Turning Risk Into Reward: Managing the Spring 2026 Tariff Season
Spring 2026 will be a defining moment for independent retailers.
With new tariffs expected to drive up costs and disrupt supply chains, retailers that prepare now will turn volatility into opportunity. Join retail experts from Management One and Global Payments Retail for a webinar on how to plan smart, protect margins, and stay nimble as the tariff impact hits.
You’ll learn how to align buying decisions with real demand, balance early receipts with open-to-buy flexibility, and use POS insights to stay cash-flow positive—all while keeping your assortment fresh and your margins strong.
In this session, you will learn:
What the Spring 2026 tariff changes mean for your buying strategy, pricing, and margins
How to see what’s really working and reinvest open-to-buy dollars where they’ll have the biggest payoff
How POS insights from Global Payments Retail and M1’s planning tools help you protect cash flow and margin
What you can do now to prepare for a strong, profitable Spring 2026
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Turning Risk Into Reward: Managing the Spring 2026 Tariff Season – Transcript
Management One: Hello, everyone! Thank you for joining us again today. We'll let everybody kind of trickle in here in just a little bit, but we are one minute past the hour, so I want to be respectful of everyone's time who has logged on. So this is actually going to be one of our, it is one of our last webinars for 2024 so thank you for joining us, and we thought it was very timely that we decided to take a forward look into 2026, and as many of you know, throughout the year, we've done a number of webinars that are focused around the volatility in the economy, what is going on in retail, and that one topic that keeps popping up, and that is tariffs. There was a lot of ambiguity, there's a lot of fluctuation, volatility, and how is that going to be affecting small business owners in 2026, and so, we've discussed that topic at length, and we thought it would be a good idea to invite some experts in the industry to really break this down and make it not so scary. Right. That's one of the benefits of being a Management One client, is that it is our goal to take what is gospel, which is data. Right. Retail data. And make it actionable and approachable so that you can make intelligent decisions. Right. When you can't really control the weather, right. If things are very volatile around you, you've got to go with the concrete data that's coming into your business and that's what we're doing here today, so, before I turn it over to Mr. Weiss, though. Just a few housekeeping notes. Number one, we are recording this session. So, if you want to go back, if you have to hop off in the middle of it, or if you want to share this with your team afterwards, we will be sending you a thank you email that will contain a link to the recording. So, no worries. We will make sure that we deliver that to you, and you can review this with your team on your own schedule. The next point is, this is a live discussion, so if you aren't familiar with it, right down at the bottom of your screen, there is a Q&A button. We welcome your questions. We use that Q&A feed as a way to really make this conversational around what you want to know. So, as you have questions about this topic, right down at the bottom, hit us up with Q&A, and we will be happy to field them live with our panel. So, if you're not familiar with who Management One is. Thank you for coming in. We're welcome to have you here. Management One, for those of you who are joining us for the first time, we're a company that specializes in merchandise intelligence and education, and collaboration with our clients through partnership. Our industry experts here that we have today. We have been in retail smart consulting for 30 plus years, but the bottom line is that we run in depth numbers so that you can get answers to those really complex questions about what is the correct purchase strategy to ensure that your cash flow is on par that you have the right amount of inventory, and that your cash flow is protected as you're going through that buying cycle. So, we believe very strongly in forecasting. We use forecasting as a tool for success, not a tool for doom. But a tool for forecasting to give you structure and confidence so that you can begin making those intelligent decisions on how you spend your dollars. We operate with a very specific set of core values, and that is a generous heart, Courage. curiosity? Adaptability, commitment, and collaboration, like this wonderful group discussion we're having here today. So we really believe that the heart of merchandise planning and fashion business especially is around this idea of collaboration and taking all the cards that you're dealt, the information that you have, and working together to make the best decisions possible as you move forward. So that being said. Mark, do you want to give a little introduction to our podcast? Our podcast. What am I saying? It's not a podcast. It's a webinar.
Marc Weiss: Right, I… thanks. Thank you, Nico. It's good to be on with Angela and Jeremy today, and I'm going to give them an opportunity to introduce themselves. I think that we have a really special webinar today because we have two people who are in the trenches, who really deal with retail and are dealing with retail today and what's going on in retail. And you know, on the Global Payments side, the thousands of retailers that they work with. So they have real insight and real sense as to what's going on there. And of course, through Management One, the same thing, working with hundreds of small retailers around the country. So we're going to attack this topic and come at it with, you know, really what we see, what's going on in the trenches today and bring that to you. I want to give, first Angela an opportunity to kind of give a little bit of her background, and then Jeremy and then we'll get started, and I'll outline what it is that we're going to be looking at in 2026 with regards to tariffs.
