Merchandising Plan Template

What Is a Merchandising Plan?

If you are lucky enough to have launched your company and are now selling products or services, beware of too much of a good thing.

The history of startups is filled with stories of rapid early sales which drained available inventories, leaving the company without the ability to sustain growth and generate return sales.

In short, these companies didn’t have a Merchandising Plan (or this merchandising plan template).

A good merchandising plan is essential to insure smooth and stable growth, especially when a company is young and running on slim inventory reserves.  With a merchandising plan you are able to answer many questions that might arise as sales begin to grow and change.

While the merchandising plan is mainly a retail or internet concept, it also should be adapted for service industries.  In general, it is a plan to have the right inventory, at the right time in the right amount to maximize your sales, profits and returns.  Your plan needs to include a variety of information and concepts.  And, yes, it is mainly numbers that are necessary to understand for the success of your business.