Forecast accurately. Hit margin goals. React fast. Align cross-functionally. And do it all while managing store rollouts, drops, and collaborations.
But if your team still runs planning on spreadsheets or legacy systems, you’re stuck wasting hours every week building plans from scratch and fixing bad data before you can even get to analysis. That approach might get you through the season, but it doesn’t scale, and doesn’t catch risk before it eats into margins.
Disconnected planning doesn’t just slow teams down, it directly impacts the bottom line. Fashion retailers overproduced more than 5 billion units last year due to poor planning visibility, resulting in $140 billion in lost sales.1.(Retail Dive) Speed, not strategy change, is what separates successful planning teams. Getting the right data, fast, without rebuilding from scratch.
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Data-Rich, Decision-Poor: The Planning Gap Costing Retailers Millions
Legacy tools and spreadsheets are slowing retail planning. Toolio connects your data, accelerates decisions, and protects millions in revenue.
The Problem: Friction That Slows Everything Down
Merchandisers lose time and confidence every week to the same issues:
Manual reforecasting: No easy way to update plans, so teams start from scratch in Excel
Too much formatting, not enough insight: Stitching together data becomes the job
Collections and drops live ‘off-system’: Special plans for collaborations, etc. get messy and error-prone
Misalignment across teams: Finance, buying, allocation all work off different numbers
Workarounds everywhere: When tools can’t flex, people do at the cost of control
What’s at Risk?
Slow, error-prone planning doesn’t just waste time, it puts the business at risk:
Forecast misses: stockouts, markdowns, lost margin
Siloed systems: conflicting data, misalignment
Lack of agility: can’t react to shifts fast enough
Dirty data / inconsistent view: teams don’t trust what they see
$140B
In lost sales from brands producing up to 5B of excess stock
20%
Average monthly profit lost from size forecasting errors
75%
Of retail execs cite data-driven planning and forecasting their top priority
Source: BoF The State of Fashion 2025
The Fix: Planning Efficiency That Puts You Back in Control
Toolio helps you reclaim hours every week, make faster decisions, and stay ahead of shifting demand. Gain control over your calendar, your buys, and your margins.
Here’s the impact of modern planning, side-by-side:
How to Spot Inefficiencies and Start Fixing Them
How many hours go into formatting or stitching data together?
How long does it take to reforecast after a macro shift or markdown decision?
Are you using spreadsheets outside of your planning tools?
Are you still managing markdowns or product drops over email?
Where does your current system make these harder than they should be?
In-season pivots
Seasonal builds
Key buy reviews
Where are misalignments showing up downstream?
What’s the cost of not planning from the same set of numbers?
You don’t need a full implementation to see how Toolio improves planning. See the impact through live, guided demos tailored to real use cases: like reforecasting speed, assortment complexity, or planning around drops and collabs.
Let the platform speak for itself.
Retail-native templates built for merchandise planning, not just grids and cells
Real-time scenario modeling so you can pivot fast without starting over
Clean integration of sales actuals to keep every plan grounded in reality
Dynamic views and workflows that reflect how merch teams actually operate today
Before Toolio, Magnolia’s planning team juggled Excel, Domo, and NetSuite just to stay on top of inventory. The process was slow, manual, and fragmented. Reforecasting took hours. Visibility was limited. Decisions lagged behind sales trends.
With Toolio, they replaced all of that with one integrated platform.
Planning time dropped from 15 hours to 5 per week
Total efficiency improved by 30%
Inventory turnover increased, while stockouts decreased
Craig Smith
Sr. Merchandise Planner
“Being able to see a forward forecast has been especially beneficial in reacting to sales trends and staying in stock on items that are overperforming.”
What Changed?
One source of truth: Magnolia now plans, forecasts, and replenishes in Toolio with every team working from the same data
Faster decisions: Real-time visibility helps them act on trends before issues grow
Smarter purchasing: They’ve shifted from bulk buys to demand-aligned orders, improving cash flow and availability
Magnolia’s results show what’s possible when planning becomes faster, clearer, and grounded in real-time data.
Faster, More Accurate Planning with Toolio
Toolio doesn’t just speed up planning. It helps reduce stockouts, lower holding costs, and improve margins by turning reactive guesswork into proactive strategy.
AI-powered forecasting: More accurate demand = less overstock
Integrated platform: One plan across buying, finance, stores
Real-time collaboration: No more siloed teams or version control issues
Scenario planning: Model “what if” and act faster
Workflow automation: Less manual work = more time for strategy
2-3%
Margin Improvement
5-10%
Increased In-Stock Rate
5-10%
Turn Improvement
35%
Time Saving
10x
Return on Investments
You’re Not Just Saving Time, You’re Elevating Your Role
Planning faster means more than saving time. It means you can respond to the business faster, protect margin, and guide strategy with confidence.
Make strategic calls with confidence
Align your team and your business
Stay ahead of demand and competition
Hit your targets and explain how you did it
See Toolio In Action
The best way to understand what Toolio could do for you is to see for yourself. Get started with our team today!