Angela Elliott: Sure. So, well, with Globe… first, I want to say thank you so much for having me. My name is Angela Elliott. I am the Vice President of Merchant Success. We basically look after our clients from onboarding through their entire … their entire journey with Global. And we, we have lots of really great products and really great services to provide to our clients. And then obviously, we have a really great partnership with Management One, which allows our product to have additional features and benefits that I think really help our clients in their journey throughout the retail calendar. So thank you again for having me. I'm very excited to be here and to talk about the topic of tariffs. I think, for our retailers, it is a topic that is complex, and we are here to help them understand what the impact is going to be and to be able to, you know, help drive the right kind of conversations about how they need to be adjusting and looking at their inventory buys and their margin and their staffing, and really just all of the pieces that are required to keep their businesses running efficiently, effectively and profitably. So, yeah, I think that this is a great conversation and I am excited to have it, and we'll, we'll definitely be able to give you guys some insight into what we're seeing as well, and then how Management One is helping our clients really think about these tariff changes, and how to make sure that they are prepared for them and staying ahead of them, and then also being able to understand where the opportunities might be. So, as tariffs change, it may cause some shifts in how consumers are spending. It may cause some shifts in the kinds of products that they're buying, and I think that it's going to be really important for our clients to be able to have insight into how those shifts are affecting their individual businesses, and that's where the partnership with Management One is so powerful, because we can give them that very detailed insight, and then we can help them figure out what they need to do next. So that's, that's a little bit about me and a little bit about Global. I'm excited to, to dive into the conversation.
Marc Weiss: Right. So where tariffs hit the hardest, you know, probably… I think it's going to be really important to talk about that and to talk about how those tariffs might affect different categories differently, and how that shows up in your business. So, for example, if you're in women's apparel, there might be certain classifications like dresses or knit tops or denim that are more impacted by tariffs than others. And if you are not looking at your business at a category and then a subclass level, it's going to be really hard to tell what is truly being impacted by tariffs versus just normal business fluctuations. And so, what we want to do is help you get that clarity, because if you can see, for example, that your cost is going up in a particular subclass because of tariffs, then you can make decisions about how you want to adjust your pricing, how you want to adjust your buy, how you want to adjust your markdown strategies, and really be strategic instead of just reacting. And that is really the key to, I think, managing through this tariff environment in 2026. It's about being proactive, not reactive. It's about having the data and the tools to be able to make decisions with confidence. And that, again, is where the combination of a point-of-sale system like Global Payments Retail, and a planning and forecasting system like Management One, is really powerful. Because when you marry those two pieces of data together, you can see not only how sales are trending, but also how inventory is moving, how margins are being impacted, and how cash flow is being affected. And when you can see that, you can then have the ability to be more agile and more strategic.
Jeramey Watts: Yeah, absolutely. Excuse me. I think you hit some really important conversations there. You know, the partnership that exists, and really the backbone found within Management One and within GP Retail to essentially become a full driving force of understanding your business from start to finish. And I think that's important. And when we talk about tariffs, and we talk about, you know, cost of goods and how that affects your business, the reality is, is that you want to know how that affects you at the storefront level. And, you know, as a small business owner, we know that the struggles exist, specifically in this day and age. You know, it's one of the hardest things that you can do is to be a small business owner. And so, the tools that we're talking about, and the conversation we're having today, I think, are some of the most important. Because when you look at your business from a point-of-sale perspective, and you look at it from a planning perspective, you start to see trends. You start to see patterns. You start to see, you know, what sells, what doesn't, how quickly it sells, at what margin it sells. And when you have that information, and then you layer on top of that the information around tariffs, and how, you know, your cost of goods is changing, and how your landed cost is changing, and how your freight is changing, all of a sudden, you start to see where the pressure points are in your business. You start to see where you might be overbought, where you might be underbought, where you might have an opportunity to raise prices, where you might need to take markdowns. And the reality is, is that those decisions are really tough to make in a vacuum. Right. If you're just looking at your bank account, and you're saying, I feel like I have money, or I feel like I don't, it's really hard to make decisions. But when you have the data, and you have the insights, and you have the tools that Management One and GP Retail provide, then all of a sudden, those conversations become a lot easier. You know, when you start to say, okay, here's my performance month over month, year over year, here's how my costs have changed, here's how my margins have changed, and here's where I want to be in the future, then you can start to say, okay, what do I need to do with my open-to-buy? What do I need to do with my purchase orders? What do I need to do with my markdowns? And I think, you know, understanding heat maps and trends, which we can talk about as well, and how that affects your business will go substantially further, for you as a small business owner. You know, for your purchase orders, you're probably looking at a higher price range. You're looking at a higher bill for the same amount of product. And so, understanding how to navigate that, and then also understanding the partnerships that we have in place with Management One to really, I think, knock it out of the park. You have one attempt to really make this happen. Right. You get one chance to buy Spring 2026. And so, I think, just from, from my standpoint, it goes a long ways to understand your business, and with our point-of-sale system and with Management One's planning tools, you could track that, if you're using a good point-of-sale system. It changes the game for you, and I think Management One has done a really great job, and Nico, you've done a great job at laying out some of the different tools and things that are necessary for the conversation. So, I just had to get that in. Great conversation starter, for sure.
