Insights
Like-for-like volume growth
Merchant Workbench is an agentic AI platform that automates the analytical and drafting work of a category profitability program, from data ingestion to P&L sign-off, while keeping practitioners in control at every decision point.
Faster insights for merchants and planners through intuitive interfaces speed up decision-making to drive growth, gain market share, optimize open-to-buy, prepare for negotiations with brands, and maximize profit.
Retail engagements
200+
since 2016
Total benefits
$2.3B+
since inception
Recent example
$100M+
in savings for a single $5B retailer
First insights within
2–3
weeks of deployment
“AlixPartners’ Merchant Workbench enabled us to understand our business in a new way. We were able to transform our merchandising and planning in many areas such as price architecture, lifecycle management, in-stock management and more to drive better operating performance and working capital efficiency.”
— SVP, Strategic Growth & Performance, Oxford Industries
Eight agents. One system. Human judgment throughout.
Merchant Workbench deploys eight purpose-built AI agents, each designed to automate one stage of the category economics workflow. They operate in sequence on a retail-native unified data layer. Practitioners review and approve at seven defined gates before any action is taken.
Insight Analyst
Queries the retail data layer and surfaces top category profit opportunities in a structured insight memo. Draws on 200+ proprietary analytics to identify cost, trade, space, and promo opportunities simultaneously.
Market Tracker
Monitors 3rd-party consumer data to surface category trends, competitor moves, and consumer preference shifts. Flags macro headwinds/tailwinds before internal data reflects them.
Strategy Architect
Builds the category playbook: space resets, assortment shifts, promo and pricing adjustments by vendor tier. Draws on consumer panel data, basket analysis, and price elasticity to anchor every recommendation.
Inventory Manager
Optimizes stock levels, safety stock, and lead-time buffers across SKU portfolios. Flags slow movers, excess inventory, and obsolescence risk, surfacing markdown and shrink root causes before they hit the P&L.
Assortment Optimizer
Executes SKU rationalization, deletion/retention, and space reallocation by facings. Takes the strategy playbook and translates it into granular assortment resets tied to consumer demand and inventory position
Pricing & Promo Recommender
Provides dynamic SKU pricing recommendations and promotional campaign planning by customer segment (loyalty tier, geography, channel). Anchors to elasticity, margin hurdle, and inventory position.
Negotiation Strategist
Develops BATNA, ask, walk-away, and concession sequence per vendor. Incorporates raw material indices, tariff exposure, and country-of-origin data. Every negotiation enters the room with a fully structured position.
Trade Funds Steward
Evaluates the efficiency and ROI of existing vendor trade, co-op, damages, and O&A spend against category DNP. Identifies underfunded or misallocated vendor relationships
“We were able to transform our price and promotion analytics and attack our shrink challenges through the inventory module.”
— Principal, Food Sport International
