Free reference
Merchandise planning glossary
228 retail planning terms in plain words, from open-to-buy and WSSI to sell-through, size curves and allocation.
4
4-5-4 calendar Buying & Planning
A retail calendar where each quarter has three 'months' of 4, 5 and 4 weeks, giving a 52-week year. It lines up matching weeks so this year can be fairly compared with last year. A 53rd week is added roughly every 5 to 6 years.
A
Aged stock Trading & Markdown
Stock that has been held a long time, tracked in ageing bands such as under 13 weeks, 13 to 26, 26 to 52 and over 52 weeks.
Allocation Stock & Supply
Deciding how many units of each size go from the DC (distribution centre) to each store. It is a "push" method: you send stock out based on a plan, not on what has sold. It is used for launches and one-off buys.
Allocation system Allocation
The program an allocator uses to decide which stores get stock, how many units and sizes each, and to release the plan to the DC.
ASP (Average Selling Price) Money & Margin
Sales dollars divided by units sold. It moves when prices change and when the mix changes (which products actually sold). If your prices have not changed but ASP is falling, customers are buying more of the cheaper lines.
Assortment imbalance Range & Assortment
Holding too much of some products and too little of others, so total stock can look high while key lines are short.
Assortment plan / Range plan Range & Assortment
The plan for what the range will hold. It sets the number of options, the price points, how deep each option is, and which stores get what, by category and store cluster. It links the money plan to the line-by-line buys.
Attribute analysis Analysis
Breaking sales down by the features customers shop by, such as colour, silhouette, material or fit, to find patterns across the whole range.
ATV KPIs
Average transaction value: sales dollars ÷ number of transactions. Also equal to UPT × ASP.
ATV (Average Transaction Value) Money & Margin
Sales divided by the number of transactions (sales receipts). It equals UPT (units per transaction) times the average price per item. Store and trade teams watch it closely.
Availability Stock & Supply
The share of demand you can meet from stock when customers want it. It can also be measured as the share of SKUs, or of core sizes, that are in stock. Poor availability loses sales that never show up in any report, so it is easy to miss.
B
Broken size run Stock & Supply
A style-colour in a store that is missing its main sizes. There may still be units left, but they are hard to sell at full price. This is why planners plan by size and move stock to rebuild full runs.
Buddy People & Leadership
A colleague, other than the trainer, who a new starter can go to with quick questions.
Bundling Trading & Markdown
Selling a slow item together with a popular one as a set, to help clear the slow item.
C
Cancel date Buying & Planning
The date, usually written on the PO, after which the business can cancel an order that has not shipped.
Cancel window Buying & Planning
The period in a supplier contract when you can still cancel or resize an order. It lets you cut the downside if early sales are weak.
Cannibalisation Analysis
When one product or promotion takes sales from another of your own products rather than bringing in new sales.
Carryover Range & Assortment
A line that continues from last season instead of being new. Because it has real sales history, its forecast is usually much more reliable than a new line's.
Category role Range & Assortment
The job a category does for the business, such as destination, core traffic, seasonal, trend or margin. The role decides how wide and deep the category is ranged.
Category split Buying & Planning
Dividing open-to-buy between product categories by share, usually starting from each category's share of planned sales.
Chase Buying & Planning
A repeat order, placed during the season, for a line that is selling well. It works best when you have agreed the terms with the supplier in advance. Chasing is what lets you start with a smaller first buy and still catch the upside.
Clearance Trading & Markdown
Permanent price cuts at the end of a line's life, used to sell all the stock by a set date. It is different from a promotion, which is a short-term discount.
Clearance rate Trading & Markdown
The share of the stock put into a Sale or clearance event that actually sells during it.
Click & collect Omni-channel
The customer orders online and picks up in store. The stock must be held for them as soon as they order, not when they arrive. Otherwise the same pair could be sold twice.
Cluster Stores & Space
A group of stores with similar customers and demand, for example similar climate, shoppers, fashion level or centre type. Each store in a cluster gets the same range. Clusters are combined with store grades to decide what each store carries.
Coaching conversation People & Leadership
A short, private talk that helps someone learn from their own work, mostly by asking questions rather than telling.
COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) Money & Margin
The landed cost of the products you actually sold in a period. Sales minus COGS equals gross margin dollars.
Committed OTB Buying & Planning
The part of the open-to-buy already spent on orders placed with suppliers.
