Glossary

Term

Full Form

Explanation

Tool

A software or application

SFTP

Secure File Transfer Protocol

The space where the data is placed by the client which can be picked up by our tool. The layout of this space looks similar to our desktop where you can browse through folders to locate the files shared by the client.

The data flow is not continuous and occurs in intervals where the client places the data at a set frequency and we capture the data post that.

API

Application Programming Interface

The method of transferring data in a continuous flow in the format or structure that is required by our tool. We will have to acivate this particular method by making our requirements visible to the client

MS Enterprise™

Increff Recommendations and Insights System

Name of Increff Merchandising tool which analyses brands data for generating recommendations

SKU

Stock Keeping Unit

The most granualar level of identifying the merchandise in a brand

SKU Code

Stock Keeping Unit Code

The unique code which is assigned to every single SKU. It generally starts with 8 and is numeric but can also be alpha numeric depending on how the brand stores its data

EAN

European Article Number

The unique barcode that is assigned to each SKU. Sometimes we can consider a different code given by brand as SKU code instead of this depending on the way we want to read their data

Style

A unique design that is offered to the customer. In Increff terminology, the combination of style + size represents an SKU

Style Code

The numeric or alphanumetic or alpha code that is used to represent a style

Option/Article

Used interchangeably with style

ETL

Extract Transform Load

ETL is a process to capture the data shared by brands with us, transform it as per the format required by our tool and then load it into the appropriate space for being used by the tool

ADF

Azure Data Factory

A tool used by ETL team to capture data from brands and load into Increff system

AG

Attribute Group

A group of styles having similar attributes are grouped by our tool during the analysis. These groups are called Attribute Groups

AOP

Annual Operating Plan

The revenue targets which the brands or retailers want to achieve every month or quarter or season

ARS

Automated Replinishment System

An automated process set in our merchandising tool to replenish stores or warehouses from a central warehouse or from a vendor to keep stock level at an optimum value through out

ASP

Average Sales Price

Total sales value generated by the product / units of products sold; High MRP low ASP means brand operates at high discount

ATV

Average Transaction Value

Total sales value / no of transactions in a given period; Low ATV means clients are spending less and you need to update styles, reset price, implement new sales tactics

AW

Autumn Winter

Name of the season which comes in the second half of the year

POS

Point of Sale

The unique identification for the medium through which sales happen - stores, brands's own website, amazon, flipkart, myntra, etc.

CBS

Closing Base Stock

The closing store stock at the end of the day as recorded in the POS

Channel

A set of stores which would operate in a similar manner like exclusive brand outlets, company owned stores, franchise owned stores, large format retailers, etc. Channels generally get differentiated based on the type of customer profiles that visits them and hence brands define guidelines at this level like the range to be procured, sizes that need to be displayed (EBOs might have very extreme sizes as brand conscious people walk in and they should not be disappointed with unavailability of sizes), etc.

COCO

Company Owned Company Operated

A set of stores which are owned by the company and operated by the company

FOCO

Franchise Owned Company Operated

A set of stores which are owned by the franchise and operated by the company

FOFO

Franchise Owned Franchise Operated

A set of stores which are owned by the franchise and operated by the franchise. There will be limited control by the brand in these channels on the level of inventory, etc.

LFS/LFR

Large Format Store / Large Format Retail

LFS/LFR is usually a chain of stores which displays multiple brands of apparel along with smaller brands and brands owned by the LFS itself. Examples: Shoppersstop, Lifestyle and Pantaloons etc

MBO

Multi Brand Outlet

Multiple brand's products are sold Like Jade Blue, Big Bazaar, Reliance, etc

RRP

Recommended Retail Price

Brands outside India have the concept of RRP where the base price of the product can be changed instead of showing it on discount as compared to the practice in India

COGS

Cost of Goods Sold

Direct cost of goods + transportation that are incurred by the brand. The MRP/RRP is decided based on this value for having the best margins

Conversion Rate

No of customers who end up buying from the POS/ No of customers visitng that particular POS

Cover

The number of days for which you have or wish to have the inventory based on the current level of inventory and the recent sales. This can be looked at any level - company or category or brand or store or region, etc.

