Excel Models for Retail Planning and Merchandising Analysis
Open-to-buy, buy plans and margin models in the tool your planners already use, structured so they can be read, checked and maintained without the person who built them.
Planning Problems This Excel Modelling Service Solves
A buy plan only its author understands
Hidden sheets, hard-coded numbers and links to files that no longer exist.
Open-to-buy that drifts mid-season
Receipts and sales are updated in different places, so the budget is never current.
Scenarios compared by copying the file
Every what-if becomes a new version, and nobody knows which one was approved.
Margin calculated differently in every tab
Cost, discounts and currency are handled inconsistently.
What the Excel Retail Planning Model Work Includes
Four parts, delivered as one workbook and one short guide.
Open-to-buy sheet with monthly phasing
Units and value by month, category and market.
Buy plan and margin calculation
Cost, selling price, discounts and currency in one consistent logic.
Scenario comparison without copies
Switchable assumptions and a side-by-side summary.
Built-in checks and a maintenance guide
Three checks that flag drift, plus a guide for the next owner.
Results Clients Get from Excel Planning Models
placeholder figuresworkbook instead of seasonal copies
time to update the open-to-buy
automatic checks against drift
Tools Used in Excel Planning Projects
Excel formulas and tables
Structured tables, dynamic arrays and named ranges.
Power Query imports
Sales and stock loaded from exports without copy-paste.
Power BI for monitoring
Optional view of plan vs actual by week.
Related Case Study: Rebuilding the Womenswear Range Plan for a European Fashion Distributor
Rebuilding the Womenswear Range Plan for a European Fashion Distributor
Option count cut by a fifth, depth moved into proven sizes and colours. Sell-through up, markdown down.
Recommendation from a Fashion Retail Colleague on Planning Models
Placeholder — real LinkedIn recommendations will be added with permission“Placeholder recommendation text. Two or three sentences from a colleague on the planning model, quoted with permission once the real recommendation is in place.”
Excel Retail Planning Model FAQ
Many brand teams need a clear model before they need software. A good Excel model also becomes the specification for a system later.
Yes. The existing logic is documented first, then restructured so nothing that works is lost.
Microsoft 365 is recommended for dynamic arrays and Power Query; older versions can be supported with simpler formulas.
Discuss an Excel Planning Model with Tatsiana Bandziuk
Placeholder note: describe the file your planners are afraid to touch. I will reply with how I would restructure it.
Tatsiana