Assortment Planning

Chapter 3

Assortment Planning
The Merchandise Category Structure
Introducing Category Management
Increasingly diverse customer requirements, fierce competition, and a rapidly changing market are forcing retailers to drastically rethink their assortment strategies. Retailers must constantly reexamine assortments from different perspectives, as well as their position in the market based on local factors and different customer groups. Policy decisions such as these can only be taken if the person responsible for an assortment is allowed the right view on information relating to it: The right view is one that cuts across all the individual processes along the length of the value chain, allowing a whole-category approach to managing the assortment.

The Category Manager Workbench

The SAP Retail solution to the challenges of category management is the Category Manager Workbench. The Workbench is a springboard into all the functions that a Category Manager might need to use. It is a process-oriented environment that draws together all the activities involved in planning and controlling categories of merchandise, their costs, and their profitability. The Workbench menu is in three parts: q Master data Assortment planning and controlling activities are based on the relevant master data, which consists of merchandise categories, possible category views, various objects for defining the assortment structure, and profitability and evaluation structures. q Planning You always define planning data at the same level as actual data, ensuring that you are always comparing like with like. For example, you use the planning transactions to create sales plans, cost center plans, and sales and profit plans. q Controlling At operational level, the Category Manager can choose from a variety of reporting tools supplied by the Information System and geared toward particular retailing sectors or topics for analysis. The Category Manager can define

Planning and Control at the Levels You Decide

Direct Interface with Financial Accounting

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any level of detail for the analyses, down to merchandise category level or in individual cases, to article level. These reporting tools can provide answers to questions such as: m Which customer groups buy which articles? m Which articles are usually purchased together? m How many articles were sold between 4 pm and 5 pm in store n? You can use exception analyses to filter out unwanted information, as this type of reporting alerts the Category Manager to exceptional situations. The Category Manager also specifies the nature of the exceptions that are reported.

Demo Data Helps You Understand the CMW More Quickly

The Category Manager Workbench is structured differently in every company. One example of the way it can be structured, based on the IDES model company, is provided with your system. This example comes complete with process-oriented demo data, at merchandise category level, or for departments defined as cost centers.

Fig. 3-1: The Category Manager Workbench

What can I achieve by defining merchandise categories?

You can use the SAP Retail merchandise category hierarchy in many retail business processes.

Merchandise Categories Make Life Simpler

SAP Retail supports a merchandise category hierarchy throughout the article life cyclefrom when an article is created to when it is sold and evaluated. When you create a merchandise category, you define a set of common data for its articles. When a new article is created, this data is displayed as a default. Each merchandise category also has certain characteristics, which you define yourself or which are inherited from a higher level in the hierarchy. These characteristics

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are automatically transferred to articles. You can define characteristics such as size, color, or flavor. This makes it easy to create records for articles that have some core features and a number of variable ones, such as one brand of shampoo in three different hair types. An article can be listed automatically in a store or distribution center if the merchandise category to which it belongs is already listed there. You can define that the choice of distribution centers to supply stores is dependent on the merchandise category involved. You can post merchandise sales to a merchandise category rather than to individual articles. Whatever logistics process you are carrying out in the system, you can search on the merchandise category to find an article. The merchandise category is also a very useful level of analysis that adds a new dimension to evaluations.

You Can Post Sales to the Merchandise Category

Fig. 3-2: The Merchandise Category Hierarchy

How can I reorganize my merchandise category hierarchy?

There is a function called reclassification available for reorganization. Using the reclassification function, you can move articles or whole merchandise categories (including high-level merchandise categories) to new positions in the hierarchy. You can even use this function to correct mistakes if, for example, you accidentally assign a new article to the wrong merchandise category and want to move it to the correct one. If you move an article to a different merchandise category, you can have the system change the merchandise category automatically in all open purchase orders and stock allocation documents. (This includes the automatic application of the new merchandise categorys conditions.) You can have the system list the article in the stores or distribution centers that stock the new merchandise category.

