On an operational level in retail, the merchandise manager plays a key role in ensuring merchandise is in line with consumers wants and needs. A merchandise manager must make many choices, one including which product to send to different regions. Ensuring that relevant product is available for consumers, increases profit, reputation and availability.

In a business, “the key to making good decisions is having the relevant information readily available in the form that is needed” (How Information Supports Decisions Making) The capability to analyze this data efficiently, is a huge factor to a successful business and increased profit. A merchandise manager will have to analyze data collected from different regions to get the right product to the right stores at the right time. This data can be obtained by the information collected from different stores. The data that the manager should analyze should be what product is selling based on commodity, price, most and least favorable, what type of people are buying the products and what is the typical price range of sales. This information can be found through recent invoices, a sales database system, the customer information collected through online shopping or in person sales. In addition, looking at previous seasons sales can help forecast what could happen around that same time of year. Not only will meeting consumer demand through product availability increase sales but it can offset the cost of buying the product from suppliers by the profit return.

Learning Resource. (n.d.). How Information Supports Decision Making. learn.umgc.edu. https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/le/content/614401/viewContent/23105662/View.