Marc Weiss: Yeah, I'd like to, if you don't mind, I'd like to kind of build on that and give a specific example.
Jeramey Watts: Yeah.
Marc Weiss: I got a question, and this is a question that we got from a client, and I thought it was a great example to bring into this conversation. And the question was around dresses, because we talk a lot about dresses in women's apparel, and there was a lot of press recently about how the average price of a dress has gone up. And so, I pulled some numbers. And I looked at a management one client who does a significant amount of business in dresses, and I looked at the average unit retail for casual dresses and for dressy dresses. And what I found was that the average unit retail for casual dresses was about $114 in this particular store, and for dressy dresses it was about $145. And then I looked at what those averages are projected to rise to in 2026. And in the projections, those averages are projected to rise to $141 for the casual dress. That's about a $27 increase, and $199 for a dressy dress, you know. So, that's about, I think, roughly a 37 percent, a $54, not percent, a $54 increase. That's huge, right? And so the question that the client had was, how is my customer going to react to that? And how should I buy? Should I buy less? Should I buy more? Should I buy differently? Should I buy more casual, less dressy? Should I buy more dressy, less casual? Like, what do I do? And I think that's exactly the kind of question that retailers are going to be asking themselves in 2026 as these tariffs roll through. And the answer, of course, is, you have to look at your data. You have to look at your history. You have to look at how your customer has responded to price changes in the past. And you have to look at how your customer is responding in real time as these price changes roll through. And that is, again, where having a good point-of-sale system and having a good planning system is critical. Because if you can look at your data, and you can say, okay, when I raise prices on dresses, did my units go down? Did my dollars go up? Did my margins go up? Did my sell-through change? Did my weeks of supply change? And then you can start to say, okay, here's how my customer responded. And based on that, here's how I want to adjust my buy. Here's how I want to adjust my open-to-buy. Here's how I want to adjust my markdown strategy. And so, that's just one very specific example.
Management One: And I think this is a really important distinction to make, because when we talk about tariffs, and when we talk about price increases, I think sometimes there's a tendency to think about it purely in terms of the macro, right. We hear on the news, oh, the average price of a dress is going up, or the average price of denim is going up, or the average price of footwear is going up. And that's helpful, in the sense that it gives us a sense of the broader environment. But when it comes to making decisions in your store, in your business, what matters is your data, your customer, your mix, your price points, your classifications. And that is where, again, we really encourage retailers to go beyond just looking at category level data, and to really look at subclass, and sometimes even brand, sometimes even style level data, depending on the size of the business, to say, okay, where am I really seeing the impact? Because you might find that in one subclass, your customer is very price sensitive, and when you move the price, you see a big change in units. And in another subclass, your customer is less price sensitive, and when you move the price, the units don't change as much, or maybe they don't change at all. And that gives you the ability to be more strategic in where you take price, in where you take margin, and in how you think about your buy. And so, I just really want to emphasize that point that the answer to the question, how will my customer respond to tariffs, is in your data. It's in your POS. It's in your Management One plan. It's in the work that you're doing with your advisor to look at those numbers and to say, here's where I have flexibility, here's where I need to be careful, and here's where I can maybe take advantage of opportunities that other retailers aren't seeing because they're not looking at their data at that level of detail.
Angela Elliott: Yeah, and I would just add to that that, you know, one of the things that we see a lot is that, you know, retailers may have a sense of their business at a high level. They know what their top line is. They know what their bottom line is. They may know what their margin is overall. But when we start to dig into the data with them, they often are surprised by where the profit is actually coming from, and where they might be losing profit. And, and so, when we layer on tariffs, and we layer on cost increases, it's even more important to know where you're making money and where you're not, because that's where you can make choices. So, if you know that you're making really strong margins in a particular classification, and your customer is not super price sensitive there, maybe you can afford to take a little bit more risk there. Maybe you can afford to bring in a little bit more inventory there, knowing that your customer is going to come along with you. On the flip side, if you know that you have a classification where your margins are already tight, and your customer is highly price sensitive, and tariffs are going to drive your costs up, that might be a classification where you say, okay, we need to be more conservative. We need to think about whether we can substitute into some other categories, or we need to think about how we can negotiate better with vendors, or we need to think about whether we can find alternatives in terms of product. And those are the kinds of strategies that we want to help retailers think about, and we can only do that when we have the level of detail that we're talking about here. So, again, it's really about making sure that you understand your business at a deep level, and that you are using that understanding to make decisions about how you're going to respond to tariffs. And I think the other thing that I would say is that, you know, tariffs are not new. We've seen them before. We've had other cycles where tariffs have come into play. And what we have seen is that the retailers who are prepared, who are thoughtful, who are looking at their data, who are working with partners like Management One, those are the retailers who come through those cycles stronger. And so, I think the message is that this is not something to panic about, but it is something to plan for, and that's what we're here to talk about today.