Changes are Propagated in Open Documents; Automatic Relisting

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The system runs certain standard checks (to which you can add your own criteria) before reclassifying any objects. One of the standard reclassification checks, for example, ensures that an article is always assigned to a merchandise category immediately above it in the hierarchy and never directly to a high-level merchandise category. Checks like these ensure that the hierarchy remains consistent whatever changes you make to it.

Can I manage inventory at merchandise category level?

With SAP Retail you can manage your stock of an article on a value basis at almost any level: q At the merchandise category level q At the level of more aggregated (higher) merchandise categories q At the sub-merchandise-category level This reduces the volume of data that must be processed and means that you are not required to post sales to an individual article at the point of sale (POS) if this is not appropriate.

Flexible Configuration of the Levels at Which Inventory is Managed

You define your choice of inventory management in the site master record for the store or distribution center in question. For example, you have a store where you would like most of the merchandise to be managed on an exact article basis. You would, however, prefer articles in certain merchandise categories (for example, fruit) to be posted to the merchandise category. Finally, you want a few of the articles in this merchandise category (for example, expensive tropical fruit) to be sold on an exact article basis nevertheless. SAP Retail supports this level of control. If you have merchandise that is initially subject to high-level inventory management, you can switch to managing the inventory on an article basis once the merchandise has been counted in physical inventory.

Defining Your Assortments

The expected life of an article is a significant factor in the way it is used in assortments. SAP Retail allows you to define a life cycle for each product. The life cycle starts with the creation of the article master record and ends when this master record is no longer used.

The Life-Cycle Factor

Seasonal fashion items have a very short life cycle, for example, while brand-name goods, groceries, or household goods often have a very long life cycle. You can use these differences to strategic effect when you build your assortments.

What steps do I need to take to prepare an article for inclusion in an assortment?

First you create a master record for the article in the system. You assign the article to a specific merchandise category and define requirements planning data. Next, you maintain the site master and assign a listing procedure. You can then include the article in assortment lists. Finally, you plan requirements for the article for the first time. The article is now part of the assortment.

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What options are available for assigning assortments to stores or distribution centers?
You have decided to include a new article in your assortment. Before you can purchase this article in a store or distribution center or manage inventory for it, the system requires you to list it, or assign it for a specified period of time to an assortment assigned to the store, distribution center, or customer. There are two ways to do this: q You can assign the article manually to an assortment module created specially for the purposes of listing. q You can have the system use predefined rules to find the most suitable assortment (and therefore assortment user) for your article. The option of creating assortment modules manually allows you to group articles together for a specific purpose, such as a promotion. In some instances, it is also appropriate to predict that the merchandise grouping will be relatively long-lived or find widespread, consistent use throughout your company. Even when creating modules manually, you can have the system carry out automatic checks against assortment rules as you go. You can also let the system do the work for you. It can assign articles to assortments automatically on the basis of your own assortment strategies by using existing parameters such as: q Merchandise category q Assortment grade q Characteristic values q Layout to match articles to assortments

Automating the Assignment

Fig. 3-3: The Assortment Concept

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Flexible Components also Support Apparel Styles

To keep the process of maintaining assortments as flexible as possible, SAP Retail provides an array of different types of assortment module for you to choose from. Whichever type of module you choose, you can enter both single and generic articles (master styles) as the module items, or list individual variants (styles) of a generic article. If you simply specify a generic article, all its variants will be automatically included in the module too. If you attempt to list a variant on its own, the system checks first to make sure that it has not already been listed in the module as part of its generic article. This also applies to structured articles (prepacks, sets, displays) and their components.

Fig. 3-4: Assortment Module Types

The following types of assortment module are available: q Standard module These are normally used for merchandise that has a relatively long life cycle and a fairly uniform listing pattern (brand-name goods, for example). q Local module These modules apply specifically to a single assortment and are never assigned to more than one. q Exclusion module The listings you specify in an exclusion module are blocked wherever they might have occurred. This safety mechanism ensures that the assignments in question are not made, even accidentally. q Promotion module These allow you to group articles together for the purposes of a promotion.

