For retail teams outgrowing operations-only tools · compared with Brightpearl
Brightpearl runs operations. merchmix runs the buy.
Brightpearl runs your operations after the buy button: orders, inventory, accounting and fulfilment. merchmix runs everything that decides the buy: MFP (WSSI), OTB, range planning, allocation, replenishment and daily trade. Run them together so planning and operations work off one set of numbers, not four systems and three handoffs.
Review and adjust plans by group. Direct ERP synchronisation ready.
- 10+ systems, 50+ spreadsheets
- What a mid-market retailer runs on before merchmix.
- Live in seconds
- Sales, stock and trade, near real time.
- Free 6-week POC
- On your own data, no contract.
Other systems stop at what happened.
- Automation stops at the buy buttonEverything after the sale is automated: orders, stock, fulfilment, accounting. What to buy, how much, and where it goes is still a spreadsheet job.
- The plan never meets the operationBuying and planning happen outside the system, so every decision is re-keyed into operations and loses accuracy on the way.
- Reporting tells you what happenedYou can see performance after the fact, but nothing turns those numbers into the next buy, the next allocation, the next move.
merchmix and Brightpearl
Brightpearl runs after the buy. merchmix decides it.
Both merchmix and Brightpearl describe themselves as running the whole of retail. The difference is which half each one runs. Brightpearl runs the back office after the buy button: order management, inventory, accounting, purchasing, warehouse and fulfilment. merchmix runs the front office that decides the buy: WSSI, OTB, range planning, allocation, replenishment, the planogram and the actions yukti takes. Run them together, or grow into horizon, forge, orbit and vertex when the time comes.
merchmix
Merchandising-led · Planning, trading and action
- WSSI, OTB and range planning
- Option planning and range building
- ERP, POS, ecommerce and supplier data, connected
- Weather, search demand and market data streams
- Competitor product movement and pricing signals
- Forecasts and merchandising recommendations
- Allocation and replenishment by SKU, store and week
- Store transfers and stock availability
- Planogram, visual merchandising and store-level action
- Works with your existing systems, with approved write-back
Brightpearl
Operations-led · Stock, orders and accounting
- Inventory and stock control
- Order management and fulfilment
- Sales channel and ecommerce integrations
- Purchasing, supplier and warehouse workflows
- Built-in accounting and financial management
- Automation engine for post-purchase operations
core
From first signal to shop floor.
core is the commercial engine. Budgets, planning, range building and daily trade in one place, reading years of your sales history beside live signals from every connected system. Plug it into the stack you already run, with write-back to your ERP, OMS or Shopify.
Direction
Before a single budget is set, merchmix reads your history and your signals and shows where growth can come from, and what is holding it back.
core · DirectionSnapshot 2 July 2026Outcome influence mapWatchOpen detail →yukti · AW25 outerwear is holding 22.4 weeks of cover at 8% margin, so the markdown clears it before the autumn intake lands.Revenue at risk$32.8MAcross all four driversTop actionmarkdown2,376 SKUsBudget
Growth direction becomes commercial targets: sales, GP, stock investment, OTB, down to category level. One budget, one version.
Edit budget · 2027Outerwear · top-down and bottom-up allocations, by store and week.Hierarchy viewStore → Metric → Deptyukti · Northgate is running 6.1% ahead on Outerwear with cover at 6.2 weeks, so W2 carries $46,200 without moving the intake.Hierarchy Total company (sales $) $1,248,750 $1,312,500 $1,385,625 $1,451,250 Total company (GP $) $799,200 $853,125 $886,800 $943,313 300 · Northgate (Outerwear) – – – – Sales $ (metric) $39,960 $42,000 $44,340 $46,440 GP $ (metric) $25,574 $27,300 $28,378 $30,186 Control
The WSSI turns the budget into a weekly sales, stock and intake plan. Continuity protects your never-out lines before gaps become lost sales.