Comp / LFL sales Money & Margin
Comparable or like-for-like sales. Growth is measured only in stores (and weeks) that traded in both periods. Leaving out new and closed stores shows how the business is really tracking.
Comparable item Buying & Planning
A past product similar enough to a new one to guide its forecast. Use its rate of sale at full price and full availability, then adjust for known differences. Often called a comp.
Concession Omni-channel
A space inside another retailer's store (or website) that a brand runs itself. The brand usually supplies its own stock and shares the revenue with the host retailer.
Consolidation Stock & Supply
Moving scattered stock, usually broken size runs, from many stores into fewer stores or online. This rebuilds full size runs that are easier to sell.
Conversion KPIs
The share of store or website visitors who buy something. Sales = traffic × conversion × units per transaction × average selling price.
Core / NOS lines Range & Assortment
Never-out-of-stock lines carried all year, such as a plain white sneaker or a black work boot. They are planned by rate of sale and refilled automatically. Success means good availability and a healthy stockturn, not seasonal sell-through.
Cost break Money & Margin
A lower cost price offered for a bigger order. Judge it on net margin after the markdown the extra units are likely to need.
Cost price / Landed cost Money & Margin
What one unit costs once it reaches your DC. It includes the factory price plus freight, duty, agent fees and the effect of exchange rates. Use landed cost when you work out margin and GMROI.
Cover (WOC / WOS) KPIs
Weeks of cover or weeks of supply: stock divided by weekly rate of sale. It tells you how many weeks your stock will last if sales keep going at that rate. Use the forecast rate for the weeks ahead where you can. Cover is roughly 52 divided by the annual stockturn. Example (invented): 600 pairs selling 50 a week is 12 weeks of cover.
Cover after sales KPIs
The weeks of cover left once a set period of expected sales has come out of today's stock: (stock − expected sales) ÷ weekly sales.
Critical path Buying & Planning
The list of steps and dates a product goes through from idea to shop shelf, where each step depends on the one before.
Cycle count Stock & Supply
Counting a small set of products often, rather than the whole store at once. Aim cycle counts at fast sellers to keep their records accurate.
Cycle stock Stock & Supply
The stock needed to cover average demand across the exposure window (review period plus lead time).
D
Data freeze Analysis
Fixing the date range of the data and no longer refreshing it, so everyone works from the same version.
Data pack Analysis
The set of numbers prepared for a review, built around the questions the review must answer.
DC (Distribution Centre) Stock & Supply
The central warehouse. It receives deliveries from suppliers and sends stock to stores and to online orders. Keeping stock in the DC keeps your options open. Once it is sent to stores, it is committed.
DC holdback Allocation
Stock kept in the distribution centre instead of being sent to stores straight away, so it can go where it sells best.
Decision limits People & Leadership
The decisions a team member can make alone, such as moving stock up to a set number of units, without asking their manager.
Delegation People & Leadership
Handing a task, and the authority to do it, to someone else, with a clear outcome, deadline and check-in.
Demand during lead time Stock & Supply
The sales you expect while you wait for an order to arrive: average weekly sales × lead time in weeks.
DIFOT Stock & Supply
Delivered In Full, On Time. It is the standard measure of how reliable a supplier's deliveries are. Poor DIFOT can quietly ruin launch plans and the timing of stock arriving.
Door Stores & Space
Trade slang for a store. "Ranged in 120 doors" means stocked in 120 stores.
Drop Buying & Planning
A planned delivery or launch of product, as in "the range lands in three drops". It is also used for release events for hyped products.
E
Elasticity (price) Trading & Markdown
How much unit sales change, in %, for each 1% change in price. With an elasticity of −2.5, a 20% price cut lifts units by roughly 50% (2.5 × 20%). It is the key number behind markdown and promotion planning.
Endless aisle Omni-channel
Letting online customers buy stock held anywhere in the chain, including in stores. It rescues broken size runs, but picking and freight costs need floor rules.
Escalation People & Leadership
Passing a problem up to someone with more authority when it is beyond your own decision limits.
Event shift (de-shifting) Buying & Planning
Adjusting last year's history when a holiday or event falls in a different week this year. You take the event boost out of last year's week and add it to this year's week.
Everyday low price (EDLP) Trading & Markdown
A pricing approach that keeps prices low all the time, instead of swinging between higher prices and promotions. It keeps demand steadier.
