Stop Reconciling Files.
Start Managing the Season.
Merchandise planners at apparel brands spend the most valuable weeks of the planning calendar managing disconnected files instead of managing the season. OTB, assortment, buy plan, and allocation live in separate spreadsheets — connected by manual reconciliation that breaks every time something changes.
RetailNorthstar connects OTB, assortment, buy planning, and allocation in a single model. When something changes, the plan updates — not the reconciliation queue.
The planning work that consumes the most time adds the least value
Every hour spent on file reconciliation, version control, and formula repairs is an hour not spent analyzing performance, identifying carry-over candidates, or managing in-season signals.
Pre-season reconciliation takes days, not hours
The week before line review, you are manually cross-checking OTB against the assortment plan against the buy quantities — in three separate files. Formulas break. Someone updated a tab and forgot to tell you. You find the error at 10pm the night before the meeting.
OTB updates don't cascade — you have to chase them
When a style gets cut or a depth target changes, the OTB file doesn't update automatically. You have to catch it, recalculate the period-level receipt plan, update the summary tab, and then re-send the file to the buying team. Meanwhile, they're still working from the previous version.
Carry-over decisions are made from memory, not data
Prior-season sell-through is buried in a separate hindsight file — if it was built at all. When the carry-over decision window opens, you're pulling data from two seasons ago because last season's hindsight still hasn't been finalized. Carry-over criteria end up being judgment calls instead of data-driven decisions.
In-season, you're always one step behind
Sell-through updates come from a weekly exports, sometimes with a 5-day lag. By the time you see that a key style is tracking 20 points below plan, the markdown window has narrowed and reallocation isn't possible. You're reporting on history instead of managing the season.
Built for how merchandise planners actually work
How RetailNorthstar fits into your season
Questions from merchandise planners
How long does it take to migrate from spreadsheets to RetailNorthstar?
Most merchandise planning teams are live in weeks. The onboarding process starts with your current OTB structure — we map your department hierarchy, period calendar, and existing size curves into the platform. Historical sell-through data is imported for the hindsight layer. The buying team can be working in the live system before the next line review.
Does RetailNorthstar replace the Excel files or integrate with them?
RetailNorthstar replaces the planning file stack — OTB file, assortment file, buy plan, allocation tracker. It does not integrate with or sync to Excel files. The goal is one connected model, not a better-linked spreadsheet. Teams that have tried the hybrid approach (keeping spreadsheets but syncing data to a system) find the reconciliation overhead is similar to the original problem.
How does RetailNorthstar handle the carry-over decision process?
Carry-over candidates are evaluated against configurable thresholds — minimum STR%, margin contribution, size availability. Prior-season performance data for each carry-over candidate is visible inline during the assortment review. Styles that meet the threshold are flagged for continuation; those that don't are marked for replacement. The result is a carry-over decision log that's data-backed, not a list of style numbers someone wrote down.
Built for how merchandise planners work.
See how RetailNorthstar connects OTB, assortment, buy planning, and allocation — with a rapid onboarding that starts with your existing season structure.