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q Rack jobber module Rack jobber modules are groups of merchandise for which overall responsibility remains with the suppliers. (The suppliers not only deliver these articles, they are also responsible for their presentation in the store.) q Profile module These modules are not created manually by a user, but automatically as a byproduct of article maintenance. From time to time, merchandise might be delivered to a store or distribution center in which it is not listed. You can configure each site individually to handle this in one of three ways: q Always list the articles retroactively. q Never list the articles retroactively. q List the articles retroactively if the user at goods receipt authorizes it.

Expecting the Unexpected

Fig. 3-5: Assortment Lists

How can I communicate with my stores about assortments?

You can keep stores informed about the latest developments by sending them an assortment list. This list contains information on the availability of the merchandise, how it is to be presented, what it currently retails at, and any features that affect logistics processes (for example, that the merchandise is seasonal). New articles in the assortment and articles that are in the process of being discontinued are immediately visible in the assortment list with special flags.

Assortments: What, Where, When

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The system compiles each assortment list from listing data, taking assortment list cycles into account. You can group articles according to assortment list type, a parameter that you use to define two cycles: q The intervals at which the system generates new full versions of the assortment list (containing all articles in the assortment) q The number of change versions (containing those articles where data has changed since the last assortment list) that can be generated before a new full version is required. To make things easier for your stores, the articles are arranged in the assortment list by department, layout, layout module, and article sequence number. This should correspond to the physical layout of the articles in-store. When you are ready to send the list, you can choose between generating a printout for your store or sending the list as an electronic message.

How does promotional merchandise figure in all this?

Santa Claus is Coming to Town
This depends on what the purpose of the promotion is. An article might be on promotion during the product launch phase and retained in the assortment afterwards, at the standard price. Or, you can get promotional merchandise into a store for a limited period only and not list it on a long-term basis in the assortment. There is a special component for processing promotional merchandise in its various forms. You can plan promotions in advance, save them in the system, and then activate them at a specified time.

Fig 3-6: Seasonal and Non-Seasonal Merchandise

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How does defining seasons help me monitor my merchandise?

If you have seasonal merchandise, you have access to SAP Retail Markdown Planning, a tool that enables you to plan price reductions for the season ahead and monitor the progress of the markdowns. It also uses built-in controls to ensure that margins are not endangered. Markdown Planning attempts to achieve the following simultaneously: q A minimum margin must be reached or exceeded. q A minimum turnover rate must also be reached or exceeded. q Levels of remaining stock should be reduced to the minimum. The system monitors these factors continuously throughout the season. You can also adjust prices in phases to keep pace with (and further influence) the way a season is progressing. You can activate sales price conditions directly from a planning run. As the end of the season approaches and stock levels need to be reduced, the Early Warning System alerts you to the levels of stock remaining. You can also tailor the length of the season itself locally to the requirements of that particular region. When one season ends, the articles that were assigned to that season can either be flagged for deletion or assigned to a new season.

Direct Intervention During the Season

How easy is it to discontinue merchandise?

When you wind up the season, you can activate the discontinuation function for selected merchandise. You can discontinue an article for a particular vendor, in a particular assortment, or across the board throughout your company. If you choose vendor/article discontinuation, the article can still be sold but can no longer be ordered from this vendor. If you choose assortment/article discontinuation, the assortment users assigned to this assortment can no longer sell the article. If you choose to discontinue the article throughout your company, all further operative processes will be blocked. If you attempt to discontinue an article for which stock still exists, for which there are outstanding purchase orders, or which you have planned to include in a promotion, the system issues an error message informing you of the problem and stops the discontinuation process. If you still want to discontinue the article, you simply make the necessary corrections and discontinuation is restarted automatically. When it is time to stop selling the article, SAP Retail sends out an instruction to that effect to the point of sale. The report that generates this instruction is usually run in the background.

Safety Mechanisms to Prevent Data Inconsistencies

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Vendor Master Data

What are the benefits of using SAP Retail Vendor Processing?
In SAP Retail, you can store all your vendor-related information together in one place, the vendor master.