Jeramey Watts: Yeah, and I think one of the things that I find really interesting too, from a POS perspective, is that, you know, when you think about tariffs, you think about costs, you think about the invoice, you think about the bill. But what we can do is we can take that, and we can translate it into what it means at the point of sale. So, when your customer walks in the door, and they look at a rack of dresses, or they look at a wall of denim, or they look at a table of sweaters, and they see the price tags, we can help you understand how those price tags are performing. Are customers picking those items up? Are they taking them to the fitting room? Are they buying them? Are they leaving them on the floor? Are they waiting for markdowns? Are they coming back when things are on sale? And when you combine that with what we're talking about from a planning perspective, and from a tariff perspective, all of a sudden you have a really powerful lens into your business. And so, one of the things that I would encourage everyone on this call to think about is, are you looking at your POS data regularly? Are you looking at it weekly? Are you looking at it daily in some cases, especially in key periods? Are you looking at it by class and subclass? Are you looking at it by margin? Are you looking at it by average unit retail and by units? Because if you're not, you're missing opportunities. And the beauty of the tools that we have today, the beauty of the partnership that exists between Global Payments Retail and Management One, is that you don't have to do this manually. You don't have to sit there with a spreadsheet and try to figure it out. We can give you dashboards. We can give you reports. We can give you visualizations that make it really easy to see what's going on. And then, working with your Management One advisor, you can say, okay, here's what I'm seeing. Here's what I need to do. Here's how I need to adjust my buy. Here's how I need to adjust my markdowns. Here's how I need to adjust my staffing. And that is, I think, the real power of what we're talking about today.
Marc Weiss: And I think, just to kind of pull some of that together, you know, one of the things that we really want to emphasize is that this is about cash flow. At the end of the day, when we talk about tariffs, when we talk about price increases, when we talk about cost of goods, we're really talking about cash flow. We're talking about how much money you have tied up in inventory, how quickly that inventory is turning back into cash, and how much margin you're making along the way. And if you have too much inventory, or you have inventory in the wrong places, or you have inventory that's not turning, that is going to hurt your cash flow. And in a tariff environment, where your costs are higher, that pain is magnified. On the flip side, if you have the right amount of inventory, in the right places, at the right time, and it's turning, and you're making your margins, then you are going to be in a much stronger position, regardless of what tariffs do. And so, a lot of what we're talking about today is really about making sure that you are using the tools at your disposal to manage your inventory and your cash flow in a thoughtful way. And again, that is where, you know, the forecasting and planning that Management One does, and the real-time data and insight that Global Payments Retail provides, come together to give you a much stronger position going into 2026.
Management One: Exactly. And I think, you know, one of the questions that we get a lot is, okay, I understand that I need to be looking at my data. I understand that I need to be thinking about my classifications and my subclasses and my margins and my turns. But what do I do right now? Like, what do I do this month? What do I do next month? What do I do in the first quarter of 2025 to get ready for Spring 2026? And so, one of the things that we really encourage our clients to do is to sit down with their advisor and to map out a 90-day plan, a 6-month plan, a 12-month plan, where we're saying, okay, here are the key decisions that we need to make over the next year, and here is the information that we need to make those decisions. So, for example, if you know that you typically place your Spring orders in, let's say, August or September of the prior year, then you know that you have a certain amount of time between now and then to gather information, to test certain things, to adjust your assortments, to adjust your pricing, to adjust your markdown strategies, so that when you get to that buy, you're not guessing. You're making decisions based on what you've seen. And that is, I think, one of the most important things that we can do in this environment, is to reduce the amount of guesswork. There's always going to be some uncertainty. There's always going to be some, you know, risk. But the more we can reduce that by using data, by using forecasting, by using planning, by using the tools that we have, the better off we're going to be.
