How retailers are rethinking seasonal planning in 2025

Jul 28, 2025 • 3 min

Seasonal trading has always been challenging, but in 2025, the pressure has shifted into higher gear. Cautious consumers keep their purse strings tight. Promotional impact becomes increasingly unpredictable. For retailers, the margin for error is slim, and traditional planning approaches are missing the mark.

Forward-thinking retailers are rising to meet this challenge. They’ve transcended disconnected planning and reactive decision-making, embracing solutions like RELEX that integrate their entire seasonal planning process. Success now depends on a seamless connection between financial planning, demand forecasting, assortment, pricing, promotions, and store operations.

Pre-season: Laying the groundwork

Months before a new trading season, category planners and merchandisers begin with a critical question: What’s our realistic budget? This is where Merchandise Financial Planning (MFP) establishes precise sales plans and budgets backed by concrete data.

With budgets confirmed, the next step is deciding how to spend on stock and allocate it across stores. Using assortment optimization, the RELEX solution determines which products are needed and how they should be arranged—whether seasonal favorites need wide distribution or underperforming products should be cut.

Meanwhile, promotional success has become a moving target. Last season’s winning campaigns can easily become this year’s margin-eroding missteps. Smart promotional planning from RELEX cuts through this uncertainty, analyzing assortments to identify the most suitable products for promotion and determining optimal campaign frequency to hit both sales and margin targets.

Equally important is when to place those orders, since supplier lead times vary dramatically—from six months in advance to just several weeks. For longer-shipping purchases, retailers can leverage long-range forecasting that estimates demand, plans capacity, and coordinates supplies well in advance.

In-season: Staying agile

When store doors open for the season, retailers need real-time visibility into spending and sales performance against targets. Open-to-Buy (OTB) systems provided by solutions like RELEX automatically respond when sales deviate from projections. Over-budget scenarios trigger recommendations to reduce orders and lower safety stock, while sales that exceed expectations prompt new promotions or increased inventory. OTB continuously monitors replenishment to stay within financial limits and automatically adjusts orders when budgets are exceeded.

Diagnostic tools complement OTB systems to provide comprehensive seasonal inventory oversight. While OTB automatically adjusts orders based on sales performance, diagnostic tools monitor stock levels and sell-through rates to identify root causes of overstock or stockouts, enabling informed purchasing decisions throughout the season.

AI-driven forecasting adapts to fluctuating demand patterns influenced by weather, promotions, and competitor pricing. Solutions like RELEX continuously update predictions based on these factors and real-time sales data, enabling retailers to place orders that meet customer needs without overstocking. New stock is then efficiently allocated to stores based on their specific requirements and sell-through rates.

End of season: Clearing and learning

When the season nears its end, retailers shift remaining stock across their store network using real-time demand data to identify where products are most likely to sell. Unsold products are then placed in clearance and sold through markdowns or promotions. With RELEX, retailers can apply price elasticity models and business rules to set discount parameters, achieving specific goals such as maximizing profit or clearing stock by a target date.

Retailers then conduct a sales review to uncover product and category trends that inform future seasonal strategies for assortment, promotions, and inventory. Advanced analytics and scenario planning turn sales and inventory data into strategic insights, enabling retailers to understand what worked and enhance future planning decisions.

Webinar: Learn how leading retailers stay in control of seasonal demand

Join us on Wednesday, September 24, for our upcoming webinar: Take control of seasonal demand shifts with AI

Hear from experts at RELEX and Accenture share insights on managing seasonal complexity—leveraging AI-powered forecasting, adapting mid-season without disruption, protecting key products, and aligning financial and demand plans for better results.

Secure your spot for exclusive industry insights.