It’s easy to say we’re in the middle of a retail revolution. So much is changing in the shopping landscape, consumer habits have changed radically - there’s so many options and so much sophistication.

But behind the scenes, it’s just not the case. 

When I started in retail over 20 years ago - and throughout my career at big fashion names, including Gucci, Prada and Coach - I experienced first-hand the manual processes powering planning and inventory management. 

Now, as a consultant I’m exposed to more and more brands across the retail industry, and I can tell you: not much has changed in almost a quarter of a century - it's shocking.

Welcome to Jurassic Park

It’s like the dinosaur age out there. Despite the innovative technology available, retailers just aren’t investing. The evolution of the industry isn’t keeping pace with the innovation within it - that surprises and disappoints me. 

We have so many great tools now and a knowledge base for solving our long-suffered inventory management pain points. It's almost like we have no excuses.

So why do retailers continue to make them?

Is it cost? Potential disruption? A lack of ambition? Risk aversion? I’m sure all of these contribute in some way to clouding judgment… but when it’s profit or perish, there’s no room for unclear thinking. Frankly, retailers just need to be more open to innovation. 

AI is here and it’s just getting started. This is the new revolution. Nothing’s ever been this big. Not social media, not e-commerce - the internet, maybe.  But in the wise words of Deepak Chopra, there is great turmoil before great change, like water before it begins to boil.  Artificial intelligence is a tool for augmented human intelligence.

It’s time to embrace it and figure out how it can facilitate, support, and augment inventory management because if not, you're losing out, and you are leaving money on the table.

Prehistoric perceptions of planners

The reality for many planning teams has always been manual processes, massive workloads and needing more hours than you have in a day. 

I remember in one of my first big planning roles, I ended up going to the doctor with a twitch in my eye that I just wouldn’t stop. She said that my brain was working faster than my body - I think that was her way of saying I was too stressed out.

The issue with planning is that there's very few people that actually really fully understand planning organization. It’s not understood so, as a result, it’s not strategically or financially supported.

Of course, business leaders know that planners are smart and they certainly do a lot. But maybe it's just the intricacies are so complicated and the touch points are so detailed that they have a hard time understanding exactly what planners actually do. 

So much more could be delivered in terms of sales and profit if brands invested in the planning team, process and system. Thankfully, there are some brands who’ve made the connection between empowering planning teams and soaring profits.

The greatest leaders I’ve experienced understand the value of the planning department, know its capacity, and maximize and support the team. These are the enlightened few, and as a result they get a great outcome. 

Here’s three ways they do it.

How retailers increase profits by empowering planners

1. Make planners active decision makers 

No one should be making a move without involving planners in the big decisions, whether that’s a new e-commerce platform, ERP system or even marketing activity, especially these days in the digital shopping era.

For a long time it's been on planners, as individuals, to command this authority, to speak up and say, “look, I know my stuff, I can help”. But brands can start to reap the rewards much quicker by proactively involving their planning team in key business decisions.

2. Invest in an inventory management tool

I’m amazed more retail brands haven’t identified the massive opportunities provided by an inventory management tool to generate a competitive advantage, save money, increase profits, and boost sustainability. 

I get it, budget is finite. You can’t run a business without an ERP system, right? You can't run a business without a POS solution, right?

It's just not possible.

These things are infrastructure. If you don't have it, you don’t have a business. 

But you can run a business without an automated planning system. That's a fact. You can do it in Excel and do it all manually. It’s possible. 

So when it comes to prioritization of funds, there’s a safe rationale for not investing. 

But this is short-sighted and leaves money - and serious amounts of it - on the table. We’re talking about something that can directly impact profitability. If that’s not ticking your prioritization points, then maybe it’s time to go back to the drawing board.

3. Hire (and develop) dedicated planners

Another area that brands are failing to invest in is the headcount itself. 

It’s common to see planners embedded in everything - which sounds great, but they’re often pulled from pillar to post and expected to deliver across a hybrid role, such as merchant/planner, analyst/planner… the list goes on. 

By taking this approach retailers are not just getting less out of hybrid planners in the short term, but stifling the development of genuine planning experts in the long term.

Empowering planners to navigate retailers out of the dinosaur age

Planners are not seen as the rock stars of retail. So much of what they’re perceived to do behind the scenes is just diligent plugging away at complex spreadsheets.

So the huge impact these teams can make on a brand’s profitability is being completely overlooked.

Declining profits across the industry loom large like an asteroid hurtling towards dinosaur retailers threatening their complete extinction.

But by correctly setting up, deploying and empowering planning teams retailers can not just escape this existential crisis, but thrive despite it.

This is the sixth post in our latest Profit or Perish series where we uncover the key retail trends that’ll dominate 2025 according to the hottest names in retail. Watch this space for more predictions coming soon.