Marc Weiss: So, with that, I think what I'd like to do is just kind of outline the key areas that we want to focus on in this conversation. The first is really understanding what is happening with tariffs in 2026. What do we know? What do we not know? What are the scenarios that we need to plan for? The second is, how do we translate that into buying decisions? How do we think about open-to-buy? How do we think about early receipts versus holding back? How do we think about where we want to take risk and where we want to be conservative? The third is, how do we use POS data to monitor what's happening in real time and to adjust as we go? And then the fourth is, how do we think about cash flow and margin in this environment, and what are the specific levers that we can pull to protect those? And so, as we go through the conversation today, we're going to be weaving those themes in throughout, and we're going to be giving you concrete examples and concrete actions that you can take.
Angela Elliott: And I think it's really important to note too that, you know, from a payment and POS perspective, we really do see a lot of trends that can inform those decisions. So, for example, when we look at average ticket size, when we look at units per transaction, when we look at discount rates, when we look at loyalty participation, all of those metrics can give us a sense of how the consumer is behaving in this environment. Are they trading down? Are they trading up? Are they buying fewer items but higher price point items? Are they waiting for promotions? And when we see those trends, and then we layer on the tariff conversation, and we layer on the planning conversation, we start to see where the opportunities are. So, for example, if we see that customers are still willing to buy a certain category at higher price points, even as tariffs roll through, that might be an area where we say, okay, this is an opportunity. We can lean into this. On the flip side, if we see that customers are really pulling back in a certain category, and tariffs are going to make that category even more expensive, that might be an area where we say, okay, we need to rethink our strategy here. So, again, it's really about taking the information that we have from the POS, from the planning, from the forecasting, and using it to make smarter decisions.
Jeramey Watts: And I love that, because, you know, one of the things that we say all the time is that data without action is just noise. You know, you can have all the data in the world, but if you don't do anything with it, it's not going to help you. And so, what we're really talking about today is, how do we take that data and turn it into action? How do we take what we're seeing in the POS, what we're seeing in the Management One plan, what we're seeing in the market, and turn that into decisions about what to buy, when to buy, how much to buy, how to price, how to promote, how to staff, how to manage cash flow. And I think, you know, one of the things that I really appreciate about the partnership that we have is that we're not just giving clients data. We're not just saying, here's a report, good luck. We're actually working with them to interpret that data, to understand what it means, and to build an action plan around it. And I think that's what retailers need in this environment. They need partners who are going to sit with them, who are going to understand their business, who are going to understand their customers, and who are going to help them make decisions. And I think that is what we're here to do.
Management One: Absolutely. And with that, I think this is a great time to remind everyone that, again, this is a live conversation. So if you have questions as we're going, please drop them into the Q&A. We will keep an eye on that, and we will weave your questions into the conversation as much as we can. We want this to be as relevant as possible to what you're dealing with in your businesses. So, with that, Mark, why don't we dig into the first topic, which is really, what do we know about tariffs in 2026?
Marc Weiss: Right. So, when we look at 2026, I think there are a few key things that we know and a few key things that we don't. And again, I want to preface this by saying that, you know, we are not policy makers. We are not in Washington. We are not setting tariff rates. What we are doing is looking at what has been announced, what has been proposed, what has been discussed, and trying to understand how that might show up in retail. And so, you know, one of the things that we know is that there are going to be increases in certain categories that are very relevant to independent retailers. Apparel is one of them. Footwear is one of them. Accessories in some cases. And so, we know that there is going to be pressure on cost of goods in those areas. We also know that there is still some uncertainty about exactly how those tariffs will be implemented, how long they will be in place, whether there will be any carve-outs, whether there will be any changes based on political dynamics. So, again, there is some uncertainty there. But what we can say with confidence is that we are looking at an environment where costs are going to be higher than they are today, and where there is going to be more volatility. And so, again, that really underscores the importance of planning.
Angela Elliott: And from our perspective, when we talk to our clients about this, one of the things that we really encourage them to do is to scenario plan. So, you know, don't just plan for one outcome. Plan for a range of outcomes. So, for example, you might have a scenario where tariffs are implemented at the full proposed rates, and they stay in place for the full period that has been proposed. You might have another scenario where tariffs are implemented, but at a lower rate, or where there are carve-outs that affect certain products. You might have another scenario where tariffs are implemented and then rolled back. And so, what we encourage clients to do is to say, okay, for each of those scenarios, what would I do differently? How would I think about my buys? How would I think about my pricing? How would I think about my staffing? How would I think about my marketing? And again, that is where working with a partner like Management One can be really helpful, because you can build those scenarios into your plan, and you can say, okay, if we see this happen, here's what we're going to do. If we see that happen, here's what we're going to do. And that way, when things start to move, you're not scrambling. You already have a plan.
