The memo outlines a 6-month plan for February through July 2016 for Urban Outfitter's top department, projecting a 1.04% increase in sales to $2,602,000 due to increased stock and demand in the summer months. Purchases at retail and cost are planned to increase slightly to meet sales goals, while gross margin is projected to increase due to a change in vendors and higher quality products. The plan estimates almost a 1% rise in net profit for the period despite a drop in seasonal turnover.

1. MEMO
TO: Jennifer Mower
From: Bari Boulter
Date: 12/9/15
Subject: 6-Month Plan for Urban Outfitters Top Department
The plan for the 6-month period, of February through July 2016, for Urban
Outfitter’s top department will be increased to $2,602,000, which is a 1.04% or $27,000
increase. Sales of tops at Urban Outfitters are expected to increase due to the upcoming
summer season and variety of styles Urban Outfitters offers to customers as well as the
increasing popularity of the Urban Outfitters brand. Our basic stock will be increased due
to high demand of tops for this period last year. Because of this increase, end of the month
stock was increased by the same amount (1.12%) as well to accommodate the new
purchases of tops this season. The largest increase in end of the month stock will be during
the month of March to accommodate new purchases being made for the upcoming spring
and summer season. Markdowns total $541,220 for the period, which is a slight increase
for the previous year. This is due to the increase in the amount of promotional events and
sales during the summer months.
The planned purchases at retail and cost will increase in order to meet the planned
sales goal for the period. These were only increased slightly as there was not a significant
change of sales from the previous year. Planned purchases at retail only increased by 1.4%.
However, planned purchases at cost increased 18% due to a change in vendors and
increase in quality of the product for the customers benefit. Because of this, our gross
margin increased slightly to cover this change.
In conclusion this six-month plan can account for almost a 1% increase in net profit.
Seasonal turnover however is decreased because of the nature of summer sales and buyer
behavior during this time period. These projections were predicted based on economic
forecasts and past consumer demand.

2. Plan Last Year
SIX MONTH MERCHANDISE PLAN % Initial Markup 54.5% 53.0%
% Markdowns 20.8% 20.8%
% Maintained Markup 45.0% 43.2%
% Gross Margin 52.5% 51.6%
% Operating Exp. 48.7% 48.7%
% net profit 3.8% 2.9%
Season Turnover 1.5 1.6
Average Stock $1,689.2 $1,657.0
Period: Feb-July 16
SPRING FEB MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE JULY Season Totals
FALL AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC JAN
SALES Last Year $375.0 $405.0 $498.0 $503.0 $402.0 $392.0 $2,575.0
Last Year % 14.6% 15.7% 19.3% 19.5% 15.6% 15.2% 100.0%
Plan $377.0 $411.0 $501.0 $504.0 $419.0 $390.0 $2,602.0
Plan % of season 14.5% 15.8% 19.3% 19.4% 16.1% 15.0% 100.0%
Stock/Sale Ratio Last Year 4.1 4.3 3.9 3.8 3.7 3.9 3.9
Plan 4.1 4.4 4.0 3.9 3.7 3.8 4.0
EOM STOCK Last Year $1,741.5 $1,942.2 $1,911.4 $1,487.4 $1,528.8 $1,449.8 $10,061.1
Plan $1,808.40 $2,004.00 $1,965.60 $1,550.30 $1,482.00 $1,468.38 $10,278.68
MARKDOWNS Last Year $90.5 $85.7 $87.8 $87.8 $90.5 $93.0 $535.2
% of LY MD 16.9% 16.0% 16.4% 16.4% 16.9% 17.4% 100.00%
Plan $91.5 $86.3 $87.5 $87.9 $91.6 $96.5 $541.22
% of Plan MD 16.9% 15.9% 16.2% 16.2% 16.9% 17.8% 100.0%
BOM STOCK Last Year $1,537.5 $1,741.5 $1,942.2 $1,911.4 $1,487.4 $1,528.8 $10,148.8
Plan $1,545.70 $1,808.4 $2,004.0 $1,965.60 $1,550.30 $1,482.0 $10,356.0
Planned Purch. Last Year $669.5 $691.4 $555.0 $166.8 $533.9 $406.0 $3,022.5
at retail Plan $731.20 $692.85 $550.10 $176.59 $442.28 $472.88 $3,065.90
Planned Purch. Last Year $314.7 $324.9 $260.8 $78.4 $250.9 $190.8 $1,420.6
at cost Plan $402.16 $381.07 $302.56 $97.12 $243.25 $260.09 $1,686.24
Department Name: Womens Contemporary
Department Number: 1
Buyer Name: Bari Boulter