Everyday low pricing (EDLP) Trading & Markdown
A pricing approach with one steady, lower price and few sales or promotions.
Ex-factory date Stock & Supply
The date goods are due to leave the supplier's factory. Transit, customs and DC time come after it.
Exception report Analysis
A report that shows only the lines breaking a rule, such as zero stock or very high cover, so you know what to check first.
Exit date / Exit route Trading & Markdown
The planned week a line stops selling at full price, and the planned way to clear it (markdown, outlet, pack-away or jobber). Agree both when you buy the line, not at the end of the season.
Exposure window Stock & Supply
Review period plus lead time. It is the stretch of selling an order must cover before the next order can arrive.
F
Fill-in Stock & Supply
A top-up order or allocation that fills size gaps in a store. It is smaller than a full new allocation.
FOB / CIF Buying & Planning
Shipping terms that set who pays for freight and insurance, and where the risk passes to the buyer. FOB (Free On Board): the supplier loads the goods onto the ship at the origin port, and the buyer pays the freight and insurance from there. CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight): the supplier pays freight and insurance to the destination port, but the risk still passes to the buyer once the goods are loaded at origin. The terms change how you build up landed cost.
Forecast bias Analysis
A steady habit of forecasting too high or too low. If you know your bias, you can correct for it.
Forecast value added Buying & Planning
A check on whether manual overrides make a forecast better or worse than the system's own forecast.
Forward cover KPIs
Cover worked out using planned future sales instead of past sales. This is the right way for planning, because the stock has to serve future demand.
Franchise / Icon style Range & Assortment
A permanent hero style that anchors a brand's range season after season. It is managed like a core line, but with the close attention you give a fashion line.
Fringe sizes Range & Assortment
The smallest and largest sizes at the ends of a size curve. They sell in small numbers, so they are often ranged only in big stores and online.
Fulfilment centre Omni-channel
A warehouse that picks, packs and sends online orders to customers. It holds a stock pool separate from the stores.
Full-price sell-through KPIs
Units sold at full price divided by units received. It is the clearest single test of whether you bought the right quantity of a seasonal line. Example (invented): 700 sold at full price from 1,000 received is 70% full-price sell-through.
G
GMROF / GMROS KPIs
Gross Margin Return On Footage (or Space): gross margin dollars divided by selling area, usually per square metre per year. It measures how hard floor space works, the way GMROI does for stock. It guides how much space each category gets.
GMROI KPIs
Gross Margin Return On Inventory investment: gross margin dollars divided by average stock at cost. It shows how many margin dollars each dollar tied up in stock earns in a year. It also equals gross margin % times (sales at retail divided by average stock at cost). Example (invented): $150,000 sales at 40% margin is $60,000 margin. With average stock of $20,000 at cost, GMROI is 3.0 (40% × 7.5). It links merchandise plans to decisions about where to put the company's money.
GMROL KPIs
Gross Margin Return On Labour: gross margin dollars divided by labour cost (or per rostered hour). It compares what categories or stores earn with the staff time they use. Categories that need lots of customer service will naturally score lower.
Good, better, best Range & Assortment
A price structure with three tiers: entry (good), core (better) and premium (best). Each step up should offer a difference customers can see.
Grading (store) Stores & Space
Sorting stores into bands (A, B, C, D) by their sales in a category. The grade sets how many options and how much depth each store gets. Grade by category and update the grades regularly.
GRN (Goods Received Note) Stock & Supply
The record that confirms stock has arrived at the DC or store. GRNs that are never processed are a common cause of wrong stock figures.
Gross margin Money & Margin
Sales minus COGS, shown in dollars or as a % of sales. "Achieved" or "realised" margin is what is left after markdowns, promotions and shrinkage have eaten into the intake margin.
Gross margin % Money & Margin
The share of sales left after paying for the goods that sold: (sales − cost of goods sold) ÷ sales × 100.
H
Headline, evidence, action, ask Communication
A four-part talk structure: the main point, the facts behind it, what you are doing and what you need from the audience.
High-low pricing Trading & Markdown
A pricing approach with a higher regular ticket price and frequent sales or promotions.
Hindsight / Post-season review Analysis
A structured review of a finished season. It covers the financials, how good the buys were, the price structure and the timing. The result is a list of changes for next season, each with a named owner.
