AI for retail merchandising
The POS exports, syndicated extracts and planning workbooks already in your folder are enough. Ultramarine Work turns them into the open-to-buy, the allocations, the markdown plan and the line review deck for Monday’s trade meeting.
Patio-markdown-memo.docxExampleMarkdown Plan: Patio Sets, Weeks 36–46
Recommendation
Take the planned 25% markdown on all 1,840 patio sets in week 36, then the second step to 50% in week 41. The first step costs $368,000 in markdown dollars and should sell 760 units by week 40 at a 36.7% margin. The second step costs $216,000 on the 1,080 units left.
Risk to the plan
At 50% off, each set sells for $400 against a $380 cost, so the second step leaves a 5.0% margin. If weeks 36 to 40 sell fewer than 600 units, more than 1,240 will be left at week 41 and will not clear by week 46. In that case we will ask Brookline Outdoor for markdown money on the remainder.
CheckedThe 1,840 on hand ties to the week 35 stock ledger, and vendor funding is not yet confirmed.
How it works
- 1
Start from the trade folder
Fill it with what you already keep: POS and merchandising system exports, syndicated extracts, the WSSI or OTB workbook, size curves, planogram reports, PO status and the signed deal sheets, saved as they leave your systems.
- 2
Ask in merchandising terms
It reworks the WSSI with formulas you can trace, calculates the chase, spreads the prepacks across doors and sizes the markdown ladder. The files come back in Excel, Word, PowerPoint or PDF, laid out like your current ones.
- 3
You draw the cut line
Formulas stay live in the workbook cells, and any markdown or chase number traces back to your own exports. You check the work and decide the buy, the markdown and the cuts.
Ask it for
“Build the week 44 bedding review: sales, cover and markdown percent against plan and last year, and show every item 15% or more behind the expected curve.”
Wk44-bedding-review.xlsx“Sales in spring knitwear are running 12% ahead of plan and cover is down to 3 weeks. Rebuild the open-to-buy and tell me what I can still chase.”
Spring-knitwear-OTB.xlsx“Allocate the 350 cotton-tee prepacks across the 96 A- and B-grade doors on size curves corrected for out-of-stock weeks, and list any broken size runs.”
Tee-prepack-allocation.xlsx“Patio sets go 25% off in week 36 and 50% in week 41. Draft the markdown memo for the DMM with units left and margin cost at each step.”
Patio-markdown-memo.docx“Assemble the canned soup line review deck with velocity per door per week against category average, space against market share and my keep, cut, expand calls.”
Soup-line-review-deck.pptx“A retailer took a $41,000 markdown-money deduction. Match it to the signed deal sheet and the scan data, and list every line worth disputing.”
Md-money-deduction-audit.xlsx
Inside the Retail Merchandising mode
Merchandise planning and allocation
Runs the WSSI and the open-to-buy through the season, raises the chase when sales beat plan and divides each intake across doors and size runs.
Assortment and space planning
Sets option counts and depth by store cluster so the range reconciles to the plan, and draws planograms with facings that cover days of supply in case packs.
Markdown and promotion planning
Plans the markdown ladder with the depth and margin effect of every step, and checks former-price comparisons against the FTC pricing guides and state rules.
Syndicated and POS data analysis
Turns Circana and Nielsen exports or retailer POS into promo lift, velocity per point of distribution, share and where the volume actually came from.
Trade promotion and vendor funding
Forecasts lift and ROI for a promo event, then matches the markdown money and billbacks against the signed terms before anyone pays.
Price elasticity and benchmarking
Strips promotion, seasonality and distribution out of scan data to isolate price response, and benchmarks your prices on a volume-weighted competitor basket.
Landed cost and tariff exposure
Builds landed cost from the MFN rate, Chapter 99 layers, MPF, HMF, freight and brokerage, and shows what a new tariff does to unit cost and the buy.
Demand forecasting and planning
Baselines demand, adjusts for promotions and new lines, and measures WMAPE, bias and forecast value added to judge whether your overrides helped.
Inventory policy and performance
Calculates safety stock and reorder points by door, and reviews turns, days on hand and stockouts to move excess before it becomes markdown.
Supply chain KPI scorecard
Scores suppliers on OTIF, fill rate and ASN accuracy to definitions both sides agreed in advance, built for the quarterly business review.
- Office skills
- Excel, Word, PowerPoint, PDF
- Tools
- Read, edit and write files, Search files, Run code, Search and read the web, View images
- Connectors
- SharePoint, Google Drive, Gmail, and additional custom connectors
- House style
- Your fonts, layouts and rules, on every file
Who it’s for
Retail buyers and merchants, merchandise planners, allocators, replenishment and planogram analysts and retail category managers.
Questions
Can I run it on my NielsenIQ or Circana exports?
You can, if the license you signed allows it. NielsenIQ’s terms permit generative AI on its data only for internal purposes, in a secure environment that prevents data leakage, and Circana restricts its data to internal use. Ultramarine Work sits in a folder on your computer, and the content goes to Paper Instruments’ servers, where the model runs. Your compliance team and the syndicator decide whether that fits your license, so ask before an export goes in the folder.
Will it decide what to cut at the line review?
The buyer decides, and the tool only prepares the analysis. It ranks the items on velocity, days of supply and margin, including the case for keeping something that sits below the line. The accept list, the discontinue list and the vendor conversation stay with you.
How do I know its numbers are right?
You check them rather than take them on faith. Every figure cites the file it came from, and anything it could not reconcile is noted instead of guessed. You review every file it touched before anything reaches the trade meeting.
Are our was/now price claims safe to advertise?
Not automatically, but it builds was/now comparisons against the FTC deceptive pricing guides (16 CFR Part 233) and your state’s pricing rules, and marks anything the price history does not support. The claim rests on the former price being genuine, openly offered for a reasonably substantial period, so keep the sales record with the plan. Sign-off on advertising copy belongs to you and your legal team.
What happens to our vendor cost files and deal terms?
Ultramarine Work changes files only in the project’s folder. When a request needs it, it can read files elsewhere on your computer, never passwords, keys or app data, and you can turn that off in settings. The model runs on Paper Instruments’ servers, so the content it works on is sent there to be processed. Paper Instruments is SOC 2 Type II, and our security and compliance details are on our compliance page.