Merchandise financial planningWomenswear · Outerwear · sales, stock, intake and markdown in one live weekly view.?BrandAllCategoryWomenswearSub-categoryOuterwearStoreAll storesYear2026ViewSearch metrics…Quick POMetric Trend Q1 1 2 WK1 WK2 WK3 WK4 WK5 WK6 WK7 WK8 TY WoW % 6.8 -8.4 -4.6 2.8 3.5 -1.9 4.2 2.6 FC WoW % 4.3 -3.1 -1.8 1.5 2.2 1.4 2.0 1.7 BGT WoW % 2.8 4.7 1.9 2.3 3.1 1.2 2.4 2.0 Gross sales TY 1,256,173 1,150,655 1,097,725 1,128,461 1,167,957 1,145,766 1,193,888 1,224,929 Full-price sales TY 1,174,686 1,070,110 1,019,605 1,048,821 1,085,997 1,063,356 1,110,708 1,140,909 Markdown sales TY 81,487 80,545 78,120 79,640 81,960 82,410 83,180 84,020 Gross sales FC 1,210,000 1,172,000 1,151,000 1,168,000 1,194,000 1,211,000 1,235,000 1,256,000 Discount % FC 24.0 24.5 24.8 24.6 24.2 24.0 23.8 23.6 Gross sales BGT 1,160,000 1,215,000 1,238,000 1,266,000 1,305,000 1,321,000 1,353,000 1,380,000 MFP recommendationsAnalysis across sales, intake, stock, margin and weekly cover.Stock opportunity$45,200Potential upside from forecast adjustmentStock risk$128kProjected overstock exposureSKU candidates48Metrics flagged for reviewPriority actionsRebalance: Women’s outerwear12 SKUs are projected to exceed 20 weeks cover by W9, while forecast sales are recovering from W4 onward. Review markdown timing, intake phasing and transfer opportunities before committing further buys.High confidenceAvg cover 22.4wRange
Option counts shape the assortment, range boards turn it into product, and cross costing checks supplier, landed cost and margin before you commit the buy.
Moments
Trading moments and marketing spend planned against the same numbers as the range, so the calendar and the buy never disagree.
FY27DraftChannel planReviewApprovalTrackingWomenswear · Outerwear — build the channel allocation, review, approve, then track against it.Total spend$6,392.37Incremental rev$38,993.46ROAS6.1xOrders268WeekMonthQuarterChannel W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 Trading & promo Paid social $262.16 $262.16 $262.16 $1,048.63 $1,048.63 $1,048.63 Paid search $410.00 $410.00 $410.00 $410.00 $410.00 $410.00 Budget line $3,329.29 $3,677.63 $4,388.34 $4,208.94 $3,781.38 $3,943.32 Variance $2,657.13 $3,005.47 $3,716.18 $2,750.31 $2,322.75 $2,484.69 Trade and review
The daily beat. merchmix surfaces the ranked move, your team approves, one click executes it across your stack, and the decision log records every call. Product reviews feed what worked back into the next budget. The loop closes.
AllSeasonal wrapPerformanceWeekly trade dashboardSales$793.6K+6.1% vs LYGross profit$367.7K+7.0% vs LYGP %46.3%+0.4 pts vs LYMarkdown18%-1.6 pts vs LWTop best sellersHero SKUs ranked by sales.Hero Leather SandalSandals / SlidesSS26-1042Sales$31.8KMargin61.4%WOC6.2Bottom sellersLowest-productivity SKUs.Cloud Walker SandalsSandals / SlidesAW25-0871Sales$2.4KMargin8.0%WOC66.4Report PDFExecutive summaryOne clear narrative for the meeting.Trade commentarywaiting
Every product stands alone.
Plan what to buy, put stock where demand is, and keep the shop floor selling. Buy one product, a few, or run the whole platform. Most retailers start with core, because that is where it hurts.
- coremost start here
Plan the season in one place.
Budgets, WSSI, OTB, ranges and sizes, connected. Replaces the planning spreadsheets.
- core plus
core, plus allocation and the planogram.
Allocation and replenishment by SKU, store and week, and the shop floor made to match the plan.
