Don’t miss our Think Thank session.

October 22nd | 12:20 PM | Room 2

Confidence at the Core: Customer-Aligned Merchandising Decisions

with Flavio Bordignon, Leading Retail Planning Advisor

Merchandisers are faced with an almost impossible task: aligning plans to today’s customer. Decisions made without the customer dimension often lack confidence—and the results show it. In this session, we’ll open up a discussion with Flavio Bordignon, a leading retail planning advisor, on how forward-thinking retailers are addressing this challenge. Together, we’ll explore how putting the customer at the centre of merchandising decisions creates stronger plans, faster reactions, and more profitable outcomes.

The conversation will highlight how retailers are tackling persistent gaps—linking pre-season planning with in-season agility, managing seasonal and carryover products in a single view, and connecting full-price and outlet channels. We’ll discuss how collaboration, scenario planning, and foresight anchored in customer alignment can help teams make decisions that are more resilient, more responsive, and more confident.

If You Own the Product & Plan:
Whether you’re in buying, trading, or planning, this session is for you. Join the discussion on how to ground every range, buy, and inventory decision in customer demand signals—so plans reflect what shoppers actually want, not just historical sell-through. Share experiences on how connecting pre-season guardrails with in-season agility and scenario planning around shopper behaviour can protect margin, reduce risk, and build confidence across the season.

If You Drive Business Strategy:
Explore how to balance long-range targets with customer-aligned agility. Learn from peers how scenario modelling—across price, mix, and timing—helps anticipate demand shifts, align financial guardrails with in-season realities, and keep the customer at the centre of every strategic trade-off.

If You Oversee Merchandising Systems:
Discuss how to break down silos and move beyond product-only planning. Hear how retailers are embedding customer alignment directly into merchandising processes—from integrating seasonal and carryover products to connecting full-price and outlet channels. Learn how aligning systems and teams around the shopper journey creates decisions with greater confidence and clarity.