SOLUTIONS
Retail Store Allocation
Retail Allocation Elevated:
Match Inventory to Local Demand Profiles
PartnerLinQ's Retail Store Allocation solution is the critical execution tool that ensures every new product investment is maximized from day one. We move beyond simple distribution methods to provide precise, data-driven initial allocation, guaranteeing the right mix of products reaches the right customer segments and store locations at launch.
PartnerLinQ provides complete ecosystem that delivers on this vision through four core capability pillars:
End-to-End
Connectivity
Seamlessly integrate finalized allocation plans with Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) and fulfillment partners for rapid, error-free execution.
Unified Data
Model
Allocation decisions use the same centralized data for store clusters, size curves, and forecasts, ensuring full alignment with strategic planning.
AI-Driven
Intelligence
Leverage AI to optimize size curves based on local sales history, ensuring precise SKU-level allocation accuracy.
Composability & Flexibility
The modular architecture supports the quick configuration of complex allocation rules and constraints (e.g., pre-packs, minimum presentation quantities).
Industries
- Retail & Consumer Goods
- Apparel & Footwear
- Speciality & Accessories
Features & Capabilities
PartnerLinQ provides a powerful set of features to define rules, optimize inventory distribution, and execute precise initial allocations across complex store footprints.
Cluster-Based Allocation: Apply distinct allocation rules and quantities based on the pre-defined store clusters from Assortment Planning, maximizing local relevance.
Size-Curve Optimization: Utilize AI/ML to generate optimized size curves for each cluster, ensuring SKU-level quantities are precise to local size demand.
Initial Allocation Rules: Configure detailed rules for launch, including min/max presentation quantities, pre-pack requirements, and allocation based on Weeks of Supply (WOS).
Dynamic Objective-Based Allocation Engine: Objectives based allocations engine intelligently adjusts allocations quantities in real time based on desired business objectives like maximizing sales, margin, service levels, or logistics efficiency while honoring business rules and operational constraints.
New Store Allocation Logic: Define specific allocation strategies for new or un-clustered stores using attribute-based matching or manual override capabilities.
Shared Allocation Workbooks: Provide a single environment for Planners and Merchandising to review, validate, and sign off on initial allocation quantities.
Rule Conflict Resolution: Automated tools highlight conflicts between allocation rules and available inventory, facilitating faster resolution and adherence to constraints.
Transparent Constraint Management: Clear visibility into the inventory constraints (e.g., vendor delivery, OTB limits) that influence the final allocation numbers.
Allocation Accuracy Tracking: Monitor key metrics like Initial Allocation Accuracy % and Inventory Transfer Reduction %.
Mark Down Reductions:Helps measure how effectively the your business minimizes revenue loss from price reductions when right product mix reaches the right locations for the right customer segments.
Performance Benchmarking: Analyze Sell-Through % (Initial 4 Weeks) by store cluster against allocation rules to continuously refine launch strategy.
AI-Driven Suggestions: Receive prescriptive recommendations for adjusting allocation quantities or size curves based on early demand sensing signals.
User Experience
The user experience for Allocation Planning simplifies the complex logistics of inventory distribution, enabling planners to execute precise shipments rapidly.
Visual Cluster Mapping: An interactive map or dashboard that visually displays how inventory is distributed across store clusters and regions.
Side-by-Side Allocation & Rule View: Allows planners to see the suggested allocation quantity next to the underlying rules (size curve, cluster WOS target) that generated it.
Min–Max & Assortments Interface: An interactive interface to adjust and set store-level min-max thresholds and assortment rules to balance availability and inventory rise
Product Versioning Management: Link old and new SKUs to ensure smooth product transitions and continuous demand visibility.
Dynamic Grid Interface: Interactive Grid to override store-wise quantities by size directly in an interactive grid for fast, precise allocation adjustments.
Generative AI Insights: GenAI provides narrative summaries explaining why a suggested allocation was calculated (e.g., "Store A received 20 units based on a 75% Sell-Through forecast and Cluster B's localized size profile").
Natural Language Query (NLQ): Use PartnerLinQ.IQ to ask, "Show me the allocation accuracy for the 'Fast Fashion' category in the Northeast region for the last launch."
Autonomous Allocation Generation: The platform automatically calculates the suggested initial allocation based on defined rules and forecasts, requiring planners only to review and approve exceptions.
Allocation Strategy: Apply flexible ROS/WOS time windows and strategies to tailor allocation calculations logic by class, categories collections, and product lines.
One-Click PO-to-Allocation: Seamlessly transition the final Buy Plan into a detailed allocation plan with a single action, accelerating the speed from buy commitment to execution.
Implementation Advantage
Our agile implementation focuses on rapidly integrating your store clustering and sizing data, ensuring your first product launch is optimized for success.
Agile Business Process Mapping: We utilize prebuilt templates optimized for initial allocation strategies, ensuring rapid configuration of your specific allocation rules, size profiles, and new store logic.
Streamlined Data Onboarding: Integration capabilities accelerate the ingestion of critical data: finalized buy quantities, store segmentation, and localized size curves, which are essential for precise SKU-level allocation.
Configurable Security & Control: : Implementation ensures tight governance over the allocation process, including role-based controls for approving final shipment quantities and overriding automated rules.
Expert Guidance & Self-Service: Our consulting team provides comprehensive enablement focused on training your planners to manage size-curve optimization and exception-based allocation, fostering continuous improvement in launch execution.
End Result & Business Benefit
PartnerLinQ’s Allocation solution directly translates planning accuracy into sales performance, optimizing your launch strategy and minimizing operational waste.
Maximized Sales at Launch: Achieves a high Sell-Through % (Initial 4 Weeks) by ensuring the right product quantity and size are available in the most receptive stores from day one.
Reduced Operational Cost: A significant Inventory Transfer Reduction % minimizes the costly and time-consuming movement of misplaced stock between stores.
Inventory Efficiency: High Initial Allocation Accuracy % reduces the need for early markdowns caused by stock imbalances.
Strategic Alignment: Guarantees that the merchandising strategy (Assortment Plan) is perfectly executed at the tactical store level.
Higher Full-Price Sell-Through: Maximizes full-price sell-through by aligning initial allocations with true store-level demand, reducing early markdown dependency.
Stock-to-Sales Ratio (STS): Optimizes stock-to-sales ratios by keeping inventory levels proportional to actual sales velocity.
Pricing Model
PartnerLinQ provides overall business value and the industry specific cutting technology solutions for both current and future needs. We offer a modern pricing model that provides predictability and transparency, empowering your business to invest with confidence.
Tiered, Usage-Based Pricing: Our model is simple and transparent. You only pay for the tier that matches your actual transaction volume each month, so you are only ever paying for what you use.
Unified & Transparent Cost: Our unified pricing covers all core capabilities—including integration, data processing, the planning application, and the embedded AI—eliminating hidden costs.
Simplified Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): By consolidating all key functions into a single, usage-based model, we eliminate the hidden costs of managing multiple vendors and disparate systems, ensuring your investment delivers both immediate and sustainable business value.
PartnerLinQ gives you the precision, agility, and control to turn seasonal volatility into a competitive advantage.
Contact us to schedule a demo and see the difference.
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