Retail planning is a chain.
We make sure every link holds.
Thirty-five years implementing planning systems into retailers, from Gap and Nike, to Morrisons and Sainsbury's, and the independents. We see the whole chain, not just one link.
The Idea
Most planning problems don't start where they show up.
A markdown crisis on the shop floor was usually born three steps upstream, in the financial plan, the range, or the forecast. Everyone stares at the shelf and blames the store planners. Treating the symptom never fixes it. Finding the link that actually broke does.
Cash to Shelf
One chain, not five separate jobs.
Most retailers split planning into departments, each in its own box, each with its own software. But it isn't five problems. It's one chain, and it only ever breaks in one direction. Downhill.
Link 01
Financial Planning
The cash you've actually got to spend on stock, by category, by month. Get this wrong and everything below it is doomed.
Link 02
Assortment and Range
Fewer lines, backed properly, beats a sprawl that just sits there.
Link 03
Forecasting
A number the team believes and uses, not a perfect one they ignore.
Link 04
Replenishment
The right stock, in the right size, with the right mix, in the right place, at the right time.
Link 05
Space, Macro
Which categories get how much room, in line with what actually sells.
Link 06
Space, Micro
How each shelf is set out, so the right product is easy to find and easy to buy.
Six links. One chain, running the whole product lifecycle. Get the order right and the links strong and it will hold.
Who Do We Help?
Software Firms
Make the product land
You've built the tool. I make sure it lands. We help you sell to UK retailers in their own language, sanity-check the roadmap, and get the domain right so your product gets adopted, not quietly shelved.
Implementation Consultancies
The retail voice in the room
Most implementations don't fail on the tech. They fail on the shop floor, the buying rhythm, the staff who've done it one way for years. We de-risk delivery and give a bid real domain weight.
Retailers
Fix the cause, not the symptom
Your planning works in boxes, and the cracks show up on the shelf. We bring an outside eye across the whole chain, to find where the problem actually starts and put it right.
About me
I'm Keith Lockwood and I've spent thirty-five years implementing retail planning systems into some of the best-known names in the business, and a great many independents alongside them.Not as a retailer, but as the person who puts these systems in and makes them work. I've stood in the room at go-live. I've seen exactly why a brilliant tool gets adopted or quietly abandoned. That view, across every link in the chain, is what I bring.I'm straight-talking, practical, and on your side.No jargon, no theory for its own sake. I give you a candid read on where things are stuck and what to do about it, whether or not we end up working together. Clear beats clever, every time.
Who I've Worked With
Let's Talk
Every link, connectedWhether you build the software, implement it, or run the plan, the weak link is where the value leaks. Let's find yours before it costs you.
Thank you
Thank you for your enquiry, we will reply within 24 hours.
FAQs
What does a retail planning consultant do?
A retail planning consultant makes sure a retailer's whole buying-to-selling process holds together: the money plan, the range, the forecast, replenishment, and the space on the shelf. The work is spotting where that chain breaks, usually a step or two upstream of where the problem shows, and fixing the cause rather than the symptom.
Who are KJLConsult?
KJLConsult is the retail planning consultancy of Keith Lockwood, who has spent thirty-five years implementing planning and merchandising systems into major retailers, from Gap and Nike to Tesco, Sainsbury's and ASOS. It works with retail software firms, implementation consultancies and larger retailers across the full chain, cash to shelf.
Who does KJLConsult work with?
KJLConsult works with three kinds of client. Retail software firms who want their product to sell and get adopted in the UK market. Implementation consultancies who need real retail depth to de-risk delivery. And larger retailers whose planning works in silos and shows the cracks on the shop floor.
What is "cash to shelf" retail planning?
Cash to shelf is the idea that retail planning is one connected chain, not five separate jobs. It runs from open-to-buy (the cash available for stock), through assortment and range, forecasting and replenishment, to the space a product gets on the shelf. Get the order right and it holds; get one link wrong and everything downstream suffers.
Why do retail software implementations fail so often?
Most retail software implementations fail on people and process, not technology. Depending on the study, 70 to 75% of these projects miss their goals, and the common causes are the same: teams don't trust or adopt the tool, the complexity was underestimated, or the system didn't fit how the retailer actually buys and sells. The fix is rarely more features.
How do I stop a planning system rollout from being abandoned?
The single biggest reason planning systems get abandoned is that the buyer never trusted the numbers, so they quietly return to spreadsheets. The cure is to design adoption in from the start: bring the merchandisers along, show them why to trust the output, and make the system the easiest way to do the job, not an extra burden.
What areas of retail planning does KJLConsult cover?
KJLConsult covers the full head-office planning chain: merchandise financial planning and open-to-buy, assortment and range planning, forecasting, inventory planning and replenishment, and space planning at both macro (store layout) and micro (shelf) level. It also handles process review, identifying efficiencies, and implementation across that whole cycle.
Does KJLConsult work with retailers outside the UK?
KJLConsult is UK-based and focuses on the UK market, which is where it helps overseas software firms and retailers who are entering or scaling here. Keith's thirty-five years of experience spans global retail brands, so the underlying planning principles apply anywhere, but the practical focus is UK retail.
How is KJLConsult different from a general management consultant?
The difference is depth in one field rather than breadth across many. KJLConsult is not a generalist; it is thirty-five years of hands-on retail planning and system implementation, from the money plan to the shelf. That means practical, specific help from someone who has actually put these systems into retailers, not theory from the outside.