MANAGING INVENTORY - SELECT CONTENT 

Our online Merchandise Planning course is our most popular advanced course. Retail Buyers, Product Planning teams and Sales Directors love this course. Below is a sample of some of the topics we cover in the 8th week where our playbook focuses on managing inventory effectively, through markdowns, forecasting, and open-to-buy management.

*This course is now offered by our partners over at Productlytics.

MANAGING MARKDOWNS 

• Why take markdowns (markdown introduction)

• The cost of a markdown

• Markdown rate

• Markdowns and profitability

• Markdown types - calculating firm and promotional markdowns

• Markdowns and inventory levels 

• Case: Markdown rate scenario 

• Markdown or vendor allowance

• Trend: The markdown shift

• The case for quick, hard markdowns early

• How merchandise seasonality affects markdowns

OPEN-TO-BUY MANAGEMENT 

• Purchase order tracker

• Open-to-buy (OTB)

• Overcoming changes in the supply chain 

TEST YOUR SKILLS | Change in Gross Margin Rate