From weekly meetings to continuous replenishment
How a 28-store apparel network moved from spreadsheet-driven replenishment to a continuous decision loop — and freed two days a week per buyer.
Outcome
+15% sell-through
Network
28 stores · 6 categories
Measured outcomes
+15%
Sell-through · top three categories, first quarter
2 days
Freed up per buyer every week
−50%
Stock-outs on core lines
What's wired up
Systems connected
Merchandising system
Master catalog · daily sync
Warehouse feed (WMS)
On-hand & on-order · live
Store POS
Sell-through · 28 stores
Before · After
Before
Weekly Excel rebuild
Buyers spent every Monday and Tuesday rebuilding the same replenishment view from sell-through, on-hand and on-order spreadsheets. By the time recommendations reached store managers, the data was already two days stale.
After
A loop that runs all day
Each store·SKU pair is re-evaluated several times a day against demand signals, coverage targets and warehouse availability. Buyers approve only the exceptions, and approved decisions push straight back to the WMS and merchandising system.
The challenge
Buyers were spending nearly every Monday and Tuesday rebuilding the same replenishment view from store sell-through, on-hand and on-order spreadsheets. By the time recommendations reached store managers, the data was already two days stale.
What we changed
Solya plugged into the merchandising system and warehouse feed via its data layer, then ran the team's existing replenishment rules continuously instead of weekly. Buyers kept full approval rights — what changed was the cadence and the way exceptions surfaced.
How decisions get made
Every store/SKU pair is re-evaluated several times a day against demand signals, store-level coverage targets and warehouse availability. Anything that needs a human eye (new product, low confidence, capped budget) lands in a queue with the context already attached.
Where it lands
Approved transfers and reorders flow straight back into the WMS and merchandising system. Buyers stopped exporting to Excel; store managers stopped chasing missing stock by email.
What changed
- +15% sell-through across the top three categories in the first quarter
- Two full days per week freed up per buyer
- Stock-outs on core lines dropped by more than half
Related: see how AI agents handle markdowns and transfers for the next step beyond replenishment, or how Solya's orchestration layer closes the decision-to-execution loop across systems.
More use cases
A seasonal buy plan, signed off in one review
A 14-store apparel buyer had to cut next season's open-to-buy by 12% — and built a sharper plan on two years of live sell-through instead of intuition.
Move stock before markdown is the only option left
A 9-store streetwear brand turned twice-a-season panic transfers into a calm weekly lever — moving stock six weeks before markdown was the only answer left.
Allocation that finally knows the network
A 14-store apparel network still split each season with a rule written when it had 8 stores. Solya re-allocated on what every store had actually become.
From the blog
What is WSSI? Weekly sales, stock & intake planning
WSSI — weekly sales, stock and intake — is the weekly heartbeat of merchandise planning. It sets the financial frame, but it doesn't make the decisions.
Retail ERP vs a decision layer: what each does
A retail ERP is your system of record — it runs the transactions. It doesn't decide the SKU/store moves. That's a different layer, and often a missing one.
What does a retail merchandiser do? Role and skills
A retail merchandiser decides what a store sells, how much, and at what price. It's a decision job — and the decisions now outnumber the hours to make them.