Employ a Detailed Approach to Merchandise Analysis

The final costs to apply are fixed (overhead) costs. Generally, these expenses are in the 8 percent to 12 percent of sales range.

So, applying a fixed percentage to all items provides a bottom-line view of what your season looked like or will look like in planning mode.

‘Exactly Right Later’
On the surface, this approach may appear to be contradictory to the one I outlined in my July column (see “Stay On Top of the Metrics,” pg. 47, July 2007 issue).