BRX Retail

Merchandising, Planning & Supply Chain

How much capital is sitting where demand isn't?

Demand planning, supplier negotiation, pricing, buying, allocation and replenishment need to work as one cycle — because every decision affects inventory, margin and capital.

Distribution center aisle with organized shelves

Why it matters

A planning decision is a financial decision.

Each of these decisions looks operational when it is made, but it shows up in the results as a financial decision.

  • Idle inventory is idle capital.

  • A stockout is a lost sale — and it doesn't come back next month.

  • The wrong assortment is sacrificed margin, because the exit is markdown.

  • Operational decisions show up in financial results.

Decisions that move results

Margin and inventory are decided long before the sale.

Forecasting demand better, negotiating purchases better and setting price and promotion better directly changes what happens to inventory, availability, turnover and margin. These decisions don't live in isolation: they are part of the same commercial cycle.

01Demand planning

Buying better starts with understanding what is likely to sell.

History, seasonality, promotions, inventory, open orders, lead times and the behavior of each store or channel need to become a usable view of the demand forecast.

  1. History · seasonality · promotions · inventory · orders · lead time
  2. IPO Demand Forecasting
  3. IPO Lifecycle Allocation & Replenishment
  4. Purchase / transfer / replenishment

Forecasting is the start. Value appears when forecast and execution work together.

02Pricing & Promotions

Price isn't master data. It's a margin decision.

Cost, competition, demand, inventory, lifecycle and promotions all influence the pricing decision. The challenge is connecting these variables to operations without losing governance and execution capacity.

  1. Cost
  2. Competition
  3. Demand
  4. Inventory
  5. Promotion
  6. Price
  7. Margin

03Commercial agreements

Margin is also built before the sale.

Conditions negotiated with suppliers, trade funds, allowances, rebates and other commercial components are part of the operation's real profitability. The challenge is making sure what was negotiated is recorded, tracked and correctly reflected in results.

  1. Supplier
  2. Negotiation
  3. Deal
  4. Purchase/Sale
  5. Settlement
  6. Margin

The decision cycle

Planning is a connected discipline.

  1. Plan
  2. Negotiate
  3. Buy
  4. Price
  5. Promote
  6. Allocate
  7. Replenish
  8. Measure
Plan
How much is likely to sell, and what inventory will be needed?
Negotiate
Are the agreed commercial conditions actually being captured?
Price
Does the price reflect cost, inventory, positioning and target margin?

When these decisions don't talk to each other, the error spreads across the whole cycle. Here the cycle is shown through merchandising decisions; the full operational view is on the Retail page.

Capability fronts

01

Merchandise Financial Planning

Oracle Retail Merchandise Financial Planning (MFP)

Financial planning of sales, margin and inventory, targets and budget.

02

Assortment Planning

Oracle Retail Assortment Planning (AP)

Defining assortment breadth and depth by category, region, store and product attributes.

03

Demand Forecast & Replenishment

Oracle Retail IPO — Demand Forecasting · Lifecycle Allocation & Replenishment

Demand forecasting connected to inventory, orders, lead time and replenishment.

04

Allocation & Supply Chain

Oracle Retail Allocation

Placing inventory where demand and availability are most likely.

Value created

  • More accurate demand
  • Better availability
  • Fewer stockouts and less overstock
  • Greater margin control
  • More consistent pricing and promotions
  • Better capture of negotiated commercial terms

Planning Fast

Advanced planning in months, not years.

  • AIF

    ~4

    months

  • MFP

    ~5

    months

  • MFP + AP

    ~5

    months

  • IPO

    ~6

    months

Reference timelines. Scope, integrations and data maturity influence every project.

Technology behind it

Technology to sustain decisions at scale.

Technology is the means to execute the business decision — not the starting point.

  • Planning

    MFP · Assortment Planning · IPO

  • Merchandising

    RMFCS · Deals · Allocation

  • Pricing

    Oracle Retail Pricing · RPM / RPCS

  • Intelligence

    AI Foundation · Analytics

Components that can support

  • Forecasting & planning
  • Merchandising
  • Supplier & deals
  • Pricing & promotions
  • Buying
  • Inventory
  • Replenishment
  • Analytics

Experience in this capability

Grupo Pão de Açúcar

10+ years in production

RMS, Allocation, RDF, AIP, RSIM and RFM.

Renner

Experience with RMS, MFP, analytics and Planning modules.

Waldo’s

Experience with IPO, AIF and Planning–Merchandising integration.

Explore our clients & cases

How we deliver

From diagnosis to sustainment.

  1. 01

    Consulting

    Diagnosis, design, roadmap and decision support.

  2. 02

    Implementation

    Structured implementation projects.

  3. 03

    Fast Track

    Accelerated, prescriptive approach.

  4. 04

    AMS

    Application Management Services — sustainment, evolution and ongoing support.

  5. 05

    Development & Integration

    Extensions, APIs and integrations.

Related content

What we're seeing in Planning, Merchandising & Supply Chain

  • Planning & Supply Chain

    Inventory is not just availability. It is capital.

    Sep 8, 2026

See all news

Talk to BRX

Shall we talk about your planning cycle?

Start a conversation