An Education In Back-To-School Sales

By Marriam Kinny, Oracle Retail

With the bulk of merchandise planning well behind us, this season now hinges on how well retailers manage the inventory that resides in stores and in the supply chain. Store by store, retailers will respond to opportunities to feature fullprice merchandise, replenish high-volume inventory, and mark down underperforming items. Consumers may spend a little more or less than expected, but the greatest variable impacting sales will be consumer response to competing offers and promotions when the mix of merchandise overlaps among mass merchants, consumer electronics, department store, and specialty retailers.