Jeramey Watts: And I think from a POS standpoint, the other piece of this is just making sure that you have the visibility that you need. So, you know, one of the things that we talk about a lot is making sure that your data is clean. Right. So, making sure that your classifications are set up correctly, making sure that your SKUs are set up correctly, making sure that your costs are loaded correctly, making sure that your margins are calculated correctly. Because if you don't have that, then when tariffs roll through, you're not going to be able to see the impact clearly. And so, one of the things that I would say to everyone on this call is, you know, if you haven't done a data hygiene check in a while, now is a great time to do that. Make sure that your POS is set up in a way that supports the kind of analysis that we're talking about. And if you have questions about how to do that, reach out. We're happy to help. Management One is happy to help. That's part of what we do.
Management One: That's exactly right. And I think, you know, as we move through the rest of this conversation, and we talk about buying, and we talk about open-to-buy, and we talk about early receipts, and we talk about markdowns, I want everyone to keep in mind that all of that is built on a foundation of good data. So, if you take nothing else away from this conversation, I would say, number one, don't panic, plan. And number two, make sure your data is clean. Those are the two things that are going to make the biggest difference as we head into 2026.
Marc Weiss: So, with that, let's talk about buying. And specifically, let's talk about this question of, how much should I bring in early, and how much should I hold back? Because that is a question that we are getting a lot from clients, and I think it's a really important one. And, you know, when we think about buying in a tariff environment, there is a temptation to think, okay, costs are going up, so I should pull as much as I can forward. I should bring in as much as I can now, before tariffs hit, so that I can avoid those higher costs. And in some cases, that might make sense. But we also have to remember that when you bring inventory in early, you are tying up cash. You are taking on risk. And if you bring in too much, and you don't sell it through, then you are going to be in a worse position, even if your costs were a little bit lower. And so, the way that we think about this is that we want to be strategic about where we pull forward, and we want to be strategic about where we hold back. So, for example, if you have a classification where you have very strong history, where you know that you are going to sell through at a certain level, where you know that your customer is very responsive, where you know that you have very strong margins, that might be a place where you say, okay, it makes sense to pull some receipts forward. On the flip side, if you have a classification where your history is more volatile, where your sell-through has been inconsistent, where your margins have been under pressure, that might be a place where you say, okay, I want to hold back. I want to keep more of my open-to-buy flexible so that I can react to what I see in the market.
Angela Elliott: And I think the other thing that we see a lot is that, you know, retailers sometimes think, okay, if I buy early, I'm locking in lower costs, and that's always a good thing. But what we have seen in practice is that if you buy early, and you buy too much, and you end up having to take heavy markdowns to move that inventory, the net effect on your margin and your cash flow can actually be worse than if you had bought a little bit less at a higher cost and sold through at full price. And so, again, it's really about looking at the whole picture. It's about looking at cost, it's about looking at price, it's about looking at sell-through, it's about looking at markdowns, it's about looking at cash flow. And that's where the planning and the forecasting and the data come together.
Jeramey Watts: Yeah, and from a POS standpoint, one of the things that we can do is we can help you see where you have overbought in the past. So, you know, one of the things that we like to do is to look at what we call slow movers. So, you know, items that have been on the floor for a certain number of weeks, that have not sold through at a certain rate, and to flag those for you. And then, when we see those, we can say, okay, here are some options. You can mark these down. You can re-merchandise them. You can move them to a different location in the store. You can pair them with other items. You can feature them in a promotion. And when you do that, and you free up that cash, then you have more flexibility to make decisions about what you want to buy next. And so, again, it's really about making sure that you're not just bringing in inventory, but that you're also managing the inventory that you have.
Management One: And I think, you know, one of the things that we talk about a lot with clients is this idea of being tight and right. So, instead of trying to have a little bit of everything, we really want to focus on having the right things, in the right quantities, at the right time. And that often means fewer styles, with deeper size runs, in the items that we know perform. And that is especially true in an environment where costs are higher, and where tariffs are putting pressure on margins. And so, again, this is where looking at subclass performance, looking at brand performance, looking at style performance, and making those hard decisions about where to focus and where to pull back, is really important.
Marc Weiss: So, as we think about this, you know, one of the questions that I would encourage everyone on this call to ask themselves is, where am I over-assorted? Where do I have too many choices, too many SKUs, too many styles, that are not all performing? And where can I simplify? Because when you simplify, you free up cash. When you simplify, you make it easier for your customer to shop. When you simplify, you make it easier for your staff to sell. And in an environment where costs are higher, and tariffs are rolling through, that simplicity can be a real competitive advantage.
