One Line, Two Planning Problems.
Soft Goods and Gear, Planned Together.
Outdoor merchandise planning software is planning software that models a mixed soft-goods and hard-goods line in one plan — size curves on the apparel portion, option and model logic on gear, dealer prebooks alongside DTC. RetailNorthstar is an apparel-first platform: our flagship customers are apparel brands, and the configurable data model that plans an apparel line is what an outdoor line would run on.
For outdoor and adventure brands, that means model-year carryover, counter-seasonal category OTB, and prebook-plus-DTC buys without forcing gear into an apparel-shaped workaround — or apparel into a gear-shaped one.
What makes outdoor planning uniquely hard
An outdoor line is really two lines wearing one brand: soft goods that plan like apparel and hard goods that plan like nothing else. Generic tools force one logic onto both — and the workarounds land on the planning team.
One line, two logics: soft goods and hard goods
Jackets and midlayers need size curves. Tents, packs, and stoves need option and model logic — capacities, volumes, fuel types — with no size dimension at all. One line plan has to carry both, and generic tools force a single logic onto everything.
Model-year transitions on gear
A spec update — new pack suspension, new pole architecture — ships as a new model year while the old spec sells down. Colorway refreshes are cheap; spec updates are not. Mistime the transition and you either strand old-spec inventory or starve the launch.
Dealer prebooks and seasonal order windows
Specialty retailers commit during prebook windows months before delivery — much like footwear key accounts — while DTC needs launch-day depth on the same styles. Two demand signals, one buy.
Counter-seasonal categories inside one OTB
Snow categories peak when summer categories trough, inside the same open-to-buy. A single seasonal curve averages both into noise — category-level seasonality is the only view that reflects how an outdoor line actually trades.
Technical materials and long lead times
Technical fabrication, lamination, and certifications push commitments out and make in-season reorder near-zero. The initial depth decision has to be right the first time.
MAP pricing and warranty stock
Markdown depth is constrained by MAP agreements, so clearance is not a free lever. And warranty and repair stock is a real inventory line most planning tools ignore entirely.
Where generic planning tools force workarounds
General retail planning platforms assume one hierarchy and one calendar. In RetailNorthstar, hierarchy, calendar, and channel structure are configurable — soft goods and gear plan on their own logic inside one model.
Line hierarchy
One product hierarchy forced onto soft goods and gear alike
Configurable hierarchy — style → option/model → SKU — apparel and gear each on their native structure
Planning calendar
A single seasonal reset applied to every category
Configurable calendar — model-year carryover on gear, seasonal reset on soft goods, side by side
Soft-goods buying
Units by style, with sizes maintained in a spreadsheet tab
Curve-based buying on soft goods — size curves on the apparel portion, pairs and size runs on the footwear portion
Seasonality in the OTB
One seasonal curve stretched across snow and summer
Category- and channel-level OTB in one model — each category carries its own seasonality
Old spec vs new model year
Sell-down and launch tracked in separate files, reconciled by hand
Carryover and newness logic — old-spec sell-down planned alongside the new model-year launch
Channel buys
A prebook workbook and a DTC plan that never quite agree
Channel-level buys — dealer prebooks and DTC launch depth roll into one plan per style
The outdoor planning workflow in one connected system
From category-level open-to-buy through channel-level allocation — prebooks, model years, counter-seasonal categories, and carryover in one model, not a set of reconciled spreadsheets.
OTB Planning
→Open-to-buy at category and channel level, so counter-seasonal categories each carry their own curve inside one budget.
Assortment Planning
→One line plan across soft goods and gear — size-curve depth on the apparel portion, option and model depth on gear.
Buying & Demand Planning
→Prebook commitments and DTC launch depth roll into one buy per style, sized against long technical-material lead times and near-zero reorder.
Allocation & Replenishment
→Allocation across dealers and DTC, with replenishment logic for carryover styles that outlive a single season.
Seasonal Planning
→Snow and summer order windows planned on their own calendars — seasonality set by category, not one line-wide curve.
Intelligence & AI Assistant
→AI-assisted depth and curve recommendations built from your own selling history — not general retail averages.
Where RetailNorthstar fits outdoor — honestly
Apparel is our flagship vertical. RetailNorthstar's customer base today is apparel brands, and we do not have outdoor customers or case studies to show you yet. We would rather say that plainly than invent proof.
What outdoor teams evaluate is the data model. The soft-goods side of your line — jackets, midlayers, baselayers — is apparel planning, and a footwear portion plans in pairs and size runs the way footwear brands plan. The gear side comes down to whether a configurable hierarchy and calendar — option/model structure, model-year carryover (see carry-forward), category-level OTB — fits your line. MAP constraints and warranty stock are handled as category-level structure in the plan, not a bolted-on module. The right way to answer the fit question is a working session with your own line, not a slide deck.
If you want to pressure-test the math first, start with the sell-through rate formula and the safety stock formula, or browse every industry we plan for.
Live in weeks, not next season
Onboarding is run by your merchandising team — no IT project, no implementation partner. Your selling history becomes the baseline for curves, model-year carryover, and category seasonality during setup.
Planning hierarchy configured — soft-goods categories on size curves, gear categories on option/model structure, channels, calendars, and financial targets.
Sales and inventory history imported — size-level on the apparel portion, model-level on gear — building curves and category seasonality from your own selling.
Planning and buying teams trained on OTB, assortment, and channel-level buy workflows.
Plan an upcoming prebook window or model-year transition in RetailNorthstar alongside your current process and compare outputs.
Retire the prebook workbook and the category spreadsheets. Plan the next order window entirely in RetailNorthstar.
Outdoor planning questions
Can soft goods and hard goods be planned in one line plan?
Yes. The RetailNorthstar hierarchy is configurable — style → option/model → SKU — so the apparel side of the line runs size curves while tents, packs, and stoves plan on option and model logic with no size dimension forced onto them. Both sides roll up to one line plan and one open-to-buy, so spend, depth, and margin are visible across the whole line.
How are model-year transitions on gear handled?
Through carryover and newness logic on a configurable calendar. The outgoing spec plans as a sell-down line while the new model year plans as newness with its own launch depth — both visible in the same plan, so the transition is a decision rather than an accident. Gear categories run model-year carryover while soft-goods categories run a seasonal reset, and a colorway refresh can carry forward without being treated like a spec change.
How do dealer prebooks and DTC planning work together?
Dealer and specialty prebooks are treated as committed demand — quantities lock during the seasonal order window, months before delivery, and flow into the buy as fixed commitments. DTC launch depth is planned separately from the channel forecast. Both roll into a single channel-level buy per style, so the total commitment is visible against technical-material lead times in one place.
Does RetailNorthstar have outdoor customers today?
An honest answer: no. Apparel is the flagship — RetailNorthstar’s customer base today is apparel brands. Several outdoor-apparel brands share apparel’s planning structure almost exactly, but we have no outdoor-gear customer track record, and we would rather say that plainly than invent proof. What we can show is the configurable data model — hierarchy, calendar, and channel structure — and that is what we recommend evaluating, in a working session with your own line and your own history.
One line plan for soft goods and gear. Live in weeks.
See how RetailNorthstar handles mixed-line hierarchy, model-year carryover, counter-seasonal category OTB, and prebook-plus-DTC buys — with your own line.
Connected merchandise planning — live in weeks, not quarters.