Unlocking visibility in merchandise and assortment planning at Takko Fashion

Securing growth through end-to-end merchandise planning

Takko Fashion, one of Europe’s largest fashion discounters, provides casual, family-oriented apparel for prices everyone can afford. With a robust omnichannel strategy, Takko enables customers to shop on their terms, whether online or in-store.

The company operates nearly 2,000 stores across 17 countries and employs about 18,000 people globally, creating a vast network that demands sophisticated, coordinated planning. Its broad product range and strong brand presence make it essential for Takko to manage assortment and inventory efficiently, ensuring smooth operations across various markets.

With Takko’s rapid growth came increasingly complex planning requirements. The company relied on disconnected systems for merchandise planning, making processes time-consuming . As Senior Director Planning & Allocation, Bernhard Westphal managed the project during the implementation phase in 2018. He explained:

"We were reaching the limits of our old system, especially with the ever-increasing volumes of data. Just for assortment planning alone, managing thousands of items, it quickly became difficult to avoid errors and to manage effectively."

Takko made the decision in 2018 to evaluate new merchandise planning capabilities that would map planning processes as flexibly as possible and that would not require the existing planning processes to be adapted to the specifications of the planning software. Bernhard added:

“We quickly realized we had high expectations with selecting the right software. It had to enable us to carry out integrated merchandise and assortment planning with a single source of truth and a consistent look and feel. It must also provide leading analysis and reporting while being flexible enough to map our processes in the best possible way.”

Board offers a flexible platform and a short implementation window

Takko invited various vendors to present Proof of Concept (PoC) solutions focusing on mapping specific planning needs like automatic distribution and quantity batch calculations for stores. Ultimately, Board and its partner Celver AG were selected, demonstrating deep expertise in fashion and retail.

"After analyzing the current processes, we prioritized the business departments’ requirements for the new solution. The goal was to make the entire planning process streamlined, transparent, and traceable, enabling detailed planning without compromising efficiency," said Carina Cruse, IT consultant at Takko Fashion.

Takko implemented the Board Merchandise Financial Planning (MFP) solution in just three months, going live at the start of 2018—exceeding initial expectations. MFP supported sales, goods received, inventory, and margin planning, incorporating rolling forecasts for over 50 complex key figures.

Following the introduction of MFP, the Assortment Planning solution was integrated with Takko’s product and order management system. Carina Cruse noted:

“Assortment planning is in use every day. This is where product managers plan and simulate at article level, plan options and delivery dates, and create quantity plans.”

Twice a year, Takko conducts major MFP planning sessions for its spring/summer and fall/winter collections. These sessions allocate budgets based on the previous year's figures, ensuring precise and structured planning for both physical and online stores.

Figures are broken down by category, season, and store before being passed on to assortment planning. The planned data is then forwarded directly to the receiving system, eliminating media break and reducing the risk of errors.

Board enables detailed analysis of current actuals compared to planned figures, offering real-time visibility into Takko’s performance and future plans. This functionality is particularly valuable for assortment planning, where Board supports fast- and slow-moving article analyses, potential assessments, and open-to-buy (OTB) management.

Unified planning processes and complete transparency

Takko’s planning, once managed by three separate systems, is now seamlessly unified in Board. Carina said:

“With everything integrated in one system, we have full visibility of our planning processes and status. Everyone involved can access the information important to them. This single source of truth reduces errors and enables more detailed planning and simulations.”

“Thanks to the integrated workflow control, we can automate many processes. The entire approval process is done digitally within the system. Board enables us to visualize our reports in such a way they are easy to understand, and key messages quickly understood.”

In addition to improved data quality and consistency, the Board solution, which is now used by more than 140 users, has given Takko Fashion greater agility and reduced the workload for all involved.

All these advantages mean that Takko feel perfectly positioned when it comes to planning. Over time, numerous new functions, logics, and supporting calculation models have been implemented, deeper planning levels created, and workflows continuously optimized.

The next major initiative for Takko is NOS (Never Out of Stock) and volume planning. This approach allows the retailer to maintain flexibility in responding to fashion trends while optimizing inventory levels to avoid overstock or shortages.

Carina recommends:

"Board is the answer for you if you have complex planning processes and want to work more efficiently, or if you have to process large amounts of data and need transparency, or if you want to create reports and visualize them attractively! Board offers a modern platform and the planning solutions you need for success.”