News

RSR defines 'seven tenets of 21st century merchandising'

September 7, 2010

RSR Research's latest report, "Defining Twenty-First Century Merchandising: Benchmark 2010" dicusses seven tenets of the modern merchandise planning process. These findings are based on a survey of 98 retailers this summer. SAP and SAS sponsored the report.

"The retail-thought process has genuinely and irrevocably changed," said Paula Rosenblum, a managing partner at RSR Research and co-author of the report. "Retailers are injecting science into a process that used to be heavily driven by art. It requires entirely new ways of thinking about merchandise planning, and the tenets we identified through the research are going to be critical for navigating the changes that are already impacting merchandising today."

Nikki Baird, also a managing partner at RSR Research and the report's co-author, said management must be careful when making changes.

"The thing retailers really need to be careful about is change management," said Baird. "Our survey found that retailers may understand the value of these science-based tools, but they don't really understand what they do or how they do it. That could lead to a backlash later on."

RSR's research identified seven tenets of 21st century merchandising:
#1: optimization in merchandising spans products, prices, and processes
#2: ensure that merchants have a solid understanding of their tools
#3: do not tinker with local assortments without broad due diligence
#4: marketing must be an integral part of merchandise planning and execution
#5: retailers will cross-pollinate best practices across segments
#6: this shift in merchandising capabilities is strategic, not tactical
#7: merchants are no longer the intersection point between customer insights and product plans

"Defining Twenty-First Century Merchandising: Benchmark 2010" contains analysis of the business drivers, opportunities, and organizational constraints surrounding merchandise planning and execution, as well as recommendations for creating successful merchandising capabilities.