Multiple Layers of Data

You can define an account group to reflect each of the functions that the business partner vendor can fulfill for your company (for example, supplier of the goods, ordering address or recipient of the invoice). This account group streamlines vendor processing. Once it has been defined, you need only enter the bare minimum of additional information when you process a vendor online. You can assign a vendor more than one function. You can even create more than one master record per vendor if you need to enter different master data (for example, addresses) for different functions. The functions and master records are assigned to each other, so the link between them is always apparent. You can enter vendor data centrally for all areas of your business. Since different departments in your company have different data requirements, you can also maintain vendors with one specific view accounting or purchasing. Furthermore, you can maintain data to apply to a specific vendor subrange or site; this allows for individual minimum order levels or terms of payment.

Fig. 3-7: The Vendor Hierarchy

Can I associate a vendor with a region?

SAP Retail supports a link between stores and local suppliers. For example, you can specify that while one store uses a local supplier for specialties of the region (for example, local cheeses), another store stocking the same product in another region has to order from a supplier that is not local.

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You achieve this by assigning vendors and stores to supply regions. If a store attempts to order from a vendor that is not assigned to its region, the system issues a message warning you of the mismatch. You can also make supply regions a factor in automatic vendor selection.

How does SAP Retail simplify communications with my vendor?

Retailers and vendors are constantly exchanging documents. Traditional methods of transferring all the relevant data from the many paper documents to a retailing system have been labor-intensive, prone to error, and costly. To reduce these costs, SAP Retail supports communication using EDI. You can send purchase orders to your vendors electronically and your vendors can send you confirmations, shipping notifications, and invoices by the same means. These documents are automatically posted in SAP Retail upon receipt. You can also have your vendors send you product information through EDI. The first step in implementing these methods of communication is to discuss with your vendor the hardware and software configurations required. In your own system, you can define what sort of messages are to be exchanged, with whom, and how.

Ordering, Receiving Invoices, and More, Using EDI

How does data defaulted from the vendor master help me maintain an article?
When you maintain purchasing data in an article master record, certain data is automatically defaulted from the vendor master record. This data can include the purchasing group, the planned delivery time, or the units that the article can be measured in. It can be defined at central vendor master level or at purchasing organization, vendor subrange, or site level for that vendor. This means that you can always ensure that the appropriate purchasing group orders merchandise. For example, the articles in the vendor subrange adhesives can be ordered by a different purchasing group than the articles in the detergents vendor subrange.

Defaults Simplify Article Maintenance

Article Master Data

How do I keep an overview as article numbers grow and grow?
As retailers usually have a very large number of articles to deal with, efficient reporting tools are essential. In SAP Retail, you can run a wide range of analyses and generate lists of information relating to your merchandise. For example, before you order an article, you can display all the potential suppliers that currently exist in the system so that you can compare their respective conditions. Or, you can call up a list of all the articles supplied by one vendor. You can call up a number of such merchandise-related lists, including: q All the articles in a specified merchandise category q All the articles with particular characteristics q All the articles that are listed in a particular store or distribution center

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Even when you have powerful reporting tools, it makes sense to keep the number of articles in your system manageable. SAP Retail helps you discontinue merchandise that you no longer need. You do not need to remember exactly which articles are due for discontinuation. SAP Retail finds candidates for you by recognizing articles that have not been used for a long time. A few final checks are carried out and the article is archived.

What type of article can I define?

In SAP Retail, you are not restricted to one form of article the single article that you simply buy and then sell. You can also create articles that are not sold in the form in which they were purchased, that are combined, or that are handled differently in different departments. You have a number of different article categories to choose from when you define your merchandise in the system, including: q Single article q Generic article and variants (master style and styles) The generic article is an umbrella form for articles that only differ from each other in certain characteristics (for example, in their size). The advantage of generic articles is that you only have to enter the core master data once, for the generic article itself. When you create the individual variants, most of the data already exists. The generic article has its own master record, to which the master records for each of the variants refer. Most logistics processes provide a fast entry facility for variants. This is available in purchase order processing, for example, when you are entering the quantities of merchandise you want to order.

Structured Articles are Supported in All Logistics Processes

q Set, display, and prepack You can create these in SAP Retail as structured articles. You can manage them at different inventory management levels either at the level of the whole structured article or at the level of its components. For example, you buy a display as one article (put together by the vendor) and manage it as one article through the distribution center. In the store, you break it down into its components to post sales to the individual articles. Generic articles and structured articles are fully supported in all logistics processes.

