Adjust the settings that determine how the metrics within the Inventory module are calculated in WorkstandIQ.
OTB Settings
Trending
- Allows the forecasted information in the Open to Buy report to be personalized.
- In WorkstandIQ, go to Inventory > Settings > OTB Settings.
- Adjust the Trending Period for the amount of days to be used in various calculations in the Open to Buy report for the trending period. (The default selection is 90 days.)
- The "Adjust Forecast by Trend" below does affect what this box is used for.
- In the Advanced Settings, the Trending Percentage for each category can be adjusted.
- This adjusts the weighting of the trending period data into the sales forecasts for each category.
- Adjust the Future Forecast Period for the amount of days to be used in various calculations in the Open to Buy report for the forecast period. (The default selection is 90 days.)
- If the Adjust Forecast by Trend is set to "Yes" then the "Trending Period" box above will be factored into the forecast information.
- Adjust the Trending Period selection to change the time period for the "365d Trend" column on the Open to Buy report. The default selection is 365 days.
- The Custom Future Forecast Periods can be used to add custom forecast columns to the Open to Buy Report.
- The Custom Forecast Periods are not used for any other calculations in the Open to Buy Report.
- The "Future Forecast Period" above needs to be adjusted for that.
- The Custom Forecast Periods are not used for any other calculations in the Open to Buy Report.
- If a change is made, press the "Save" button in the top right corner before moving on.
General
- Adjust general Inventory settings.
- In WorkstandIQ, go to Inventory > Settings > OTB Settings and then click the "General" tab at the top of the screen.
- The "SKU History Length" determines how long WorkstandIQ holds onto SKU history within categories. (The number entered is in Days and the default is 365 days.)
- The "Weeks to keep all reports before purging" is the number of weeks the historical Open to Buy reports will be kept which is located in Inventory > Power Tools > Historical OTB. (The default is 12 weeks.)
- In the Advanced Settings, a Preseason Template can be used and additional turn rate periods can be toggled on / off.
- The Preseason Template allows retailers to generate OTB reports without impacting the settings of the daily reports. This is most useful during the traditional buying season but can be used at any time.
- The Turn Rate selections reflects the time on the platform and allows turn rates to be automatically calculated when determining the min/max range. Stores begin on R1 or one month's worth of turn rate data. R12 can be turned on after 12 months of being connected to RTK and displays the 12 month turn rate.
- This setting can be different for different locations, which is especially useful when opening a new store. R1 = 1 Month Turn Rate. R3 = 3 Month Turn Rate. R12 = 12 Month Turn Rate. R12 is suggested after a merchant has been connected for 12 months.
- The Area of Concern Widget Significance Threshold determines when a category is included in the Area of Concern widget in the Inventory Dashboard. The number entered is the amount of dollars a category needs to be over the Max number by to be included in that widget.
- If a change is made, press the "Save" button in the top right corner before moving on.
OTB
- Make broad adjustments to how the Open to Buy report is calculated.
Note: Department refers to the top-level categories. Category is what is nested directly under that Department (or top-level category). Subcategory is what is nested directly under that Category.
E.g. In the catalog structure of Bikes > Road > Women's. "Bikes" is the Department, "Road" is the Category, and "Women's" is the Subcategory.
- In WorkstandIQ, go to Inventory > Settings > OTB Settings then click the "OTB" tab at the top of the screen.
- The "Limit Category OTB based on Department OTB" allows the suggested Open to Buy Fill-In Amount for each Category to be limited based on the fill-in amount for its Department.
- Select "Yes" to limit each Category based on its Department.
- Using the example above, if Yes is selected and if the Bikes Department has a suggested fill-in amount of $10,000 then the suggested fill-in amount for the Road Category (or any Category within Bikes) would never exceed $10,000.
- The "Limit Subcategory OTB based on Category OTB" allows the Open to Buy Fill-In Amount for each Subcategory to be limited based on the fill-in amount for its Category.
- Select "Yes" to limit each Subcategory based on its Category.
- Using the example above, if Yes is selected and if the Road Category has a suggested fill-in amount of $10,000 then the suggested fill-in amount for the Women's Subcategory (or any Subcategory within Road) would never exceed $10,000.
