Overview
Led the requirements and procurement process for a new inventory-optimisation platform across roughly 90 retail, franchise and wholesale locations, from a 39-page RFP through scenario-based vendor demonstrations to commercial negotiation.
Who This Is For
Retail groups, e-commerce operators, consumer brands, or multi-channel businesses with 500-5,000+ employees. Investing in marketing technology but uncertain whether the current stack is fit for purpose as privacy regulations reshape what is possible with customer data and personalisation.
The Challenge
The client operated around 90 company-owned and franchise stores across three countries, alongside wholesale, e-commerce and repair operations, with inventory data spread across several disconnected systems and only a small share of core replenishment automated. It needed to select a platform that could actually forecast and allocate inventory across that complexity, not just compare vendor feature lists.
What We Propose
Russell acted as project lead and single point of contact for the procurement process: mapping existing systems and supply-chain dependencies; converting business needs into a functional requirements model and a 39-page RFP; coordinating vendor clarification and proposals; structuring evaluation criteria; running scenario-based demonstrations against the client's real operating data (SKU forecasting, safety stock, store-level allocation, campaign effects); and pressure-testing vendor pricing across licensing, implementation and multi-year contract terms.
Why It Matters
Requirements grounded in real operations - a documented view of the client's actual inventory environment and dependencies, not a generic checklist. Vendors tested on real scenarios - demonstrations built around the client's own SKUs, stores and demand patterns rather than canned vendor demos. Commercial transparency - licensing, implementation and multi-year costs separated out and compared on equal terms. The available record covers the requirements, tender, vendor-response and commercial-clarification stages; it doesn't confirm whether the selected platform was subsequently implemented, so this case describes the selection process rather than a delivered outcome.
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