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Fig. 3-8: Different Views on Article Data

What options are available for mass maintenance?

The article master contains all the accumulated information on every article that your company procures, manufactures, stores, or sells. Large volumes of data have to be maintained. For your convenience, SAP Retail provides a variety of reliable ways to update the system with mass data, including the following: q You can copy default data from a merchandise category, a vendor master record, or another article master record. If you maintain this reference data from the start, it makes a big difference in the speed and ease with which you create new article master records. q You can maintain data at an aggregated level. Data shared by a number of variants can be maintained at generic article level. For example, logistics data valid for an article in a store can also be stored at a higher level, for all the stores in that distribution chain. In both instances, changes that are made at the higher level are automatically updated at lower levels, but only if this does not overwrite different data that has already been maintained there. You can call up all the data that differs from the norm in a detailed overview. q In the requirements planning and forecast functions, you can use profiles representing several fields to set default data.

Data that Differs from the Mass is Instantly Recognizable

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Customize Your Article Master

The SAP Retail article master has other user-friendly features too. It gives you an overview of all the data in an article master record in a form that suits you. You can lay out your article master screen to your own specifications. You can turn off fields that you do not need and group fields together to meet your own special requirements.

Can I keep the article numbers I have used up to now?

Many retailers want to continue using their old article numbers in SAP Retail. They also want to retain the legacy systems template for creating these article numbers. Since you can assign your own numbers to article master records in SAP Retail, you can use the same numbers as you currently use. You can also have SAP Retail display the numbers in a format that suits you. If you want the system to generate article numbers, you can retain a reference to the old number. The article master provides a special field where you can record the old number. The SAP Retail article master supports other article numbers, notably all types of EAN (short EAN, vendors EAN). One EAN can be flagged so that it is always automatically entered in EDI records intended for communicating with a particular vendor. This allows you to react efficiently, even when special EANs are involved.

Tickets and Additionals

Fig 3-9: Labels and Tickets

What are tickets and additionals and why should I use them?
You assign additionals to an article to increase the effectiveness of its presentation to your customers. Additionals is an umbrella term used in SAP Retail to describe tickets or price labels, care labels, security tags, swing tickets, clothes hangers, and services such as arranging clothing for display on hangers.

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Each additional has its own master record and its data can be transmitted electronically. You can define events that automatically cause the system to generate the additional (for example, goods receipt). You can attach gum tabs and swing tickets. You can have special packaging made with private labels that have your companys image or that indicate which merchandise category the merchandise belongs to in the distribution chain.

Brand Management

Are additionals easy to use?

The central control parameter is the procedure for additionals. This is where you define whether data for the additional should appear in the assortment list and the events that cause the additional to be generated. For example: q Printing and affixing in-store Data for shelf-edge labels is sent to the stores using the assortment list. q Printing at head office and affixing in-store Data for posters is sent to the stores using the assortment list. q Affixing in the central distribution center In a central distribution center, goods receipts generate purchase orders for tickets. q Affixing in the regional distribution center In a regional distribution center, goods receipts generate purchase orders for tickets. You assign master records for additionals to the merchandise to which they apply. This merchandise can be promotional or part of your standard assortment.

A Range of Options for Affixing Tickets

Fig 3-10: Process Flow in Ticketing

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Just-In-Time Ticketing

Once the purchase order has been created and sent to the vendor, production can begin. Using the information you have provided in the purchase order about the additional, the vendor requests a quotation from a printer, who then negotiates the details of the order with your vendor. Once printed, the additionals are sent to your vendor, who affixes them to your merchandise for you.

Pricing
The Pricing component is a dual-purpose tool that can calculate both retail-sector sales prices (for distribution chains and stores) and wholesale-sector prices (for distribution chains and price lists) for you. You can specify the parameters on the basis of which you want the system to calculate the prices of new articles. These parameters can include the basic purchase price (cost) of the merchandise (the vendors base price or the distribution centers transfer price) and a planned markup, as specified by you.

