For retail teams planning in spreadsheets · compared with Excel
Excel holds the plan. merchmix runs it.
Your WSSI (MFP), OTB and weekly trade views live in Excel because nothing else kept up. merchmix takes those same views and makes them live: sales, stock, intake and OTB update themselves, everyone works from one version of the truth, and a decision becomes a PO, an allocation or a markdown without leaving the system.
| Category | Intake Units | Stock Cover | Spreadsheet State |
|---|---|---|---|
Outerwear | 28,000 units | 2.1w (Deficit) | Trapped in dead cell |
Knitwear | 34,500 units | 5.8w (Balanced) | v36 vs v37 conflict |
Dresses | 19,200 units | 4.4w (Balanced) | Pending supplier email |
Tops & Tees | 48,000 units | 3.9w (Replenish) | Manual ERP queue |
- 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.
The file was never the problem.
- Stale on arrivalEvery view is an export, and every export is already out of date. You trade this week on last week's truth.
- Four versions of finalSomewhere there is a file called FINAL_v7_ACTUAL. One file per person, one truth per file, and version control eats the meeting before decisions even start.
- A plan that cannot actThe decision lives in a cell. Getting it into the business means retyping it into three other systems and hoping. A spreadsheet cannot raise a PO, push an allocation or flag that a size curve broke while everyone was asleep.
merchmix and Excel
The same views, live, with action built in.
Spreadsheets earned their place. They are flexible, familiar, and every merchandiser on earth can build one. What they cannot do is stay live, agree with each other, or act on the business. merchmix keeps the views your team already trusts, the WSSI, the OTB, the weekly trade grid, in the editable grid format they already work in, and connects them to real sales, stock and intake, with approvals, an audit trail and execution built in. And when you still want a file, it exports to Excel.
merchmix
Live, one version of the truth · Connected, decision to execution
- WSSI, OTB and range plans that update themselves
- Sales, stock and intake refreshed live, no exports
- One version of the truth for every team
- TY vs LY vs LY-1 comparison built in
- Approvals and a full audit trail on every change
- Forecasts and merchandising recommendations
- A decision becomes a PO, an allocation or a markdown in the system
- Weekly trade review replaces the emailed recap deck
- Critical path timelines replace the spreadsheet project plan
- Import and export Excel and CSV whenever you want the file
Excel
Flexible, any model you can build · Familiar, zero learning curve
- Model anything, no vendor required
- Everyone on the team already knows it
- Already on every laptop in the business
- Ideal for one-off analysis and scratch work
- You own every formula end to end
core
From first signal to shop floor.
core is the commercial engine of merchmix: budgets, planning, range building and daily trade in one place, reading years of your sales history alongside live signals from every connected system. Every view below is one your team has tried to build in a workbook. Here they are live, connected, and writing back to your ERP, OMS or Shopify.
Direction
The season usually starts with last year's file, copied forward and adjusted by hand. merchmix starts it by reading years of sales history alongside live market signals, showing where growth can come from and what is holding it back. You open the season pointed at opportunity, not at a template.
core · DirectionSnapshot 2 July 2026Outcome influence mapWatchOpen detail →Driver mix from the latest briefing flagsSelect a driverOverstock exposure · 64.7%AW25 outerwear · 22.4 weeks cover — $21.2M of the $32.8M at risk across 6,720 SKUs. Mark down, then transfer the residual.Revenue$21.2MSKUs6,720yukti · 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
No more targets pasted into a tab and reconciled by email. Growth direction becomes commercial targets: sales, GP, stock investment and OTB, down to category level. One budget, one version, agreed once and carried through every stage that follows.
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 (sales u) 20,813 21,875 23,094 24,188 Total company (GP $) $799,200 $853,125 $886,800 $943,313 Total company (GP %) 64.0% 65.0% 64.0% 65.0% 300 · Northgate (Outerwear) – – – – Sales $ (metric) $39,960 $42,000 $44,340 $46,440 Sales U (metric) 666 700 739 774 GP % (metric) 64.0% 65.0% 64.0% 65.0% GP $ (metric) $25,574 $27,300 $28,378 $30,186 Control
This is the WSSI you already run, without the exports. The budget becomes a weekly sales, stock and intake plan that updates itself, continuity protects your never-out lines before gaps become lost sales, and every change stays connected to the numbers you signed off.
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 recommendationsAI-driven analysis 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
Range boards replace the static deck, and cross costing replaces the margin tab. Option counts shape the assortment, and supplier, landed cost and margin are checked before you commit the buy, so nothing is bought that the plan cannot carry.
Dashboard›Assortment Plan›Range Boards›2026-H2-Men-Home-WearRange Board Details
Review and adjust plans by group. Direct ERP synchronization ready.
