Retail has evolved, which means your merchandising practices should too.

Merchandisers are caught between operating at the speed of the customer and making data-driven decisions from an overwhelming amount of information. Despite a sea of reports, most retailers tell us they still cannot do the following:

• Measure the profit impact of promotions
• Align product availability with marketing exposure
• Understand customer profitability by segment
• Match customers with the right products
• Protect margin by knowing when another action is more profitable than a price reduction
• Receive alerts when there is a problem or major opportunity

But now retailers are learning to balance human expertise with automation to achieve data-driven, customer-centric merchandising operations.

At the end of the day, being a customer-centric retailer means providing an environment where your organization is able to connect, understand and take action on the massive amount of data the customer provides. 

Retailers who can see the benefits of this new customer-driven era and swiftly join the revolution will drive change across the retail industry to not only produce sales and profit growth, but also happy and loyal customers.

Data-empowered merchandisers are uniquely positioned to bring cohesiveness to retail, advocating for action and dynamic collaboration. The end result is they have the power to create product stories for their unique customers. They will be armed and able to make well-informed data-driven strategic decisions.

The Merchandising Manual is your guidebook for creating a successful data-driven merchandising career in modern retail — where you and your team are empowered to meet KPI goals and improve profitability with every action you take.

Written by retailers for retailers, this manual covers:

• 4 trends that will make a direct impact on the profitability of your business
• 24 critical questions to ask about your inventory, pricing and customers
• 7 modernized merchandising KPIs to adopt for success in today’s retail
• 6 new merchandising benchmarks to help understand what you must achieve this year to outpace your competitors and drive sustainable success

The Merchandising Manual is your go-to guide for modernizing your approach to merchandising to ensure increased full price sell-through, fewer markdowns and ability to capitalize on demand and drive higher profits.

We hope you find the manual useful. Download our insider's guide with the information merchants need to succeed.