Holdback Allocation
Stock kept in the distribution centre after the first allocation, to send later to the stores and sizes that sell best.
I
I do, we do, you do People & Leadership
A teaching pattern: you show the task, you do it together, then the learner does it alone.
IMU / Intake margin / Initial markup Money & Margin
(Retail price minus landed cost) divided by retail price, at the first price, before any discounts. It is the margin the buy starts with. The gap between intake margin and achieved margin is the cost of what happened while trading.
In-DC date Stock & Supply
The date goods are due to be received at the distribution centre and ready to allocate.
In-stock rate of sale Analysis
Units sold per store per week, counting only the weeks a product was actually in stock. It gives a fairer view of demand.
In-transit inventory Stock & Supply
Stock that has been bought and shipped but has not yet reached the warehouse or store.
Incrementality Trading & Markdown
The extra profit a promotion really created: event sales minus the baseline, pull-forward and cannibalisation, valued at margin.
Initial allocation Allocation
The first send of a new product to stores. Usually expected rate of sale × weeks of cover, raised to the presentation minimum if needed.
Intake Buying & Planning
Receipts: the value or units of stock delivered into the business in a period. The WSSI and OTB exist to control it.
Inventory position Stock & Supply
Stock on hand plus stock already on order. Compare it with the reorder point so you do not order twice.
Item data Stock & Supply
The basic record for each product, such as its size, weight, case pack and supplier. Planning systems use it for every order, allocation and delivery.
J
Jobber Trading & Markdown
A buyer who takes leftover clearance stock in bulk at a very low price. It is the last resort. It beats storing dead stock, but every other exit is better.
L
Lead time Buying & Planning
The time from placing an order to having the stock ready to sell. Footwear made overseas often takes several months. Lead time decides whether chasing and test-and-react buying are even possible.
Like-for-like growth Analysis
Sales growth using only the stores that traded in both periods, so new and closed stores do not distort the result. Also called comparable or comp sales growth.
Line plan / Line list Buying & Planning
The working document that lists every option with its forecast, buy quantity, delivery flow, store allocation, targets and exit plan. Each line is a bet you can check against what actually happens.
Liquidation Trading & Markdown
Selling off excess stock quickly, usually at a deep discount or through off-price partners, to clear it.
Long tail Range & Assortment
The large group of options in a range that each sell only a little. Cutting it gives the remaining options more depth and makes forecasting easier.
Lost sales Analysis
Sales missed because the product or size was out of stock. Weeks with lost sales understate true demand, so recorded sales are a floor, not an estimate.
M
MAPE / WMAPE Buying & Planning
Forecast accuracy measures. MAPE is the average weekly error, ignoring over or under, as a % of each week's actual sales. WMAPE is total error ÷ total actual sales, so big weeks count for more.
Margin waterfall Money & Margin
A table that starts at intake margin and takes off each planned erosion (promotional markdown, clearance, shrink, staff and loyalty discounts) to reach achieved gross margin.
Markdown Trading & Markdown
A cut in the selling price. "Markdown dollars" is the value given away: the price cut times the units sold at that price. Promotional markdowns are short-term and tied to events. Clearance markdowns are permanent.
Markdown cadence Trading & Markdown
The pattern and timing of price steps over a product's life, for example full price, first markdown, second markdown and final clearance.
Markdown cost Money & Margin
The value given away by cutting a price: units × (old price − new price).
Markdown optimisation Trading & Markdown
Software that works out the discount path for each style and location that brings in the most money before the exit date, using stock, observed elasticity and salvage value.
Markdown trigger Trading & Markdown
A rule agreed before the season that says when a style must be reviewed for markdown, such as sell-through below a set level by a set week.
Markup Money & Margin
Profit on a product as a share of its cost: (price − cost) ÷ cost × 100. Always a bigger number than margin for the same product.
Markup vs margin Money & Margin
Two ways to look at the same price and cost. Margin is profit divided by the retail price. Markup is profit divided by the cost. Example: an item that costs $40 and sells for $100 has a 60% margin but a 150% markup. Mixing them up is the classic retail maths mistake.
Merchandise financial plan (MFP) Buying & Planning
The plan that turns the company budget into department and category targets for sales, margin, markdown, stock and intake, spread by week or month across the season. Every buy is measured against it.
Merchandise hierarchy Range & Assortment
The tree that sorts every product, from company down to division, department, class, sub-class, style, style-colour and SKU. Plans and reports add up and break down along it.