Even though this is measured in days, it translates to the amount of inventory that is required or available.

Module

An algorithm developed into a set of instructions or a program for generating a recommendation or an output which can be implemented by the client. For ex., ratio of sizes in which order should be placed for denims, quantity that should be shipped from the warehouse to the stores to support selling styles, etc.

NOOS Styles

Never out of Stock Styles

The high and consistently performing styles which should always be available in stock to ensure there is sales always. These styles are identified by analysing a set period of data so that the brand knows which styles to continue and which styles to replace or kill

Live Days

The number of days for which the product or style or SKU was exposed to the customer at any point of sale

End Date

The date on which the tool has to run by considering the data on that particular day (stock on that date and sales till that date)

ROS

Rate of Sale

The velocity with which a product is selling based on its exposure. The units are in quantity sold per day or quantity sold per week. It is calculated as quantity sold/number of days the product was live in a given time period. ROS can be calculated for a style or SKU or category or POS, etc.

True ROS

True Rate of Sale

ROS based on healthy quantity sold/ healthy days live. Depending on the situation, True ROS can also be calculated based on unliquidated healthy quantity sold/ unliquidated healthy days live. It represents the true potential of a style when it had all key sizes present

DRR

Daily Run Rate

Same as ROS

ADS

Average Daily Sale

Same as ROS

STR

Sell Thru Rate or Sell Through Rate

Talks about the efficiency of the inventory that was exposed to the customers. It is studied as a percentage and calculated as quantity sold/overall quantity exposed or quantity sold/(closing quantity + quantity sold). STR can be calculated for a style or SKU or category or POS, etc.

Overstocking

The scenario where stock available at a store or in the warehosue is more than the required cover

Understocking

The scenario where stock available at a store or in the warehouse is less than the required cover

Dashboard

Refers to the dashboards hosted on https://tableau.increff.com which gives insight into the current status of any client's business like stock levels, recent sales, ROS, STR, achievement of target, etc.

Broken/ Cut Size/ Unhealthy

The situation when some of the sizes in a style are sold out and are not available for the customer. This is a bad experience for the customer when the required sizes are not found and leads to overall decrease in sales of the style. Store manager and even ecommerce platforms decrease the visitbilty of styles that are in cut sizes

Allocation

The process of sending styles for the first time to the stores

Replenishment

The process of sending supplements to the selling styles in the stores to avoid stock outs and loss of sale

Fresh Allocation

The process of launching the new season styles at the stores

Distribution

The exercise of sending the stock from warehouse to the stores for replenishment or allocation or fresh allocation

Size Wise Display

The arrangement of merchandise in the store grouped by sizes as in all sizes of 'S' in womens tops are displayed separately. This is typically observed in factory outlets or during discounting period at the end of season

Style Wise Display

The arrangement of merchandise in the store grouped by styles as in all sizes of a style are displated together.

IST

Inter Store Transfers

The exercise of consolidating stock or inventory across the stores to repair cut sizes and supply replenishments to fast moving styles at top stores from overstocked bottom stores. This consolidation will involve movement of stock from one store to another.

Pull Back

The exercise of bringing the slow moving or unsold stock from the store to the warehouse so as to create space in the store for the launch of new merchandise or styles.

This is an operationally intensive exercise and hence not all brands do it.

RTV/RTW

Return to Vendor/ Return to Warehouse

The unsold stock that can be sent back to the warehouse from the stores at the end of season. Merchandisers account for RTV/RTW while planning for the buy of a season. This is relevant in case of franchise stores where they can send back unsold stock to the brand upto a % of the overall buy to save on working capital for the next season

DM

Dynamic Markdown

A module in MS Enterprise™ which generates a recommendation on which styles or options should be marked down or marked up

Depletion

The exercise where you figure out how much inventory will be left over at the end of a fixed time period based on the current level of inventory and the recent sales. There is a module in MS Enterprise™ (Increff Merchandising tool) for calculating this.

