How Whiteboarding with PLM Revitalizes Decision Making

Rapidly changing consumer demands’ has long been used to describe the product-driven industry environment, but this phrase may no longer capture the pace at which these demands are evolving—constantly accelerating and reshaping the landscape.

“The global fashion industry faces economic uncertainty, a dynamic market and consumer behavior shifts. Finding pockets of growth means navigating a complex maze.”

Shifting consumer behaviors and preferences, as revealed by a recent McKinsey study of 15,000 consumers, highlight the critical need for speed when it comes to innovation and time to market. The data uncovers 4 emerging business opportunities for brands, which we explore in our latest eBook, “Everybody Whiteboards; It’s Like “Talking with Pictures”. One key takeaway? The need to gain a deeper understanding of consumer preferences and to tailor product assortments at the local and channel levels.

Keeping pace with this velocity is no easy feat for many brands or retail functions, but for merchandising teams, relying on spreadsheets or manual processes can be especially limiting. Not only do these methods stifle cross-functional innovation and creativity, but they also create workflows that often hinder success, making it harder to adapt quickly to market shifts.

In this blog, we’ll explore the roadblocks preventing merchandising teams from achieving precision, how to transform into a more collaborative and creative engine and the tangible business benefits of overcoming these hurdles.

3 roadblocks to achieving merchandising precision

There are some obvious signs when merchandising decisions aren’t living up to their potential. Let’s take a closer look at 3 of the most common obstacles:

1. Time wasted in spreadsheets

Many merchandising teams rely on disconnected tools to manage line sheet data and merchandise planning, often resorting to manually transferring this data into spreadsheets or other tools for visualization purposes. This lack of integration creates inefficiencies and wastes valuable time.

Line planning is critical to ensuring that brands and retailers offer the right mix of products to meet consumer demand and sales targets. When this process is manual, it risks missing key opportunities to align with shifting consumer trends and optimize spending for each delivery cycle. The result? Significant time lost and risks to decision-making accuracy.

2. Communication breakdowns and delays

Anyone who has played the childhood game of ‘telephone’ understands how easily information can become distorted as it passes from one person to the next. In merchandising, this breakdown leads to miscommunication, delays and costly errors.

In short, without a centralized, real-time reference for product information, teams are unable to evaluate product assortments effectively or make fully informed decisions. This can result in rework, errors in execution and missed opportunities—damaging the business as a whole.

3. Inconsistent product mix

A balanced and cohesive product mix is vital for driving repeat purchases. For brands in sectors like fashion, footwear, beauty and consumer goods, ensuring that product assortments flow seamlessly—particularly across product line drops—keeps consumers coming back.

If the assortment lacks harmony or fails to complement previous products, brands miss out on building the kind of loyalty that drives sustained revenue. For merchandising teams grappling with these issues, it’s time to consider the leap and cross the chasm from analog to digital solutions.

Introducing Centric Visual Whiteboard

Whiteboarding is the bridge across this chasm. But not just any static whiteboard that is confined to a physical room. Instead, a collaborative engine that turns static concepts into fluid, evolving plans, empowering teams and uniting visionaries at every level of the organization to drive innovation forward.

Compelling presentations

Merchandising teams are challenged with a data disconnect that lacks real-time access to crucial sales and inventory data, hindering informed decision making and agility in response to market changes. Centric Visual Whiteboard™ drives the quick creation and sharing of visually impactful presentations to showcase assortment plans and strategies.

Targeted communication

Seasonal planning challenges cause merchandising teams to face difficulties in creating a cohesive seasonal strategy, while effectively communicating assortment needs across teams. Centric Visual Whiteboard clearly conveys seasonal strategies, assortment needs and market trends to the design team and key stakeholders.

Visual collaboration

Inefficient design collaboration causes delays and misalignment due to challenges in communicating market research and trend insights to the design team. Centric Visual Whiteboard enables visual collaboration that works seamlessly between cross-functional teams while gathering feedback and fostering alignment on assortment plans and strategies.

Forward-thinking brands are crossing the chasm between analog and digital, transforming whiteboarding from a static process into a dynamic, digital experience with Centric Visual Whiteboard.

Conclusion

To stay ahead in today’s fast-paced, consumer-driven market, merchandising teams must evolve beyond outdated manual ways of working. By embracing digital tools and systems that enhance collaboration, streamline workflows and ensure accuracy, teams can boost productivity, creativity and precision — ultimately driving better business results.

By delivering visual collaboration, actionable market insights and communication, data-driven assortment optimization and interactive assortment planning, real ROI includes:

Assortment report prep time reduced by 99% (days to minutes)
85% to 90% faster product assortment update time
75% reduction in sample review prep and follow-up time

Redefine the way you work with Centric Visual Whiteboard

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Sharper Merchandising: How Whiteboarding with PLM and Planning Revitalizes Decision Making