Open-to-Buy (OTB) Planner for Retail and Fashion Buyers
How much stock you can still buy each month, by category, without overstocking.
Try before you buy.
- Free preview: the open-to-buy of the first open month in full, with the first rows of each table (up to 3) and the first step of the working; every other figure is hidden.
- Locked until you unlock it: download and copy.
- Unlock: Pro pass, ₹179 for 30 days or ₹79 for 1 week, a one-time payment that never renews. Unlock: Pro pass, $5.99 for 30 days or $2.99 for 1 week, a one-time payment that never renews.
Ways to unlock shows how to get the full result.
Printing this result is locked in the free preview.
All categories, month by month
By category
Plan of a category
Actual against the plan
How this was calculated
Locked in the free preview. Opens the ways to unlock this result.
Locked in the free preview. Batch runs unlock with a pass.
Locked in the free preview. Query results unlock with a pass.
Results are estimates for general information and planning, not financial advice. Banks and institutions may calculate differently (rounding, fees, rate changes). Confirm figures with your lender or a qualified adviser before deciding.
How this tool is checked
- Based on
- the method set out under ‘The open-to-buy formula’.
- Tests
- 23 automated tests check its results.
- Found an error?
- Report a problem or write to support@mysmartcopilot.com, with what you entered and the result you expected.
About the Open-to-Buy (OTB) Planner for Retail and Fashion Buyers
Plan how much stock a shop, a department or a brand can still buy each month without overstocking. For each category enter the planned sales by month, the planned markdowns, the stock-to-sales ratio (or weeks of cover) you want and what is already on order, with the stock on hand at the start. The planner works out the planned closing stock of every month, the receipts the plan needs and the open to buy at retail and at cost, for each category and for all of them together.
Start from last year: a CSV file of last year’s sales by category and month fills the planned sales, grown by the rate you choose. As the season goes on, enter each month’s actual sales, markdowns and receipts: the month closes, the next one opens with the actual stock, and the open months are re-planned — with their sales re-forecast by the trend so far if you ask. Your plan is kept in this browser, and your own plan file — saved and opened again from the page — is never locked in the free preview. Without a pass the free preview shows the open to buy of the first open month in full with the first rows of each table; the other figures, the copy, the CSV and the Excel file need a Pro pass.
How to use it
- Set the first month and the number of months, the planned markup on retail (to convert the open to buy to cost) and the currency. Choose whether the closing stock comes from a stock-to-sales ratio or from weeks of cover.
- For each category, enter the stock on hand at the start of the plan (at retail) and, month by month, the planned sales, the markdowns as a percentage of sales, the ratio or the weeks of cover and the stock on order. Fill → copies a row’s first month to every month.
- To start from last year, set the growth and choose Fill from a CSV file: the file needs a category, a month and a sales column, laid out as in the template beside the button.
- Read the open to buy of the first open month, the table of every month and the table by category. A negative open to buy means the month is overbought: orders already placed cover more than the plan allows.
- As months end, tick Track actual sales, markdowns and receipts and enter them: the month closes and the plan re-bases on the actual stock. Save the plan keeps a file of your own figures.
- Copy the summary, download the CSV or the Excel workbook with a Pro pass or after unlocking this result; the free preview shows the first open month’s open to buy and the first rows.
Examples
Stock on hand 100,000 · planned sales 40,000 · markdowns 10% · next month 50,000 at a ratio of 2.4 · 20,000 on order · markup 50%
Planned closing stock 120,000 · receipts 64,000 · open to buy 44,000 at retail, 22,000 at cost
40,000 + 4,000 + 120,000 − 100,000 − 20,000 = 44,000.
January’s actuals: sales 38,000, markdowns 5,000, receipts 70,000
January closes with 127,000 (plan 120,000) · February’s open to buy falls from 64,500 to 57,500
100,000 + 70,000 − 38,000 − 5,000 = 127,000. February opens with 7,000 more stock than planned, so it needs 7,000 less.
February: 6 weeks of cover · March 31,000 and April 30,000 planned (1,000 a day)
Planned closing stock 42,000: 31 days of March and 11 days of April
The plan needs 64,000 of receipts · 90,000 already on order
Open to buy −26,000: the month is overbought
Common uses
- A fashion boutique planning how much to buy for the next season, category by category.