- forge
Every product, from first sketch to costed, approved and ready to sell.
Specs, samples, suppliers and critical path, linked to buying and planning.
- beacon
One portal for your suppliers.
Orders, shipments, invoices, on time.
- atlas
Every number you trade on, live, on one screen.
Dashboards, reporting packs and the Monday meeting, without the deck.
- horizon
The retail ERP that already knows what a season is.
Products, inventory, purchasing, sales and finance, connected to the plan.
- orbit
Receive, store, pick, ship.
Warehouse management that talks to the plan.
- vertex
Every order, every channel, one view from click to doorstep.
Routing, splits, backorders and fulfilment exceptions across every location.
- yukti
The agent that does the work.
Rebalances, replenishes, raises the PO, creates the style. You approve, or let it run.
Every product stands alone. Start with the one that hurts most.
Brightpearl keeps the back office.
merchmix connects to the systems you already use and gives the team one live view of sales, stock, orders, suppliers and store performance. Keep Brightpearl for orders, inventory, accounting and fulfilment, with approved write-back from merchmix where you want it.
Start with the workflow that hurts most. Add more as the business grows.
Questions, answered.
What is the best Brightpearl alternative for retail planning?
merchmix, for retailers that need merchandising and planning workflows around MFP (WSSI), OTB, range planning, allocation, replenishment, the planogram and the actions yukti takes. Brightpearl is a strong platform for back-office operations. merchmix runs the front-office planning and trading decisions that sit before the buy.
How is merchmix different from Brightpearl?
Brightpearl is operations-led, with strengths across inventory, order management, accounting, purchasing and fulfilment after the sale. merchmix is merchandising-led, connecting planning, buying, allocation, replenishment, store execution and trade actions that decide what to buy and how to trade it.
Can merchmix integrate with Brightpearl?
Yes. merchmix works alongside Brightpearl and other operations, POS and ecommerce systems. It reads sales, stock, product, supplier and order data, and writes approved outputs back where you want it to.
Does merchmix replace Brightpearl?
It does not have to. Run merchmix as the merchandising and planning layer in front of Brightpearl, or grow into the full platform with horizon, forge, orbit and vertex when you are ready.
How does merchmix compare with other Brightpearl alternatives?
Most tools listed as Brightpearl alternatives are operations, inventory or ERP systems. They record stock, orders and accounts. merchmix decides what to buy and where stock goes: MFP (WSSI), OTB, option plans, allocation by store and size, replenishment, transfers and size curves. See how the main platforms compare.
What does merchmix cost, and which system stays the record?
1/10 the cost of enterprise suites, live in 12 to 15 weeks. Brightpearl, or your ERP, stays the system of record for orders, stock and accounts. merchmix reads from it, and anything written back is approved first and logged.
What retail planning does merchmix include?
MFP (WSSI), OTB, option planning, range planning, budget planning, product reviews, dashboards, trade reporting, forecasts and merchandising recommendations.
What is the best software for WSSI, OTB and range planning?
merchmix connects MFP (WSSI), OTB and range planning in one workflow, so the team moves from budget to range to allocation and replenishment without disconnected spreadsheets.
What is the difference between MFP and WSSI?
MFP (merchandise financial planning) and WSSI (weekly sales, stock and intake) describe the same discipline: planning sales, stock, intake and open-to-buy at weekly level. WSSI is the common term in UK and Australian retail. MFP is more common in the US. merchmix runs both under one weekly planning engine, connected to OTB, range planning, allocation and replenishment.
How does merchmix help with allocation and replenishment?
core plus allocates and replenishes by SKU, store and week, moving stock to demand and protecting availability across stores and channels. yukti raises the refill inside the rules you set.
Why do retailers use merchmix alongside an operations platform?
To add merchandising workflows, faster trade actions, external data streams, forecasts and store execution without losing the stock, order and finance truth they already have.
From reporting to action in six weeks.
A 1-hour demo with sales and product, then a free 6-week POC on your own data, no contract. Live in 12 to 15 weeks, end to end.
Updated 10 September 2026