Merchandise system Buying & Planning
The main record of every product: its hierarchy, cost, selling price, supplier and purchase orders.
Min/max levels Stock & Supply
Refill limits for each SKU in each store. When stock falls to the min, the system orders back up towards the max. It is a simple version of the order-up-to model.
Model stock Stock & Supply
The target stock for each SKU (style, colour and size) a store should hold. It is the presentation minimum plus extra depth to meet sales, shaped by the store's size curve.
MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) Buying & Planning
The smallest order a supplier will accept, per style, colour or size. MOQs force real choices: cut the number of options, share a style across brands, or walk away.
N
Newness Range & Assortment
The share of options in a range that are new, rather than carried over. More newness means more choice but less reliable forecasts.
O
Off-price Range & Assortment
A retail model that sells brand-name goods well below full-price stores, mostly by buying other businesses' surplus stock at a discount.
Off-price retailer Trading & Markdown
A business that buys surplus stock from brands and retailers and sells it in its own stores at lower prices.
Omni-channel Omni-channel
Running stores, online and marketplaces as one pool of demand, with flexible ways to fill orders (ship from store, click & collect, endless aisle). Plan demand once, then plan how to fill it separately.
On order Buying & Planning
Stock already ordered from suppliers for a period but not yet received. It is subtracted when working out open-to-buy.
Onboarding plan People & Leadership
A written plan for a new starter's first weeks: what they will learn, what they will do and when progress will be reviewed.
One-to-one People & Leadership
A regular private meeting between a manager and one team member, focused on their progress, problems and growth.
Open-to-buy (OTB) Buying & Planning
The intake budget you have not yet committed. OTB = planned closing stock + planned sales + planned markdowns − opening stock − stock already on order. Treat it as a ceiling, not a target.
Opportunistic buying Buying & Planning
Buying good stock at a large discount when a chance comes up during the season, instead of committing most of the buy months ahead.
Option Range & Assortment
A separate choice for the customer in the range, usually one style in one colour. The number of options is the standard measure of how wide a range is.
Order confirmation Buying & Planning
The supplier's reply to a purchase order, confirming what they will make, how many, at what price and when it will ship.
Order-up-to level Stock & Supply
The stock level replenishment tops each SKU back up to at every review. It equals cycle stock plus safety stock. Also called target stock.
Order-up-to rule Allocation
A replenishment rule that sends enough stock to bring a store back to its target: target stock − stock on hand − stock in transit.
OTB reserve Buying & Planning
Part of the season's open-to-buy that is kept uncommitted before the season, so the team can chase strong sellers or save money if trade is weak.
Outlet Trading & Markdown
A retailer's own discount store or online clearance area, used to sell end-of-season and surplus stock.
Over-bought Buying & Planning
Holding or having ordered more stock than the plan needs. It shows up as negative open-to-buy.
Own label Range & Assortment
Products sold under the retailer's own brand rather than a supplier's brand. Also called private label or store brand.
P
Pack-away Trading & Markdown
Storing unsold seasonal stock to sell again next year. It is sometimes right for true continuity product. Usually it means paying twice for one mistake.
Pareto (80/20) Analysis
The common pattern where about 20% of options make about 80% of sales. It is the basis for managing heroes and the tail: protect your best sellers and question the slow ones.
Parking a question Communication
Politely agreeing to answer an off-topic or detailed question after the meeting, and writing it down so you follow up.
Peak trade Trading & Markdown
The busiest trading weeks of the year, such as the run-up to Christmas or a major sale event.
Percentage points Analysis
The simple difference between two percentages. Margin going from 52% to 54% is up 2 percentage points.
Phasing Buying & Planning
Spreading a season's total across weeks or months. You phase sales (using a participation curve), intake (the delivery flow) and markdowns (the event calendar). The right totals with the wrong timing will still fail.
Pick and pack Stock & Supply
The DC work of taking stock off the shelves for each store's order and packing it for delivery.
Planned closing stock Buying & Planning
The stock you aim to hold at the end of a month or week, usually set to give the right weeks of cover for the period ahead.
Planned markdown Trading & Markdown
A markdown budgeted before the season, such as the end-of-season sale.
Planogram Stores & Space
A diagram that shows exactly how product is displayed on each fixture. It limits how many options a store can sensibly carry.
