ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the different types of research conducted by buyers and merchandisers before they plan out their new product range, all of which will inform the merchandise plan. As well as considering the brand’s heritage, personality, and values, extensive research needs to be conducted on the market that it is competing in when creating a new product range. With such a fast-paced market characterised by fierce competition on a global scale, effective and thorough market research is essential to the success of a range. Data analytics are incredibly useful when used in the early range-planning and research stages of the buying cycle as well as during trading stage. Thus, development of fast-paced trends, complex product development, and heightened consumer demand has forced the industry to utilise metrics and rely much more on data. Furthermore, despite benefits of possessing huge amounts of data for helping with range planning, data cannot replace human decision-making, so must not solely be relied upon.