Pricing Your Merchandise According to What the Market will Bear

The Pricing component is flexible enough to accommodate considerations (such as competition in your market segment) that affect the margin that you can define and the profit you can expect to make on your merchandise. If the cost of an article changes, Pricing allows you to choose whether the margin should stay the same (resulting in an adjusted retail price) or whether to sell the merchandise at the same price as before (with adjusted margins). Pricing reflects the stresses placed on the traditional value chain, where costs spiral with each new link in the chain. Efficient Consumer Response methods, such as meeting regional needs and optimizing logistics processes, help to reduce the merchandise costs that affect your sales price calculations.

Pricing Where do I start?

The first things to specify when you calculate sales prices are the articles for which you want to calculate prices and the organizational levels at which these prices are to apply. When you select the articles, you can also limit the selection to apply to a specific merchandise category, vendor (external supplier or distribution center), vendor subrange, and season. For example, you can select all the articles beginning with A bought from vendor 1000 and belonging to the merchandise category Beverages.

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Fig. 3-11: Selecting Records for Calculating Sales Prices

You can calculate prices at distribution chain level, at site or site group level, or at price list level. (A price list in the SAP Retail system is a group of customers maintained in the customer master.) You can also calculate separate prices for a specific organizational unit within a group. For example, you can have the system calculate a different price for one store than for the rest of its distribution chain, by entering both the distribution chain and the store on the selection screen.

Pricing Levels

Does Pricing allow me to monitor all the factors that might influence my pricing policy?
In SAP Retail, sales prices are usually calculated on the basis of the purchase price. The purchase price is determined using the purchase price calculation schema on the basis of condition types that affect pricing (for example, the basic purchase price or vendor discounts). Other parameters that are relevant to pricing are the regular vendor indicator set in the vendor master and the source of supply defined in the article master. The system evaluates these when determining the source of supply. Conditions are sets of criteria affecting price calculations. If, for example, a customer orders a certain quantity of an article on a particular day, the variables customer, article, purchase order quantity, and date determine the final price for the customer. All these variables are stored in the system as condition records.

Conditions and the Calculation Schema

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The R/3 Condition Technique has four main elements, including: q Condition type, which represents the type of price factor q Condition table, which comprises the condition records that contain the condition data you have entered in the system q Access sequence, which defines the order in which the system searches condition tables for a valid price. (Conditions can also be used cumulatively; you can add together discounts that are defined for both an article and its merchandise category.) q Calculation schema, which defines the condition types that are allowed and the sequence in which they are to be analyzed

Fig. 3-12: Access Sequences

You can also include the factor of a competitors price in your price calculation to ensure that you keep within the currently acceptable price range for your market segment.

When can I change prices?

Several Ways to Change a Price
You can use the sales price calculation function not only to calculate prices for new articles, but also to change the prices of existing articles. You can have the system calculate a percentage price change (such as a price reduction for seasonal merchandise). The system calculates the new sales price by applying a markup or markdown specified by you to the existing price. You can switch off price point rounding. You also have the option of calculating or changing sales prices in the background. You can calculate a sales price and save the results in a document generated specifically in readiness for releasing the price at a later date. You can also reverse sales price calculations, if necessary. You do not have to use the sales price calculation function to change prices, as you can make these changes (and activate them

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later) in the article master. You can call up a list of all the promotional merchandise assigned to a store or distribution center, or a list of all the sites that are allowed to stock a particular article. The system displays a variety of data for each article, including prices, margins, and a number of processing status levels (an overall processing status, a listing status, and promotion announcement status).

What options do I have in Pricing?

