WpMarkdown POSR | 83,173.53 | 69,309.90 | 65,857.55 | 74,580.55 | 76,549.00 | 0.00 |
| Wp Markdown POSR% | 48.3% | 67.7% | 47.9% | 50.0% | 48.5% | 0.0% |
| Wp Markdown Perm R% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| Ly Markdown Perm R | 18,876.16 | 15,451.95 | 20,726.15 | 22,678.05 | 23,888.31 | 14,235.53 |
| LyMarkdownPermR% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
If plans have been published, republished, submitted, or resubmitted since you created the workspace, select Refresh from the Action menu to reload the latest values. A refresh will reload all data in the workspace to the last committed version, so you must commit all of your plan work first, or it will be reverted to the last point of commit.
Continue to the Approve step to set the plan’s Approved status to either approved or rejected.
Approve Sub-Step
In the Approve sub-step, you set the plan status to either Approved or Rejected. If rejected, the planner must rework their plan until it satisfactorily meets targets. For rejected plan, repeat the Review and Approve step once the planner resubmits the plan.
Note
The Op Approve Enabled indicator controls whether or not a plan can be submitted for Op approval. If false, approved plans can only be promoted to Cp, and not Op. This indicator is usually set to False after all plans are approved, before the plan becomes in-season. This setting can be modified by the system administrator.
Once approved, the Wa Plan gets copied to Original Plan (Op) and Current Plan (Cp) version.
In-Season Review and Re-Project Targets Step
The Planning Manger uses the Create Merch Plan Targets task during the in-season to review plans and compare those plans to the season actuals. Planning Managers review the targets and the plans created by the lower level users and determine how those plans compare to actuals.
One of the key steps of in-season management is reviewing Open to Buy (OTB). OTB is the amount of money budgeted during the in-season to purchase goods that have not yet been received or ordered. The Planner decides in-season how to spend this money to reach strategic targets.
In-Season Review and Re-project Targets has the following sub-steps:
-
Review and Re-Project Sub-Step
-
Publish Targets Sub-Step
-
Review Plan Sub-Step
-
Approve Sub-Step
-
Open to Buy Sub-Step
-
Projection Sub-Step
Review and Re-Project Sub-Step
Use the Review and Re-project sub-step to compare and rework your Wp targets with the current plan, the original plan, and last year’s actuals.
Review Targets View
Use the following measure profiles in this view to review and re-project as desired:
| ~ ReviewTargets | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Calendar 0 | ™ | Loca | tion 2 | ||
O | Measure(unsaved) v | 0 | [< a | Brick&Mortar© | > [< 500 Wom | en’sCasualsTraditio |
| Calendar | 8/13/2022 | 8/20/2022 | 8/27/2022 | 9/3/2022 | 9/10/2022 | 9/17/2022 |
| Measure | ||||||
| Wp Sales R | 313,689.05 | 254,163.31 | 189,757.10 | 194,610.61 | 199,409.95 | 184,930.74 |
| Ly Sales R | 281,886.61 | 229,037.05 | 170,783.02 | 174,982.15 | 179,958.38 | 166,479.60 |
| Wp Sales R var Ly % | 11.3% | 110% | 11.1% | 11.2% | 10.8 % | 11.1% |
| Wp Sales Rvar Fest% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Wp NetSales R | 273,909.80 | 222,791.54 | 167,753.63 | 171,375.82 | 174,420.17 | 161,871.09 |
| Ly NetSales R | 246,273.65 | 200,889.90 | 151,058.19 | 154,163.88 | 157,431.71 | 145,796.98 |
| Wp Net Sales R var Ly % | 11.2% | 10.9% | 11.1% | 11.2% | 10.8% | 11.0% |
| WpMarkdown POS R | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Wp Markdown POS R% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| WpMarkdown Perm R | 31,843.67 | 26,217.33 | 20,952.14 | 20,264.46 | 19,905.71 | 19,760.04 |
| Wp Markdown Perm R% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Ly Markdown Perm R | 30,646.73 | 24,470.03 | 18,280.82 | 19,178.11 | 18,931.33 | 17,633.23 |
| LyMarkdownPermR% | 04% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| ¥ OpentoBuy | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B | Calendar a | Locat | ion | & | |||
| oO | Measure(unsaved) + | ~ [< | Brick &Mortar © | > | < 500Wom | ||
| Calendar | 1/7/2023 | 1/14/2023 | 1/2 | 1/2023 | 1/28/2023 | 2/4/2023 | 2/11/2023 |
| Measure | |||||||
| WpBOPR | 12,431,354.78 | 11,939,048.97 | 11,614,518.77 | 11,231,774.40 | 13,022,797.90 | 12,572,865.23 | |
| Wp Net Sales R | 172,351.49 | 102,424.89 | 137,571.56 | 149,059.53 | 157,885.42 | 132,493.22 | |
| WpMarkdown POSR | 83,173.53 | 69,309.90 | 65,857.55 | 74,580.55 | 76,549.00 | 0.00 | |
| WpMarkdown POSR% | 48.3% | 67.7% | 47.9% | 50.0% | 48.5% | 0.0% | |
| WpMarkdown Perm R | 21,023.79 | 17,119.08 | 23,136.66 | 24,949.06 | 26,772.69 | 14,265.31 | |
| WpMarkdown Perm R% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.1% | |
| Wp Receipts R | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1,097,949.73 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| Wp Receipts MU% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 50.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | |
| CpReceipts R | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1,118,219.18 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| CpReceiptsMU% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 50.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
If the Local Currency option is enabled, user view key metrics in local currency.