AllSaints is stepping up its use of AI as part of a wider transformation of its buying and merchandising operation.
The retailer is introducing a new set of AI-native planning tools to modernise how its teams manage trading, forecasting, allocation, pricing and assortment planning, with the aim of giving merchandisers faster access to insight and more time to focus on commercial decisions.
The move sits within a broader business transformation at AllSaints, where becoming more data-driven and AI-enabled has been positioned as a key strategic priority.
Chief transformation and technology officer Alfie Meekings said one of the retailer’s four core transformation pillars is to become “data driven and powered by AI”.
He said: “We have a great team, but they have to spend so much time manually pulling and analysing data. This partnership allows us to eliminate repetitive, low value tasks so our merchandisers can focus on understanding what is truly happening in our brand and make quicker, higher-quality decisions to get the right products in the right places for our customers.”
At the centre of the project is an effort to improve the speed and quality of decision-making across the merchandising function. AllSaints said its current weekly trading process can require teams to start pulling together data on Sunday in order to produce Monday trading packs later the following day.
Under the new setup, those reports will instead be available by 8am on Monday morning, broken down by department and team, allowing the business to begin the week with a clearer picture of performance and priorities.
The technology being rolled out will support a number of key functions across the merchandising cycle, including business intelligence, allocation and replenishment, markdown and promotional pricing, merchandise financial planning, and assortment and range planning.
Meekings added: “I want our teams to log on and be told what’s happening across the globe in our brand and where we need to focus our energy, rather than having to seek out those answers.”
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