Create involves the setting up of a project, and define the product-job-project hierarchy. This can either be done manually or by importing products from a file. This is an admin specific task, and it is absolutely crucial since it lays out the foundation for the rest of the planning cycle.
This step is essential in making product identification easier, and more secure. Assigned barcodes can be printed, and photos for the products/project can be imported for each product individually, or for the entire project if the photo files have the same naming as the product id. Photos can also be taken and linked to products through the iPina app, and finally they can be uploaded through the product upload using url links.
In the Assign step the admin user assigns tasks to users, i.e. this is where the admin decides who will participate giving their opinions, and in what way. There are several ways a user can be invited to give their opinions, e.g. scoring, ranking, numbers or thumbs up/down. After assigning the users, they can be notified through an email alert sent from the application. The email template can be customized in the Settings page. Users can also be notified using sms.
A product’s demand profile -- which captures both the expected demand and the degree of demand uncertainty -- is the foundation for making quantity decisions. The votes are combined with forecasts for total demand for a product category and how dispersed the
demands within the product category tends to be. This is done by using the built-in analytics tools. This is the final step in our Entry-version, and the results from the process can be exported in this step, providing valuable information and data for a purchase meeting.
The Store step is where products are allocated to stores. Based on the collected opinions and the following analysis, the more attractive products can be prioritized for a broader distribution and vice versa. In addition to the distribution of the product, launch date and end date will affect the potential sales, hence this is another adjustment that the admin can do in the Store page.
In the Order step demand is converted into a final purchase figure. By combining a product’s demand profile with its financial parameters, the system will propose a quantity that balances the implications of buying too little with the implications of buying too much. The admin user can run different what-if scenarios and look at the financials before a final decision is made.
The In-season screen is a powerful analytical module that helps identifying problems early in the season, still in time to take actions like markdowns or re-buys, either on product or more aggregated levels. Forecasts and actual order quantities are uploaded to the system before the season starts, and the module is fed with fresh sales transactions once the season starts.
The Post-season step is the final step of our process; it’s time to learn from the past season and find areas for improvement for the next planning cycle. From our experience, companies are getting better and better the more experience they gain, and spending some time analyzing what really happened compared to the pre-season efforts is an important part of the learning and improving experience.