- The "OTB Model" selection allows the recommended fill-in amounts to be calculated based on the suggested Max ("Suggest to Max" option) or on the calculated target Quantity on Hand ("Suggest to Target Bullseye" option).
- The "Default to Include Incoming POs in QOH" selection allows locations to be selected to have the "Include Incoming POs in QOH" box checked by default in the Open to Buy report.
- If a change is made, press the "Save" button in the top right corner before moving on.
Min/Max
- Allows adjustments to be made for how the Min/Max suggestions are calculated.
- In WorkstandIQ, go to Inventory > Settings > OTB Settings then click the "Min/Max" tab at the top of the screen.
- For the "Base Turn Rate", when first connected to WorkstandIQ the "Static" option will be selected, meaning the calculations will be made based on the set turn values entered in the boxes.
- After 12 months of being on IQ, the "Dynamic" option can be selected, meaning that WorkstandIQ will automatically adjust the turn values used for the calculations.
- By default, the "Default Minimum Inventory (turns)" is set to: 4.0 and the "Default Maximum Inventory (turns)" is set to 3.0.
- The minimum turn rate should be higher than the maximum turn rate.
- For example, if over the course of 12 months your shop sold $100,000 worth of accessories and if that inventory was turned over four times during that year then the average quantity on hand would be $25,000. If that inventory was turned over three times during that year then the average quantity on hand would be $33,333. Giving a minimum of $25,000 and a maximum of $33,333.
- The "Min / Max Model" selection determines if the Min/Max range is based on the algorithm's calculations ("Target Range" option) or based on the Standard Min/Max.
- If a change is made, press the "Save" button in the top right corner before moving on.
Scheduled Emails
- Allows individual email addresses to receive an email at the specified day and time with an Open to Buy Report Notification.
- In WorkstandIQ, go to Inventory > Settings > OTB Settings and then click the "Scheduled Emails" tab at the top of the screen.
- Enter the email address.
- Check the appropriate boxes for the days of the week this email address should receive this email.
- Enter the time for this email to be sent. (Eastern Standard Time is the time zone.)
- Press the "Add Row" button to add an additional email address.
- If a change is made, press the "Save" button in the top right corner before moving on.
Caution: The "Show Advanced Parameters" button at the top right of the screen will display additional advanced settings for all of the tabs and is for advanced users only. We suggest not adjusting the advanced parameters as it can have adverse effects. Please contact the Client Success team if you have any questions.
Advanced Parameters
- Scoring allows a merchant to adjust how the scoring works.
- Min / Max Adj. allows a merchant to adjust min / max scores. Advanced Settings
- Targeting allows you to adjust targets for category sales by month
Advanced Settings
Forecast Overwrites
- Allows the Open to Buy report to be told to ignore a specific dollar amount of inventory for a specified amount of time. For example, if an extra $200,000 worth of extra bike inventory was acquired. This section can be used to tell Open to Buy to ignore the $200,000 for 90 days, or however long you think it will take to sell the inventory.
- In WorkstandIQ, go to Inventory > Settings > Advanced Settings > Forecast Overwrites.
- Press the "Add New Overwrite" button.
- Select the Location.
- Select the Category of the product to be excluded.
- Enter the Dollar amount for Open to Buy to ignore for that Category.
- Select the date that the inventory was received.
- In the "Sell through days" field, enter the amount of time it will take to sell through the inventory. To exclude the inventory for 90 days then enter: 90.
- Press the "Submit" button.
Min/Max Turns Overwrites
- Allows specific Min/Max turn rates to be set for specific categories which will overwrite the overall Min/Max settings.
- In WorkstandIQ, go to Inventory > Settings > Advanced Settings > Min Max Turns Overwrites.
- Press the "Create a new entry" link.
- Enter the Minimum turns for the category.
- Enter the Maximum turns for the category.
- Select the location.
- Select the category.
- Press the "Submit" button.
OTB Report Views
- Allows a default view to be chosen when viewing the Open to Buy Report.
- In WorkstandIQ, go to Inventory > Settings > Advanced Settings > OTB Report Views.
- Select the bubble box for the option you would like to be the default view for the Open to Buy Report.
- Press the "Save" Button.