How to Smart Replenishment

Smart Replenishment is the IT-topic in the fashion industry. During our yearly exhibition visits and in recent media coverage, one thing became clear: the importance of a strong in-season management has never been more evident. Both brands and retailers are recognizing its crucial role for staying competitive.

But what even is Smart Replenishment? And how does it work? No worries if you are new to the game, we’ve got you covered.

What is Smart Replenishment?

Smart Replenishment is the ‘new’ approach to inventory management. Imagine combining advanced data analysis, product behavior insights, demand forecasts and smart algorithms, with the latest technologies e.g. AI like Machine Learning and Cloud Computing – voilà, you have Smart Replenishment.

Instead of wasting time in front of endless Excel sheets, Smart Replenishment takes care of the heavy lifting. It makes millions of micro-decisions every day, adjusts targets dynamically and sends out replenishment orders automatically (or chooses not to replenish if it isn’t necessary).

Why is that better than the traditional replenishment?

Traditional replenishment, also called static replenishment or 1-to-1 replenishment, is simple: you sell one, you replenish one. But this isn’t ideal. Sometimes you should replenish more or not replenish at all. But making these decisions for each option, in each size and each color manually is impossible. Smart Replenishment makes these decisions for you!

The result?

• Save time: Focus on high-impact tasks while the solution does the miniscule work.
• Increased turnover: Always have the right product, at the right place, to the right price and time.
• Reduced overstock: Always have enough, but never too much.

But is this really a new concept? Not for us. At Chainbalance we are truly replenishment experts and have been perfecting our solution ‘Smart Supply’ for twenty years and are continuing to improve it each quarter to offer you the best possible solution.

Let’s dive into the details of Smart Replenishment.

1. How does Smart Replenishment work?

Smart Replenishment relies on real-time data, smart algorithms, and cutting-edge technologies to automate inventory management. Here’s a breakdown:

Data collection and integration Smart Replenishment starts by gathering data from multiple sources: historical and real-time sales, current stock levels, on-hand, promotions, seasonal patterns, and product behavior. This comprehensive data integration provides a 360-degree view of inventory demand.

Our system seamlessly integrates with your ERP, making onboarding worry-free. Want to know more about our integration process? Check out this article: Are complicated implementations still up-to-date?

Demand forecasting

Smart Supply analyzes past trends and predicts future demand with impressive accuracy. This ensures optimal target levels for better sell-through rates.

Automated replenishment orders

The solution makes millions of micro decisions daily, calculates replenishment needs and automatically places orders at the perfect time. No more guesswork - always have the right product, at the right time and place.

Dynamic decision-making

The algorithm adjusts the target levels as needed. If Smart Supply detects higher demand, it increases the targets to ensure optimal sell out. If it detects a lower demand, it decreases targets to avoid overstocking.

Continuous optimization

The solution constantly monitors sales and adjust replenishment orders in real-time, keeping stock levels agile and responsive to changing market demands.

2. Why is Smart Replenishment a game-changer for the fashion industry?

The fashion industry faces unique challenges like seasonal trends, fast-changing customer demand, and unpredictable demand. Here’s how Smart Replenishment addresses these pain points:

Reduced overstock and waste: Excess inventory is a major concern for fashion brands and their partners. Smart Replenishment minimizes this by ensuring stock levels match actual demand, replenishing only what is expected to sell!

Enhanced customer satisfaction: With the right products available at the right time, customers are less likely to experience frustrating out-of-stock situations.

Improved operational efficiency: Automating the replenishment process allows your team to focus on strategic tasks rather than manual effort, while freeing your retailer of hours in the B2B portal. 80% of manual effort can be saved by implementing Smart Replenishment.

Better sales performance: Maintaining the right stock levels impacts turnover, reducing lost sales and maximizing revenue.

3. Key features of our Smart Replenishment Solution

Next to Smart Replenishment, our SaaS solution offers a comprehensive range of merchandise management modules, covering both pre-season and in-season management:

• Reporting: Upgrade your transparency with in-depth insights, KPI’s, reporting, store and product insights.

• Smart PO Forecast: Accurate purchase order forecasting for your NOS articles. Available for fashion articles soon.

• Smart Initial Allocation: Optimal first distribution of new products.

• Smart Event Planning: Plan your events according to demand and without distrupting your daily operations and replenishment afterwards.

• Smart Order Proposals: Automatically send order proposals to your retailers, including detailed product insights.

• Smart Recommendations: Get recommendations for missing best-sellers, missing sizes or non-sellers to optimize your store assortment.

• Smart Store Transfers: Transfer missing products from one store to another. Our AI-based model will find the best transfer combinations, balancing costs with sales potential and CO2-Emissions, assessing the fewest but most efficient transfers needed.

4. Why Chainbalance Smart Replenishment?

Of course there are many other replenishment solutions on the market. But why is Chainbalance Smart Replenishment the best?

Get started with Smart Replenishment!

Are you ready to revolutionize your inventory management? Schedule a noncommittal discovery call with our experts to learn more about how our Smart Replenishment solution can transform your business. Get your Smart Replenishment Demo today!