Receipt Plan

A receipt plan is the period-by-period schedule of planned inventory receipts — the projected inflow of merchandise into inventory — for a given season or planning period. It defines when goods are expected to arrive, at what cost value, and against which budget category, serving as the delivery-timing component of the OTB framework.

The receipt plan is derived from the Merchandise Financial Plan: the planned sales, margin, and inventory targets in the MFP determine how much inventory needs to arrive in each period to support those targets. The receipt plan converts that top-level financial need into a delivery schedule.

Receipt plan vs open-to-buy

The receipt plan and OTB are closely related but serve different functions:

| | Receipt Plan | Open-to-Buy | |---|---|---| | What it shows | When and how much inventory arrives | How much buying capacity remains | | Direction | Forward-looking (planned delivery schedule) | Dynamic (updates as actuals occur) | | Updated when | Buy decisions change delivery windows | Sales occur, receipts land, orders shift |

Planned receipts in the OTB formula: once purchase orders are placed, "planned receipts" become "on order." The difference between planned receipts and on-order is the remaining open-to-buy.

Receipt plan by delivery window

For apparel brands, the receipt plan must be structured at the delivery window level — not just the total season. A $500K spring receipt budget split between a February delivery and a March delivery has very different production and vendor management implications than the same budget delivered entirely in February.

Delivery window planning must account for:

• →Floor set dates (wholesale): accounts have specific windows during which they receive inventory
• →Site launch dates (DTC): product planned for a specific editorial moment must arrive before that date
• →Vendor lead times: the production timeline from order placement to delivery

Receipt plan accuracy and OTB

The receipt plan is only as accurate as its underlying assumptions. Common accuracy failures:

Optimistic delivery dates: Production delays are common in apparel. A receipt plan built on vendor-stated lead times without buffer will routinely show planned receipts that arrive late — compressing the full-price sell window and overstating available OTB at the start of the season.

Missing on-order updates: If POs are amended (quantity changes, delivery window shifts) and those changes aren't reflected in the receipt plan, the OTB position is inaccurate.

RetailNorthstar tracks planned receipts and on-order quantities against the OTB model in real time — so the receipt plan reflects current commitments, not the initial buy plan snapshot.