Angela Elliott: And I think the other piece of that from a POS standpoint is that when you simplify, you also make your data cleaner. You know, if you have a lot of SKUs that have very small quantities, that have very low sales, that have very sporadic performance, it can be harder to see the patterns. When you simplify, and you have more volume going through fewer SKUs, the patterns become clearer. And that makes it easier for us, and for Management One, to help you see what's going on and to make recommendations.
Jeramey Watts: Yeah, and I think that is such a great point, because, you know, one of the things that we see is that when retailers get into trouble, it's often because they're trying to do too much. They're trying to carry too many brands, too many styles, too many categories. And in an environment like the one we're heading into, with tariffs, with higher costs, with more volatility, I think focus is really important. And again, that's where the data comes in. It helps you see where to focus.
Management One: So, I want to make sure that we leave some time for questions, but before we go to that, I want to just touch on one more topic, which is markdowns. Because we have talked a lot about buying, and we have talked a lot about open-to-buy, but markdowns are also a critical lever in this environment. And, you know, one of the things that we see is that retailers sometimes think of markdowns as a failure. They think, if I'm taking a markdown, that means I made a mistake. And what we would say is that markdowns are a tool. They are a tool to manage inventory. They are a tool to manage cash flow. They are a tool to manage margin. And in an environment where costs are higher, and tariffs are rolling through, using that tool strategically is even more important. And so, one of the things that we encourage clients to do is to have a plan for markdowns. To say, okay, if an item has been on the floor for this many weeks, and it has sold through at this rate, then we are going to take this action. And to do that consistently, and to do that proactively, rather than waiting until the end of the season and saying, oh no, I have too much inventory, what do I do?
Marc Weiss: And again, this is where the combination of the POS and the Management One plan is really powerful, because you can see not only what is on the floor, but how it is performing, and how that is affecting your cash flow and your margin. And when you have that visibility, and you have those triggers in place, then you can manage markdowns in a way that supports your overall strategy, rather than undermining it.
Angela Elliott: And from our side, one of the things that we can do is help you measure the impact of those markdowns. So, for example, if you take a markdown on a certain classification, we can help you see, okay, did that drive traffic? Did that drive units? Did that drive dollars? Did that help you move inventory? Did it attract new customers? Did it increase loyalty participation? And when you can see that, you can make better decisions about when and how to use markdowns going forward.
Jeramey Watts: And I think that is really the theme of everything that we're talking about today, which is, measure, learn, adjust. Measure, learn, adjust. You know, in an environment like this, where there is volatility, where there is uncertainty, where there are factors like tariffs that are outside of your control, what you can control is how you respond. And the best way to respond is to measure what's happening, to learn from it, and to adjust. And again, that's what the tools and the partnership that we're talking about enable.
Management One: So, with that, I would love to turn to some questions. I see a few coming in through the Q&A. And again, if you have questions, please drop them in there. We will get to as many as we can.
Marc Weiss: Okay, so the first question that I'm seeing here is, how much earlier should I place my Spring 2026 orders, given the expected tariffs and possible delays?
Management One: That's a great question. And, you know, the answer is, it depends. It depends on your classifications, it depends on your vendors, it depends on your history. But what I would say is that, rather than thinking in terms of a blanket number of weeks, I would think in terms of your key classifications. For your key classifications where you have strong history, where you know your vendors are reliable, where you know your customer is going to respond, you might pull some receipts forward. Maybe it's a few weeks, maybe it's a month. For other classifications where your history is more volatile, or your vendors have been less reliable, or your customer has been more price sensitive, you might not pull forward at all. You might actually hold back. And so, again, it really comes down to looking at your data and working with your advisor to build a plan that makes sense for your business.
Angela Elliott: And from the POS side, one of the things that I would add to that is that you can also look at your historical delivery patterns. So, you know, if you know that certain vendors tend to ship late, and you know that tariffs are going to be rolling through, that might be an area where you say, okay, if I want this product to be on the floor at a certain time, I need to place this order earlier. On the flip side, if you have vendors who are very reliable, who consistently ship on time, and you know that you can trust them, you may have a little bit more flexibility there. So, again, it's about using the information that you have to make those decisions.
Jeramey Watts: And I think, again, just to kind of bring this back to the broader theme, it's about not having a one-size-fits-all answer. It's about recognizing that different parts of your business are going to be affected differently, and that you have to have a nuanced strategy.
Management One: Exactly. And the next question that I'm seeing here is, what percentage of my open-to-buy should I keep flexible instead of pre-committed for Spring?
Marc Weiss: And again, the answer is, it depends. But, you know, generally speaking, in an environment like this, we would err on the side of keeping more open-to-buy flexible. You know, we want to make sure that we have the ability to react to what we see in the market. And so, you know, if historically you've been at, let's say, 80 percent pre-committed and 20 percent flexible, you might want to think about shifting that. Maybe it's 70/30. Maybe it's 60/40. Again, it's going to depend on your business. But the principle is that we want to have the ability to react, because we know that there is going to be volatility.