You have the option of changing parameters (such as the margin) in an interactive mode so that you can see the results of the sales price calculation immediately. You can also design your own Pricing screen layout and save it in a list variant. If you choose to calculate a sales price using price point rounding, the system automatically rounds the raw sales price calculated on the basis of the calculation schema to a price point. Price points are usually prices that have a familiar feel to consumers. For example, a calculated sales price of $ 37.61 would be rounded up to $37.99 or down to $37.50. Both planned markups and markdowns can be taken into account in Pricing. You plan markups and then trigger them at a particular time. You enter markdowns individually when you need them. Retailers that specialize in fashion are served especially well in Pricing since it supports generic articles and variants (otherwise known as master styles and styles). You can define for each variant whether it inherits the generic articles price or has its own price. You can calculate prices either in a single step, if a vendor is to supply a store direct, for example, or in two steps, if the store is to be supplied by an intermediary (your distribution center). The first step in a two-step sales price calculation is calculating the prices at which the distribution centers pass on the merchandise to the stores in various distribution chains. These distribution center transfer -prices then form the basis for the second step calculating the sales prices for stores or wholesale customers.

A Pricing Screen Tailored to Your Needs Prices Calculated with the Consumer in Mind

Special Benefits in the Fashion Sector

Fig. 3-13: Markups as a Factor in Sales Price Calculation

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How can I avoid carrying out unnecessary sales price (re-)calculations?

If you made changes to the purchase price (cost) of an article or the supply source determination parameters named above, you will want to check whether the sales price that has already been calculated for the article needs to be adjusted accordingly. The Pricing component provides a work list function that finds all changes that have been made to parameters that affect pricing and then places all the affected sales price calculations in a work list for you to process. The work list function tracks two main types of data: q Changes to conditions or supply sources. q The indices of the price calculation documents.

How easy is it to manage promotion prices?

You can assign sales deals or other sales arrangements to an SAP Retail promotion. The resulting prices remain active for the duration of the promotion. You can display a price overview, in which you can see a list of sales prices created in the sales price calculation function (or in the article master) side by side with the relevant promotion prices. SAP Retail also enables a seamless switch from standard prices to promotion prices and back again. Promotion prices are automatically downloaded to the point of sale on the date they become valid and are automatically reset to the standard prices when the promotion has finished. You can also deal with free-good discounts in one of two ways:

The POS Recognizes Promotion Prices

q You can specify a discount of 100%. q You can specify a retail price of zero. If you want to assign the discount item to the regular item, you can do this either: q Using the point-of-sale system q In a user exit

The Customer Relationship

The customer is a business partner to whom you sell merchandise. Customers fall into the following categories in SAP Retail: q Internal customers (own sites) q External customers (with customer master record) q Nonidentifiable consumers (without customer master record) Since every site can receive deliveries, every site has a customer master record too. Sales notched up at the point of sale by your sites nonidentifiable consumers are posted to a second customer master record.

How does customer master data help me with my day-to-day business?

Each customer has a customer master record that stores information on the customer. In all sorts of business transactions, whether it be creating sales orders, deliveries, or billing documents, the system automatically updates the relevant

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fields with default data taken from the customer master. This data is also used in the Financial Accounting component. Storing customer data in one place and sharing it between applications saves you time and effort. You never have to enter the same master data twice. If the address of one of your customers changes, you only need to make the change in one place in your system.

And what do I do with my consumer data?

Sales transaction data is captured at the POS when a customer in a store buys merchandise using any of the accepted means of payment. If the customer is known to the store, the customer number is transmitted to SAP Retail. If the customer is anonymous to the store, the system uses a default customer number to update the data. Payments made using a payment card (such as a debit or credit card) are passed on to Financial Accounting through Billing, just as you would expect with other means of payment. Open items accumulate in the appropriate account in preparation for settling up with the payment card company in question. Financial Accounting also keeps a record of all the data relating to the payment card transactions. All you do is run a report that compiles all the settlement data and sends it to the payment card company.

Can I also get statistics on my consumers long after sales data was posted?
The Information System contains statistics passed on from the Billing component. You can also have the info structures updated directly in the Information System by data received at the point-of-sale interface (inbound). Sales data can be transmitted to SAP Retail at two different levels of detail: q Basket analysis Every single sales transaction is communicated to SAP Retail, complete with full details. This option allows you to analyze the details of all your individual sales transactions. This might be appropriate if you wish to analyze the spending patterns of your customers in order to be able to award loyalty bonuses, for example. q Aggregated to the level of the number of articles sold per store You choose this option if you do not need detailed information on all sales transactions to be transmitted to SAP Retail.

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