Our Inventory Solution, or RMS, becomes the system of record for all transactions affecting the location or value of inventory. It incorporates, as subsystems, our solutions for Supplier, Store, Warehouse, and Promotion. It works hand in hand with our Information Solution and Planning Solutions. And it includes all the tools to integrate EDI, shipping rules, scanning, and mobile devices.
Our Unified Inventory Solution has everything a mid-sized retailer needs to run its business in a modern, efficient manner. This requires a unified and modular architecture designed so you can enhance your current technology without the disruption of a major conversion. In today’s digital world, modern omni-channel retailers’ back-office inventory control software must interact dynamically with the digital world. Our modular architecture is the primary reason more than three hundred retail chains employ our software to manage their largest asset -- inventory. Plus, they benefit from a common way to log in, approach security, navigate menus, interact with entity tables, and common look and feel.
Even year-to-year summary comparison can be misleading for retailers working with an ancient merchandise classification scheme. We, of course, fully support whatever merchandise and location hierarchies pre-exist us. But, because of the rich attribution of our product and location tables, the software supports more insightful categorizations. These can illuminate Good-Better-Best pricing strategies, brand, seasonality, and themes.
It comes with an innate capability to maintain dynamic interactions with the solutions we provide for Store, Supplier and Warehouse. This means that perpetual inventories update shortly after sales occur, shipments arrive, digital orders are fulfilled, or merchandise leaves the warehouse. If a client utilizes SAP or Aptos and many others, we are fully integrated, thus enabling our clients to gradually transition to our less expensive software.
Our inventory solution enables retailers to share inventory across channels. This is because our EDI Integration module enables full integration with leading eCommerce platforms such as Magento and Shopify. This means that each channel is no longer protecting its position with reserved stock.
In their rush to exploit digital commerce, mid-sized retailers have set up silos that cause all kinds of internal friction. With our E-commerce Integration module, you eliminate the disrupted information flows and disjointed processes. Now our Inventory Solution and E-commerce platform, especially with Magento and Shopify, share the same information about Customers, Products, Locations, and Prices. We provide all the support needed for Order fulfillment: picking, packing, validation, and shipping. Tracking the order all the way to the Customer is fully automated, with updates provided to the E-commerce customer portal. The customer order records combine with the Brick and Mortar selling to enable everyone in the organization to gain clarity on their shoppers’ digital transition.
Additional benefits are derived when our solutions work side-by-side with planning software from ANT USA. This software pushes top-down plans down to the item store level. So, we can consistently alert our users when inventory levels get out of step with the buying teams’ intentions.
Our Inventory Solution utilizes time-tested algorithms to keep local stock within the bounds of minimums and maximums set by demand. With these tools, merchants are learning how to hold back reserve stock so that the best-selling locations are dynamically restocked and the worst avoid inventory buildups.
For fashion and seasonal goods, our Inventory Solution includes sophisticated user-driven allocation algorithms that model historical selling patterns of similar goods. When inventory is short, the tool enables the informed user to set up prioritization rules for any level in the merchandise hierarchy. For sized merchandise, the Allocation ensures all locations receive full-size runs. These techniques usually result in optimum initial assortments and more robust in-season fill-ins. These improvements increase turnover, reduced distress markdowns, and better customer loyalty.
We recognize user interactions with our software must also be dynamic. That is why you can undertake all transactions and queries with Android-powered devices as well as browser-driven desktops. Store Operations, Buyers, and retail execs are constantly on the road. So, with our Solutions you are never out of touch or face catch-up when back in the office. It also means that scanners capture encoded data with any movement of goods. You eliminate tedious data entry and always know the physical location of every parcel and carton.
The Purchase Order Management Module is not solely for data entry purposes, but as an intuitive tool for buyers to build the most intelligent orders possible. This includes access to the supplier catalog and pre-loading all vendor information, discount rules, and routing instructions. The software includes intelligent techniques to distribute quantities according to size, color, and location within open-to-buy constraints and according to the assortment plan. Buyers streamline vendor communication through EDI and their vendor portal.
Our inventory Solution does an excellent job tracking margin erosion from POS discounting, coupons, promotions, shrinkage, and distress markdowns. In fact, our Inventory Solution tracks margin with all the rigor that accompanies unit control. Retail prices can be set in multiple currencies. When it is time for clearance markdowns, our solution easily accommodates setting up your progressive markdown schedule automatically linked to POS and eCommerce. A weighted average cost metric tracks every product’s acquisition costs as they inflate or deflate. These techniques provide a much more discerning look at gross margin at the level where you can take corrective action.
The solution also includes a Promotional Markdown program enabling you to select and schedule the affected locations, channels, and items. We support all the typical promotional schemes (BOGO, etc.), including kits and price packages. The Promotion module memorializes transactions during the promo period. This enables you to develop the discipline to drill down to learn about traffic drivers, companion purchases, cross-channel collaboration, and store performance. With insights like these, you create more effective promotions.