DOH

Days on Hand

The number of days for which you have or wish to have the inventory based on the current level of inventory and the recent sales. This can be looked at any level - company or category or brand or store or region, etc.

EBO

Exclusive Brand Outlet

An offline point of sale or store where the brand's merchandise is sold exclusively

EOSS

End of Season Sale

The sale period during the flag end of the sesaon to liquidate the remaining inventory that couldn't get sold during the actual season. The inventory wouldn't have sold due to bad designs or getting into cut sizes. During EOSS brands might expose earlier seasons inventory as well to get rid of it.

FP

Full Price

The period in the season from the launch to the end of season sale where all styles are sold typically at MRP without any discounts. This is the period which will help the brands achieve maximum margins.

GIT

Goods in transit

The inventory or stock that is in transit from the warehouse to warehouse or store to store or warehouse to store. This visibility is important as otherwise we will keep pushing stock to the store when there is a demand in the store without knowing that some inventory is already on its way there.

Open Orders

Sometimes the inventory is blocked in the warehouse against a particular store without physically being dispatched to the store. This is done when there is excessive load on the warehouse to pick, pack and dispatch a lot of orders and due to the time constraint, they block the stock against some stores so that it is deducted virtually and is not available for the rest of the stores.

This is considered at a store level in our tool

IIIT

IST In Transit

The IST which has been initiated but not yet received the store. It is considered the same as GIT or open orders

Warehouse Open Orders

The orders with the vendor which are supposed to reach the warehouse on a future date. These orders are placed in the past and their visibility is important so that we do not over order the inventory when we see the demand.

GSV

Gross Sales Value (Revenue)

The revenue achieved by selling an SKU inclusive of the tax component. In MS Enterprise™, we use GSV for all calculations wherever revenue is invovled

NSV

Net Sales Value

The revenue achieved by selling an SKU exclusive of the tax componend. NSV = GSV - Tax

GM

Gross Margin

GSV(revenue) - COGS

Pivotal Sizes

The group of sizes that contribute to majority of the sales within a category or a store or a combination of store and AG, etc.

These are different for different categories, gender, fit, etc.

PSA

Pivotal Size Availability

What % of pivotal sizes tagged in a style should be available for the tool to proceed ahead. This is in terms of sizes (e.g out of the 4 pivotal sizes tagged, 3 must be present in stock for 75%). Different Modules can have different use cases

Healthy days

This is generally merasured for a style when analysed over a time period. The number of days when the style was available to the customer without cut sizes.

The cut size can also be user defined based on how many pivotal sizes are available out of the total number of pivotal sizes

Healthy Stock

The stock or inventory of all the styles which are not present in size cuts is called healthy stock

Broken

Used interchangeably in an opposite way with Healthy

Size Set

The depth or the quantity across all sizes together that should be sent in a style when it is going to the store for the first time

ISS

Ideal size set

The distribution of the size set across sizes in the ideal way to mirror the demand of sizes at the store. The quantity in each size will sum upto size set or approximately size set due to rounding off issue.

The size set is distributed across sizes based on the size ratio. This ratio is unique to each category or region or store or attribute.

JIT

Just in time

Customers come in, try out the product at a store and place order which is then fulfilled from a warehouse or a dark store

KPI

Key Performance Indicators

Metrics that are tracked on a regular basis to evaluate how the business is performing. Different brands have their own custom KPIs to understand the performance. For ex., availability of new stock across stores, % of fresh stock in the overall stock that is exposed to customer, ROS of a newly launched style in the first 3 weeks, etc.