- A buyer checking whether the orders already placed leave room for new styles in a month.
- A retailer re-planning the rest of the season after a slow first month.
- Turning last year’s sales report into next season’s merchandise plan.
The open-to-buy formula
Each month’s stock moves the same way, at retail value: closing stock = opening stock + receipts − sales − markdowns. So the receipts a plan needs, and what is still open to buy once the orders already placed are taken off, are:
- planned receipts = planned sales + planned markdowns + planned closing stock − opening stock
- open to buy (retail) = planned receipts − on order
- open to buy (cost) = open to buy (retail) × (100% − planned markup on retail)
This is the open-to-buy formula of retail buying, as taught in Tepper’s Mathematics for Retail Buying. Each month opens with the previous month’s closing stock: the planned one, or the actual one once the month is closed.
Stock-to-sales ratio or weeks of cover
The stock-to-sales ratio of a month is its opening stock divided by its sales: a ratio of 2.4 means opening the month with 2.4 times what it will sell. A month’s planned closing stock is then the next month’s planned sales times the next month’s ratio, which is why the plan has one column after its last month. Weeks of cover sets the closing stock as the sales of the weeks that follow instead: 6 weeks at the end of February is the planned sales of the next 42 days, day by day through March and April. If the cover runs past the column after the plan, that month’s sales are used for the weeks beyond it, and the page says so.
Tracking actuals and re-planning
Enter a month’s actual sales, markdowns and receipts and it closes: its closing stock is worked out from the actuals, the next month opens with it, and the open months are planned again from there. Close months in order, oldest first. Actual against the plan compares each closed month with the original plan. With Re-forecast the open months by the trend so far, each category’s planned sales for the open months are multiplied by its actual sales ÷ planned sales in the closed months, and the closing stock targets follow.
Last year’s sales from a CSV file
The file needs a header row naming a Month column and a Sales column, and a Category column when there is more than one category (Department, Class or Brand work too). Months may be written as YYYY-MM, MM/YYYY, a month and its year (Mar YYYY, March YYYY) or Mar-YY. Each month of the plan, and the month after it, takes the sales of the same calendar month — from the latest year in the file when it holds more than one — grown by the rate you set. New categories are added for names the plan does not have yet; enter their stock on hand.
Limitations
- Every figure is at retail value except the open to buy at cost: enter stock, orders and receipts at their selling price.
- One planned markup converts the whole plan to cost; categories with very different markups are best planned separately.
- Markdowns are planned as a share of each month’s sales; shrinkage and returns to vendor are not separate lines.
- It plans money, not units or sizes: split a category’s open to buy into styles and sizes yourself.
- The figures are planning estimates from your own inputs, not financial advice.
Privacy
On this device: nothing is sent
Your plan is worked out in this browser and remembered on this device only; files you choose are read here and never uploaded.
Frequently asked questions
What do I get without a pass?
Without a pass, Open-to-Buy (OTB) Planner for Retail and Fashion Buyers shows the open-to-buy of the first open month in full, with the first rows of each table (up to 3) and the first step of the working; every other figure is hidden. Until you unlock it, the result can’t be downloaded or copied. A Pro, Premium or Ultimate pass, a one-time payment that never renews, unlocks the full result. The pricing page lists the passes and their prices.
What is the open-to-buy formula?
Open to buy = planned sales + planned markdowns + planned end-of-month stock − beginning-of-month stock − stock on order, all at retail. Multiply by (100% − the markup on retail) for the open to buy at cost.
What does a negative open to buy mean?
The month is overbought: the orders already placed, with the stock on hand, cover more than the plan’s sales, markdowns and closing stock. Move or cancel orders, plan a promotion, or accept a higher closing stock.
Stock-to-sales ratio or weeks of cover?
Both set the closing stock. A ratio (opening stock ÷ the month’s sales) is the classic monthly plan; weeks of cover suits businesses that think in weeks of supply. Use the one your history is kept in.
What if the stock on hand is not what the plan expected?
The first month always opens with the stock on hand you enter. With a ratio for the first month, the page also shows the opening stock the plan would want, so you can see how far above or below it you start.
Can I keep the plan for later?
It is remembered in this browser on this device. Save the plan (JSON) downloads a file of your own figures, which Open a saved plan reads back on any device; it is yours and never locked.