Optimizing Product Distribution with New DTC Forecasting and Planning Solution

The latest in retail innovation: 7thonline introduces Test Buy, a game-changing direct-to-consumer (DTC) forecasting and planning solution—powered by 7thonline Lab’s machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI). The Test Buy module empowers retail professionals to make smart merchandising decisions by capturing the latest consumer trends and recommending inventory to specific retail locations. Analyze inventory demand to eliminate the need to commit to large initial buys, drive margins, and optimize product distribution by strategically allocating inventory. 

Developed in collaboration with a long-term client, Test Buy’s cutting-edge features effectively address inventory risk and enhance retail processes to advance inventory management at the style, color, size, and door level. The module’s ability to forecast and recommend based on two data points (days/weeks) empowers retail decision-making teams to allocate inventory to brick-and-mortar locations with the highest propensity to sell at full price. Utilizing ML & AI, Test Buy extracts meaningful information and predicts consumer behaviors to improve the retail forecasting, planning, and management process.

Industry analysts estimate that, on average, 60% of traditional initial buys are unproductive— resulting in missed sales targets, shrinking margins, and forced markdowns. Test Buy mitigates risk by delivering visibility to productive and unproductive inventory situations, prompting smart decision making regarding overstock, stock outs, omnichannel allocation mismanagement, and beyond. Retail and supply chain industries are undergoing a dramatic shift where industry leaders are placing more importance on data, data science, and software to gain a competitive edge. One of 7thonline’s client partners has already seen a 35% increase in gross margins after implementing Test Buy recommendations.  

Fully integrated within our Open-to-Buy (OTB) module, the Test Buy dashboard provides necessary data that allows retailers to:

• Evaluate initial test store effectiveness

• Expand store count based on a sophisticated clustering algorithm 

• Determine optimal quantity for the initial and expansion store locations

• Calculate each location’s size profiles based on current trend 

7thonline’s continuous dedication to innovation and R&D brings the most cutting-edge, cloud-native solutions to life. The introduction of Test Buy continues to transform the way retailers and wholesalers are making merchandising decisions. The Test Buy module further enhances those processes to optimize inventory management at the style, color, size, and door level; using AI and ML to forecast and recommend based on two data points (days / weeks) allows the retail decision making teams to allocate inventory to the locations with the highest probability to sell the product at full price. Spanning across all key channels—retail, wholesale, and ecommerce—7thonline utilizes the power of integration to understand consumer demand, react to emerging trends, and drive revenue and margin growth.

To learn more about our suite of cloud-native solutions, email us at info@7thonline.com or request a demo.