Point-of-sale (POS) data Analysis
The record of what customers bought, captured at the checkout: which item, which store, when and at what price.
Pre-mortem Communication
Imagining how a recommendation could be challenged or fail, then preparing evidence or fixes in advance.
Pre-pack Stock & Supply
A sealed carton holding a fixed mix of sizes, packed by the supplier. Also called a ratio pack. Cheaper to handle than loose units, but less exact.
Pre-production sample Range & Assortment
A sample made with the real fabric and trims before bulk production starts. The last cheap chance to fix a problem.
Pre-read Communication
A short document sent before a meeting so people arrive knowing the facts and the decisions needed.
Presentation minimum Stores & Space
The stock a store needs just to look shoppable, whatever the sales rate. For example, every style-colour on display needs a sensible run of sizes behind it. In small stores, this stock makes up most of what they hold.
Price architecture Range & Assortment
The planned set of price points (good, better, best) and how options, units and margin are spread across them. Track it by the number of options and by the share of units at each price point.
Product lifecycle Range & Assortment
The stages a style moves through: introduction, growth, maturity and decline. Each stage calls for a different planning action, from chasing in growth to exiting in decline.
Promotion Trading & Markdown
A temporary price cut or offer with a start and end date, after which the price returns to full price.
Proximity sourcing Buying & Planning
Making stock close to where it will be sold, so lead times are short and repeat orders can arrive within the same season.
Pull replenishment Allocation
Sending stock to stores to replace what has actually sold, usually through rules such as min/max or target cover.
Pull-forward Trading & Markdown
Sales that a promotion takes from the weeks after it, because customers buy earlier at the lower price. An honest review of a promotion takes these sales off its results.
Purchase order (PO) Buying & Planning
The formal order sent to a supplier, setting out styles, colours, sizes, quantities, cost price and dates.
Push allocation Allocation
Sending stock to stores based on a plan or forecast, before there are sales to go on. Used for launches, new stores and promotions.
Q
Quadrant analysis Analysis
Plotting each option against two measures at once, such as rate of sale and margin rate, to sort it into one of four boxes: stars, traffic drivers, niche earners and dogs. Each box is managed differently.
R
Range gap Range & Assortment
Something customers want that the range does not offer, such as a missing price point, colour, size or fit.
Range review Range & Assortment
A meeting where the buying and planning team look at how a range has traded and decide what to keep, grow, cut or replace.
Range width / depth Range & Assortment
Width is how many options you carry. Depth is how many units sit behind each option. With a fixed budget, more of one means less of the other. This trade-off is at the heart of range planning.
Rate of sale (ROS) KPIs
Units sold per store per week. It is the basic building block of planning maths. Multiply the forecast ROS by the number of stores and weeks to get demand. Get it wrong and every number after it is wrong too. Example (invented): 2 a week × 50 stores × 10 weeks = 1,000 units.
Re-forecast Buying & Planning
An updated view of future sales, stock and intake, based on actual results so far in the season.
Reactive markdown Trading & Markdown
A markdown taken in response to trade, usually because a style is selling slower than planned.
Rebalancing Allocation
Moving stock from where it is not selling to where it is, using DC stock, transfers or recalls.
Relative change Analysis
A change expressed as a share of the starting value. Margin going from 52% to 54% is a relative rise of about 3.8%.
Release (allocation) Allocation
Sending the final allocation instructions to the DC so its team can pick and pack stock for each store.
Reorder point Stock & Supply
The stock level at which you place a new order: average weekly sales × lead time in weeks + safety stock.
Replenishment Stock & Supply
Stock flow driven by demand ("pull"): you refill what has sold. It usually tops each SKU in each store back up to a model stock or order-up-to level. It keeps core lines in stock.
Required ROS Buying & Planning
The rate of sale each option must achieve for the plan to work: unit sales ÷ (options × stores × weeks). Compare it with what similar options really sold.
Returns rate Omni-channel
Returned units divided by gross units sold. Online returns in footwear and clothing are often much higher than in stores. Plan sales after returns, and process returned stock quickly, because it ages while it waits.
Review period Stock & Supply
How often the replenishment system checks stock and places orders, for example daily or weekly. Together with lead time, it sets how long each order has to cover.
Right first time KPIs
The share of pieces of work that needed no changes after checking. Allocations with no changes ÷ allocations checked × 100.
