Athletic footwear retailer sharpens assortments
Coinciding with its mission to better manage inventories, Finish Line is updating its merchandising processes.
Eager to tighten its planning strategies, Finish Line, which was managing its operation of 950 locations and online sites through spreadsheet-based solutions, engaged with a solution provider and reviewed multiple potential consulting partners. The retailer also selected Columbus Consulting to advise the retailer throughout the two-phase project.
The first phase, completed this past October, encompassed all aspects of merchandise financial planning, including strategic planning, preseason financial planning, in-season forecasting and open-to-buy management. Upgrading these solutions and processes centralizes data and provides Finish Line with one version of the truth, enabling better communication across the organization.
The second phase of the project, scheduled to be completed in the spring, includes store planning and grading, key item planning and assortment strategy. These new capabilities will allow Finish Line to plan deeper in assortment, better control logistics and profitability, increase visibility across the business, and improve its merchandise presentation and assortment across stores, according to the retailer.
“We hit the ground running with the implementation of the new technology solutions, and we are taking important steps to update our merchandising processes,” said Brad Eckhart, senior VP, planning and allocation, Finish Line.
Finish Line was attracted to Columbus Consulting’s experience in the industry and familiarity with the technology. “This plays a critical role in our success as we move away from our current spreadsheet solutions and evolve Finish Line’s technology capabilities,” he said.
“The implementation of a merchandise financial planning system is the first step in a multi-phased merchandising systems roadmap,” Eckhart added. “Ultimately these technology improvements and new processes will sharpen Finish Line’s focus on our customers and lay the foundation for our ultimate goal of assortment plans by location.”
Eager to tighten its planning strategies, Finish Line, which was managing its operation of 950 locations and online sites through spreadsheet-based solutions, engaged with a solution provider and reviewed multiple potential consulting partners. The retailer also selected Columbus Consulting to advise the retailer throughout the two-phase project.
The first phase, completed this past October, encompassed all aspects of merchandise financial planning, including strategic planning, preseason financial planning, in-season forecasting and open-to-buy management. Upgrading these solutions and processes centralizes data and provides Finish Line with one version of the truth, enabling better communication across the organization.
The second phase of the project, scheduled to be completed in the spring, includes store planning and grading, key item planning and assortment strategy. These new capabilities will allow Finish Line to plan deeper in assortment, better control logistics and profitability, increase visibility across the business, and improve its merchandise presentation and assortment across stores, according to the retailer.
“We hit the ground running with the implementation of the new technology solutions, and we are taking important steps to update our merchandising processes,” said Brad Eckhart, senior VP, planning and allocation, Finish Line.
Finish Line was attracted to Columbus Consulting’s experience in the industry and familiarity with the technology. “This plays a critical role in our success as we move away from our current spreadsheet solutions and evolve Finish Line’s technology capabilities,” he said.
“The implementation of a merchandise financial planning system is the first step in a multi-phased merchandising systems roadmap,” Eckhart added. “Ultimately these technology improvements and new processes will sharpen Finish Line’s focus on our customers and lay the foundation for our ultimate goal of assortment plans by location.”