Guitar Center Deploys o9 Solutions Omni-Channel Merchandise Planning Solution

Guitar Center’s merchandising processes have undergone significant change in the last decade.

Their merchandising processes historically have been operated under multiple brands and channels and their merchandise planning system has struggled to keep the pace with brand and channel needs and the unique challenges caused by selling a mix of new and used products.

The merchandise planning struggles have caused productivity drain, disconnected planning and sub-optimal decisions.

In 2014, Guitar Center’s leadership embarked on a journey to transform their merchandising organization, processes and systems.

o9 Solutions was selected by Guitar Center in 2015 to implement the o9 Solutions next generation merchandise planning solution known as mPower.

One of Guitar Center’s key business criteria was the ability to deploy the system in time for the 2016 planning cycle.

o9 Solutions had the advantage of being a multi-tenant cloud solution with a highly configurable front and back end, which allowed it to meet Guitar Center’s aggressive timeline.

“As we went down the road to select a partner for our merchandising solution needs, we had a number of critical considerations” said Flynn Chernos, Senior Vice President, Planning at Guitar Center.

“First, we wanted to select a partner who could not only fulfill our current needs, but also offer a complete solution for future needs. Second, user adoption was critical to our success. Third, speed and agility were key to achieving our business goals.”

“We were impressed with mPower’s breadth and capabilities and o9’s speed and agility. We are excited by our initial success and the foundation it creates for a strong partnership in future,” continued Chernos.

“Guitar Center needed to plan across multiple dimensions including brands, channels, categories, inventory segments and vendors” said Vikas Goel, General Manager, Retail, at o9 Solutions.

“Meeting these needs required a flexible user front-end, modeling and computational framework. Our mPower platform was designed specifically for the next generation consumer-centric digital retail business processes.”

“The opportunity to work with an iconic company like Guitar Center is a powerful validation of o9’s mPower platform and retail expertise,” Vikas Goel said.

Related: Transforming Integrated Planning & Supply Chain Processes with Augmented Intelligence Capabilities

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