Presented by Karnan Associates
Placing the order is the easy part. Knowing what to do once the product hits the floor is where buying gets hard. Too often, buyers set their plan and then lose visibility until it’s time to reorder or mark down – missing signals that could have prevented a sell-through problem, unnecessary markdowns, missed sales, or aged inventory.
In this 45-minute session, Ben Anderson of Karnan Associates walks through a practical framework for what effective buying management should look like throughout the selling cycle. Using a small set of core KPIs, Ben will show retailers how to drill down with purpose – looking both backward at sales and forward at the plan. In addition, two real-world case studies drawn from footwear, apparel, and accessories will bring the framework to life and show how the right questions lead to better buying decisions.
Attendees will learn how to:
- Drill down with purpose, moving from department-level questions to SKU – and size-level fixes
- Recognize when a class or SKU is under – or over-allocated, and determine the appropriate response
- Turn signals into action by knowing whether to reorder, chase, hold, or mark down
Attendees will leave with a handout mapping the full process, so the next time they sit down to evaluate a category, they know exactly where to start, what to look for, and what to do next.