KRA

Key Result Areas

The areas that are relevant for a person as part of their roles and responsibility in the organization. The person is typically evaluated in these areas to understand how they are performing.

Lead Time

Time taken for the order to reach the warehouse after it is placed with the vendor

Replenishment cycle days

Number of days taken for the inventory to reach the store from the warehouse which is ideally the cover we need to maintain at a store to avoid sales loss before the next replenishment is received.

Margin Cycle

Pre defined target period to achieve a margin in sales or STR

Master Data

style-master, store-master, sku-master

Data that is fixed and which doesn't change frequently. For ex., category or fit the style belongs to, region or city of the store, size represented by the SKU code, etc.

Width/Range

The number of styles that are offered to the customer at a store or website or company wide

Depth

The inventory that is required to be present at a store or across stores for a particular style

OD

Optimum Depth

The split of ideal demand across different attributes at a store or a company level by correcting for mistakes in the past like overbuying or underbuying.

AP

Assortment Plan

The mix of inventory that needs to be placed at a store to cater to the ideal demand and achieve the target set by the brand. Assortment plan also covers the sizes that need to be displayed at each store.

OTB

Open to buy

Open to buy in industry nomenclature is generally the budget available with the category teams to purchase the stock to meet the upcoming demand. This budget translates into the quantity that is required to be bought.

In MS Enterprise™, OTB is treated as the ideal inventory (in both quantity and options) that should be available with the brand to meet the AOP they wish to achieve

Overrides/ Constraints

The guidelines that need to be imposed onto the tool to generate recommendations specific to a business scenario. For ex., not generating buy quantity less than a paritcular number, allocating 30% of the demand to a particular category, not dispatching some styles to a set of stores, etc.

Configuration

The settings that need to be fixed in the tool to proceed with the analysis. For ex., which period to analyse - from date to date, benchmark to determine the heatlhy of a style, etc.

PID

Product ID

Planogram

The capacity of a store at a category level defined in terms of options and quantity. This is the maximum that a store can hold and is generally calculated based on multiple paramerts - quantity required to sustain for the upcoming 90 days, number of shelves/racks/gondolas available in the store, packing density based on options per square foot, visual merchandising to present the merchandise elegantly to the customers, etc.

This can either be given as an input to the tool or the tool itself can calculate the planogram based on an algorithm.

Fill Rate

Percentage of stock or options available at stores calculated based on the overall capacity defined for the store. Fill rate of 100% says that the store is completely filled upto its capacity

SPSF

Sales per square foot

Revenue generated by a store per square foot area. It is generally tracked on a monthly basis to evaluate the performance of the store against the rental cost which is also dependent on the store area.

SS

Spring Summer

Style Tagging

Custom tag that is given to the styles apart from the attributes that are defined in the master. This tag can be used to select these specific set of styles for any exercise in the product like fresh styles, discounted styles, billboard styles, etc.

Store Spread

The number of stores to which a style was exposed over a period of time

UI

User Interface

Liquidation

The exercise of marking down or discounting the price of the product or running promotions to accelerate the sales of the product or style

Keyframe

The dates on which inventory is captured for the clients in our tool. These dates are typically Mondays and first of every month.

The tool during the analysis computes the inventory automatically based on sales data between two Mondays. This is done to avoid storing huge amounts of inventory data (especially in the case of big brands having lots of stores and SKUs) in the database and loading the same

End date stock

Rolling 30 days (all days and not just mondays) inventory is stored in the tool for conducting some of the analysis which required actual inventory and not the computed inventory from keyframe as that will have some inaccuracies.

Product Run

Running a module in the tool to generate an output like buy quantity, replenishement to stores, etc.

DC

Distribution Center

WH

Warehouse

The location where inventory is received from the vendor and stored for shipping to stores as allocations or replenishments

CC

Color Choice

Mostly used in the Americas, CC is an extension of EAN/SKU where the concept of a product is color agnostic. So style + color is CC, CC+Size is SKU