Vintage Oversized Cotton Tee PackSKUS: 13UNITS: 3,250LANDED: $27,625ORDER: $94,250Draft
Moments
Trading moments and marketing spend are planned against the same numbers as the range, not in a separate calendar file. The calendar and the buy never disagree, and every promotion and drop lands against stock that is actually there.
FY27Womenswear · Outerwear — build the channel allocation, review, approve, then track against it.DraftChannel planReviewApprovalTrackingTotal spend$6,392.37Incremental rev$38,993.46ROAS6.1xOrders268WeekMonthQuarterChannel W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 Baseline (organic)baseline — — — — — — Trading & promo Performance $672.16 $672.16 $672.16 $1,458.63 $1,458.63 $1,458.63 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 Weekly spend $672.16 $672.16 $672.16 $1,458.63 $1,458.63 $1,458.63 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 Monday meeting, without the version debate. 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, and the cycle starts again.
AllSeasonal wrapPerformanceWeekly trade dashboardTopline metrics, category drill-down and the actions the room agrees on.Sales$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 SandalSS26-1042Sandals / SlidesUnits248Sales$31.8KMargin61.4%WOC6.2Luna Strappy HeelSS26-1067Heels / OccasionUnits211Sales$27.6KMargin58.9%WOC7.1Bottom sellersLowest-productivity SKUs.Cloud Walker SandalsAW25-0871Sandals / SlidesUnits38Sales$2.4KMargin8.0%WOC66.4Sky Strider Flip-FlopsAW25-0904Sandals / SlidesUnits49Sales$3.1KMargin9.7%WOC61.7Report PDFExecutive summaryOne clear narrative for the meeting.Trade commentarywaitingSalesCurrent$793,560STD$4,862,400Next week$812,000Gross profitCurrent$367,694STD$2,245,900Next week$376,000
One platform, built to grow with you.
merchmix helps your team plan what to buy, put stock where demand is, and keep the shop floor selling. Every product stands alone: buy one, buy 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.
Nothing gets ripped out.
merchmix connects to the systems you already use, giving teams one live view of sales, stock, orders, suppliers and store performance. Your ERP, POS and ecommerce tools keep doing their jobs, and the exports your team used to run by hand become feeds that run themselves.
Bring your existing plans with you: upload your Excel and CSV files to get started, and export any view back out whenever you need a file.
merchmix is shaped by retail operators, not outside observers. The founding team spent years inside retail brands running budgets, WSSI, OTB, range planning, allocation and daily trade, and for most of those years the tool was a spreadsheet. merchmix is the system they wished the file could be.
Start with the workflow that hurts most, for most teams that is the WSSI, then add more as the business grows.
Questions, answered.
What is the best alternative to Excel for retail planning?
A retail platform that keeps the same planning views live. merchmix connects WSSI (MFP), OTB, range planning, allocation and weekly trade to real sales, stock and intake, so plans update themselves and decisions execute in the system instead of living in files.
Can I build a WSSI in Excel?
Yes, and most merchandising teams have. The limits show up in trade: exports go stale, versions multiply, and the file cannot act on the business. merchmix runs the same weekly sales, stock and intake structure as a live view with approvals and a full audit trail.
What is the difference between WSSI and MFP?
They describe the same discipline. WSSI, weekly sales stock and intake, is the UK and European term; MFP, merchandise financial planning, is the US one. merchmix runs both as one live planning grid.
Does merchmix replace Excel?
It replaces the jobs Excel was never built for: live planning, version control, approvals and execution. Any view still exports to Excel whenever your team wants a file for offline analysis.
How does data get in without manual exports?
Through connectors across ERP, POS, ecommerce and supplier systems, sales, stock and intake feed in automatically. Your ERP stays the system of record, with approval-first write-back.
Do we lose the flexibility of spreadsheets?
Spreadsheets stay ideal for one-off analysis and scratch work, and that is where they should stay. merchmix takes over the repeatable operating views, the WSSI, the OTB, weekly trade, where flexibility without version control is exactly what breaks.
What does moving off spreadsheets involve?
Less than replacing a system, because there is no system to replace. merchmix connects to the stack you already run, your existing plans upload via Excel and CSV as the starting point, and teams typically start with the workflow that hurts most, then add products as the business grows.
Why do retailers move off spreadsheets for merchandise planning?
Version control, stale exports, error risk, and no route from decision to execution. The plan is usually good. The problem is that a file cannot see the business or act on it.
Is merchmix hard to learn for a team that lives in Excel?
No. The planning views are editable grids, week-by-week rows with TY vs LY vs LY-1 alongside, the same shape as the WSSI your team already runs. What changes is what sits behind the grid: live data, approvals and a route from every decision to execution.
Retire the file, keep the discipline.
See your own WSSI, OTB and weekly trade running live in merchmix, connected to real sales, stock and intake, with a route from every decision to execution. A 1-hour demo with sales and product, then a free 6-week POC on your own data, no contract.