Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) is on course to deploy an artificial intelligence (AI)-based merchandise planning platform.
The parent company of Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Free People, FP Movement, Anthropologie Weddings, Terrain, Menus & Venues, and Nuuly will implement the AI-equipped o9 merchandise financial planning, assortment planning, demand planning, allocation and replenishment solutions.
As a result, Urban Outfitters seeks to optimise decision-making by being able to more quickly adapt to trends, seasonality, stock positions, promotions and the unique demand drivers of the different banners in its portfolio. This will include determining the optimal product mix across channels, regions and stores.
In addition, Urban Outfitters intends to integrate predictive analytics, assumptions visibility and collaboration; as well as utilise advanced allocation and replenishment optimisation techniques to proactively position inventory to better meet consumer demand.
“To position URBN for long-term sustainable and profitable growth, we embarked on an extensive review of the retail software market to digitally transform our end-to-end merchandising strategy,” said Rob Frieman, CIO, URBN. “It’s clear that o9 is a solution leader in fashion apparel planning. We look forward to working with o9’s superior technology and highly knowledgeable and experienced team to ensure we continue to meet the demand of our customers and grow market share across all of our brands.”
