Goose Fraser

For retailers, the holiday season can bring some of the busiest and most valuable trading weeks of the year, but it can also put pressure on almost every part of the business at once. Inventory needs to be planned, stocked and on the shelves before the rush begins. Staff need to be ready for higher transaction volumes and more complicated customer requests. All while managers prep marketing campaigns, store displays and fulfillment processes.

Open-to-buy (OTB) is an inventory budgeting strategy that determines exactly how much merchandise a retailer can purchase over a specific period to meet forecasted sales targets without overstocking. When you are scaling a multi-location business, relying on gut feelings for your purchasing budget usually leads to tied-up cash and dead stock.

Product cannibalization occurs when a new release reduces the sales volume or revenue of your existing merchandise rather than capturing new market share. You might think you are expanding your reach, but you are actually just shifting your current customers from one item to another. We’ll look at exactly why this happens, how to calculate your cannibalization rate and the manage Grow your retail business. Streamline inventory, suppliers, teams and stores with Lightspeed's all-in-one platform.