Rolling forecast Buying & Planning
A forecast that is updated regularly, usually monthly, with the nearest period made firm and a new period added at the end.
RRP / MSRP Money & Margin
Recommended Retail Price (or Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price): the price the supplier suggests you sell at. Competition law controls whether and how suppliers can influence your actual selling price. The rules differ between countries, so follow local legal advice.
S
Safety stock Stock & Supply
Extra stock held in case demand is higher or delivery is later than planned. Roughly, it is the service factor (z) times the variability of demand (sigma) times the square root of (lead time plus review period). It grows with uncertainty and lead time, not with average demand.
Salvage value Trading & Markdown
What you get for each unit left over after the exit date, for example from a jobber.
SBI feedback People & Leadership
A way to give feedback by describing the situation, the behaviour and its impact, then asking for the other person's view.
Sell-in vs sell-out KPIs
Sell-in is what a supplier ships to the retailer. Sell-out is what customers actually buy. Wholesale brands often focus on sell-in. Planners focus on sell-out.
Sell-through KPIs
The share of the stock you received that has sold: units sold ÷ units received × 100.
Sell-through % KPIs
Units sold divided by units received, over a period or over a buy's whole life. It is the standard test of seasonal buy quantities. It does not apply to replenished core lines, which are bought never to sell out.
Service level Stock & Supply
The chance you choose of not running out of stock in a replenishment cycle, for example 95%. It sets the z number in the safety stock formula. Each extra point of service level needs more extra stock than the one before.
Shadowing People & Leadership
Sitting with an experienced colleague and watching them do real tasks, to learn how the work is done.
Ship-from-store Omni-channel
Filling online orders from store stock. Set buffer thresholds so it doesn't strip the store's display stock.
Shrinkage Stock & Supply
Stock lost to theft, damage and paperwork errors, found at stocktake. It is usually measured as a % of retail sales. Plan for it in your margin and show it in the WSSI.
Sigma (standard deviation) Analysis
A measure of how much weekly sales swing around their average. A bigger sigma needs a bigger safety stock.
Sign-off People & Leadership
The agreed point where a person can do a task on their own, without a check before it goes ahead.
Signposting Communication
Telling listeners where you are in a talk, for example "Three things drove this. First...", so they can follow.
Size curve Allocation
Each size's share of a style's sales, as percentages that add up to 100. Used to split a quantity into sizes.
Size curve / Size ratio Range & Assortment
How demand is spread across sizes, in %, for a category in a store cluster. Build it from true demand, not raw sales, because sizes that sold out hide how many more you could have sold. Use it for every buy and every model stock.
Skills map People & Leadership
A table of the skills a team needs and how strong each person is in each, used to plan coaching and cover. Also called a skills matrix.
SKU Range & Assortment
Stock Keeping Unit: the smallest item you can sell and track. In footwear it is style + colour + size. A style-colour in 12 sizes is 12 SKUs, which is why footwear stock is complex to manage.
SOH (Stock on hand) Stock & Supply
The units or value the system says a location holds right now. How closely it matches what is really on the shelf ("stock integrity") limits how good every automated decision can be.
Split shipment Stock & Supply
Sending part of an order early or on time and the rest later, often to cover a gap or a delay.
Stand-up People & Leadership
A short daily team check-in, for example 10 to 15 minutes, where each person shares today's work and anything blocking them.
Stock turn KPIs
How many times the average stock sells through in a year: sales ÷ average stock at retail, or cost of goods sold ÷ average stock at cost. Never mix the two.
Stock-flow identity Stock & Supply
Closing stock = opening stock + intake − sales − markdown (value) − shrink. It is the equation behind the WSSI and open-to-buy.
Stock-to-sales ratio Stock & Supply
Opening stock for a period divided by sales in that period, both on the same basis. A ratio of 3.0 means $3 of stock for every $1 of sales.
Stockturn / Inventory turnover KPIs
How many times a year your average stock is sold and replaced. At retail: annual sales ÷ average stock at retail. At cost: annual cost of goods sold ÷ average stock at cost. Keep both numbers on the same basis. It is roughly 52 divided by weeks of cover. Note that GMROI = gross margin % × (sales ÷ average stock at cost). That last ratio mixes retail and cost, so it is not a true stockturn.
Store clustering Stores & Space
Grouping stores by what their customers buy, for example by climate, location type or customer profile, to decide which products each store carries.
