Why Integrated Business Planning is a retailer’s most potent weapon

Oct. 9, 2014 - PRLog -- The paper explains how Integrated Business Planning (IBP) is the surest way for retailers to not just survive but flourish in the rapidly changing retail climate.

Across Asia Pacific retailers are experiencing huge fluctuations in demand. Australia retail sales were up just 0.1% in August despite an expected 0.4% increase, Hong Kong’s political upheaval has cost retailers an estimated $2BN Hong Kong Dollars, and Singapore experienced year-on-year retail increase by 5.5% in July despite food and beverage sales falling by 1.6%. Companies need to not only cope with demand volatility but adapt to meet changes too: retail convergence, the rise of digital and social media, and shifting consumer preferences. This white paper tackles the tough questions retail executives are asking: How to reduce inventory while offering a broader product range to customers; how to reduce store sizes while encouraging in-store visits; and what impact these changes will have on demand plans, supply chain fulfilment, and ultimately financial goals.

The paper is co-authored by Oliver Wight Asia Pacific Managing Partner, Mike Reed and Oliver Wight America Principal Ron Ireland, who between them have worked with some of the world’s leading global retailers including Wal-Mart and Coles.

Reed explains the need for IBP: “With growing competition from overseas, as well as closer to home, the increase in omni-channel retailing, the rising customer preference for online shopping, and ever strong demand for lower cost products matched with better service, incremental change is not enough. Retailers need a transformational change to ensure their business models are up to scratch to fit the new retail climate.”

Integrated Business Planning – the business model that provides a holistic view of the business over 24 to 36 month horizon – delivers the perfect platform for retailers to innovate, predict new trends, and respond positively to changing conditions in plenty of time. And, with its enormous powers in business decision-making, integrating IBP across the supply chain will drive true collaboration with manufacturers. “It’s the ultimate competitive tool and industry protection strategy,” says Reed.

But the true benefits come from linking IBP – the leading internal management strategy, with Collaborative Planning Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR®) – the leading external collaboration tool. Ron Ireland, a global pioneer in Retail IBP and widely recognised as one of the fathers of CPFR®, explains the benefit of linking the two: “Retailers will find themselves in a stronger position still; able to fend off industry uncertainty, and equipped to handle changing consumer habits, global competition and the need for constant innovation,” Ireland concludes.

Download ‘Integrated Business Planning: Retail’s Therapy’ here: http://www.oliverwightasiapacific.com/en-GB/library-event...