Angela Elliott: And again, from our side, we can help you see where that flexibility is going to be most valuable. So, for example, if we see that certain categories have a lot of variability in performance, that might be an area where we say, okay, let's keep more open-to-buy flexible here. If we see that other categories are very stable, that might be an area where we say, okay, we can pre-commit a little bit more.
Jeramey Watts: And I think, you know, one of the things that we talk about a lot is that your open-to-buy is not just a number. It's a strategy. It's how you allocate your dollars across your business. And so, again, thinking about it in a nuanced way is really important.
Management One: Great. And I'm mindful of the time, so I want to make sure that we get to at least one more question, and then we will start to wrap up. The next question here is, how should I adjust my markdown strategy if tariffs force my initial pricing higher than usual?
Marc Weiss: And that's a great question, because, again, this is something that we are already seeing in some cases, where initial prices have gone up, and retailers are trying to figure out how to manage markdowns. And, you know, what I would say is that, first of all, we want to make sure that we are giving product enough time at full price. You know, we don't want to rush to markdown just because we are nervous about the price. We want to look at the data. We want to look at sell-through. We want to look at weeks of supply. We want to look at how the product is performing relative to expectations. And then, when we do take markdowns, we want to do it in a way that is strategic. So, for example, we might start with a smaller markdown, see how that moves inventory, and then adjust. And again, this is where having those triggers in place, and having that plan in place, is really important.
Angela Elliott: And from our side, we can help you see how customers are responding to those markdowns. So, again, if you take a markdown, and you see a big spike in units, and you see a big spike in traffic, that tells you something. If you take a markdown, and you don't see much movement, that tells you something else. And so, again, it's about measuring, learning, and adjusting.
Jeramey Watts: And I think, you know, the other thing that I would say is just, don't be afraid of markdowns. You know, they are a tool. And in this environment, using that tool strategically is going to be really important.
Management One: Great. So, we are just about at the top of the hour, so I want to start to wrap us up. First of all, I want to say a huge thank you to Mark, to Angela, to Jeremy, for sharing your insights, your expertise, your experience. This has been a really rich conversation. I also want to say thank you to all of you who joined us today, who took time out of your day to be here, to lean into this topic, to think about how you can navigate tariffs and volatility in 2026. As a reminder, we did record this session. We will be sending out a link to the recording, so you can watch it again, you can share it with your team. And if you are a Management One client, I would really encourage you to take some of the ideas that we have talked about today and bring them into your next meeting with your advisor. Talk about your classifications. Talk about your open-to-buy. Talk about your markdown strategy. Talk about your data. And if you are not yet a Management One client, we would love to talk with you about how we might be able to help. And of course, if you are a Global Payments Retail client, or if you are interested in learning more about their point-of-sale solutions, please reach out to them as well. The partnership that we have is really designed to support you, to give you the tools and the insight that you need to navigate this environment.
Marc Weiss: And I would just add my thanks as well. You know, I think that the fact that you are here, that you are leaning into this topic, that you are thinking about how to plan for 2026, that in itself is a competitive advantage. You know, so many retailers are just kind of hoping that things will work out. And the fact that you are here, that you are thinking about this, that you are engaging with your partners, that you are engaging with your data, that you are engaging with your plan, that sets you apart. And so, I just want to encourage you to keep doing that. Keep asking questions. Keep looking at your data. Keep working with your partners. And I think that if you do that, you will be in a much stronger position, regardless of what tariffs do.
Angela Elliott: Absolutely. And from our side, we just want to say thank you as well. We really value the partnership with Management One. We really value the opportunity to support retailers. And, you know, we know that this is not an easy environment. We know that there is a lot of pressure, a lot of noise. But we also know that there is a lot of opportunity. And so, again, we are here to help you find that opportunity, to help you navigate this environment, to help you run strong, healthy, profitable businesses.
Jeramey Watts: Yeah, thank you all so much. Again, I think the big takeaway here is that you're not alone in this. You know, you have partners. You have tools. You have data. You have support. And, you know, as we head into 2026, as tariffs roll through, as costs change, as the environment evolves, you know, having that support is going to make all the difference. So, thank you for being here. Thank you for engaging. And we look forward to continuing the conversation.
Management One: Wonderful. Well, with that, we will wrap up for today. Thank you again for joining us for “Turning Risk Into Reward: Managing the Spring 2026 Tariff Season.” We wish you all a very successful end to 2024, a strong 2025, and a well-planned, profitable 2026. Take care, everyone.