Store grading Allocation
Ranking stores by sales of a category and grouping them into bands such as A, B, C and D, so each grade gets a different depth of stock.
Store split Allocation
Dividing open-to-buy or stock between store groups, such as store grades and online, by share of planned sales.
Store transfer Allocation
Moving stock from one store to another, usually from a store with too much to one that is selling faster.
Store-to-store transfer Allocation
Moving stock directly from one store to another to fix an imbalance, usually when the DC has run out.
Stretch task People & Leadership
A real piece of work slightly beyond a person's current level, given with support so they can grow.
Style-colour / Colourway Range & Assortment
One style in one colour. It is the usual meaning of an "option", and it is the parent of its size-level SKUs.
Supplier rebate Money & Margin
Money a supplier pays back to a retailer, often for buying a set volume. Judge it on net margin after any markdown needed to clear the extra stock.
Supplier review Buying & Planning
A regular meeting with a supplier to go through how their products sold, how well they delivered and what happens next.
T
Terminal stock Trading & Markdown
Stock left after a line's planned exit date. It still has to be cleared, packed away or sold to a jobber. It is a key measure in the post-season review, along with markdown %.
Test and react Buying & Planning
Buying a small first drop, reading early sales, then placing a chase buy. It needs short lead times and triggers agreed before launch.
The ask Communication
The specific decision, money, help or awareness you need from your audience, stated clearly at the end of a talk.
Top-down and bottom-up planning Buying & Planning
Top-down planning passes a company target down through the business based on strategy. Bottom-up planning builds each category from its own drivers and adds them up. Reconciliation closes the gap between the two.
Trade / Trading Analysis
The weekly rhythm of managing the season: reading sales, updating the forecast, and adjusting intake, replenishment, promotions and markdowns. "How's it trading?" means "How are real sales tracking against the plan?"
Trade credit insurance Money & Margin
Insurance that protects a supplier if a retailer cannot pay its bills. If it is withdrawn, suppliers may ask for payment before they deliver.
Trade pack Trading & Markdown
The set of reports a planning team reviews every week, such as sales against plan, best and worst sellers, sell-through, cover and size availability. Each view should lead to a decision.
Trade report Analysis
The weekly report of sales, margin, stock and availability against plan and last year, usually read on Monday.
Trade update Communication
A short spoken summary of how the business traded, usually last week, and what the team is doing about it.
Triage People & Leadership
Sorting problems by how serious and urgent they are, then dealing with them in that order.
U
UPT KPIs
Units per transaction: units sold ÷ number of transactions. It rises when customers add items to their purchase.
UPT (Units per transaction) KPIs
The average number of items in each sale. Together with ATV and conversion, it helps explain store sales. Selling add-ons and multi-buy offers lift it.
V
Velocity index Analysis
Share of units ÷ share of options × 100. A score of 100 means an attribute or price band sells exactly its fair share. Above 100 means it sells more than its share of the range.
Vendor-managed inventory (VMI) Stock & Supply
An arrangement where the supplier decides when and how much stock to send, using the retailer's sales and stock data within agreed limits.
Virtual pooling Omni-channel
Letting the website sell stock held anywhere in the chain, including stores, not just the online DC.
VM (Visual merchandising) Stores & Space
How product is presented in store: displays, walls and tables. Sometimes a "product problem" is really a VM problem, like a great shoe stuck on the bottom shelf.
W
Weekly participation Buying & Planning
Each week's share of a season's total sales, shown as a percentage. The set of weekly shares forms the category's sales curve and drives when deliveries must land.
Weeks of cover Stock & Supply
How many weeks your stock will last at a given sales rate: stock on hand ÷ average weekly sales.
Worked example People & Leadership
A real task done step by step with the thinking shown, so a learner can copy both the steps and the reasons.
Write-down Money & Margin
Cutting the value of stock in the accounts because it is worth less than recorded, for example because it is old or will not sell at full price.
WSSI Buying & Planning
Weekly Sales, Stock and Intake. It is the weekly ledger that tracks how stock flows through the season: opening stock plus intake, minus sales, markdowns and shrinkage, gives closing stock. It shows plan, forecast and actuals side by side. It is the planner's main control panel and the source of the OTB.
Z
z score Analysis
The multiplier that turns a service level into safety stock, for example 1.64 for 95% service.