This month marks the 2 year anniversary of our Merch Mgr tools. With our launch, we promised we’d continue to develop and offer new features that will help artists maximize their tour merch profits. We had a clear vision and long road map to build from the ground up starting at the merch table, working back through the trailer, into the warehouse, and up to the accounting offices – connecting each moving piece around running a tour. Now that the foundation is set, we can provide our artists with tools to accurately and easily plan and forecast their merchandise businesses with MerchIQ!

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MerchIQ Planning

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With MerchIQ Planning, you enter your tour dates and the merch items you plan to sell. Adjust expected attendance and $/head to calculate each show’s gross revenue. Easily plan for Headline, Support, and Festivals all within the same tour setting specific variables for each. MerchIQ will calculate nightly settlements taking into account venue cuts, taxes, CC Fees, and other costs so you can see an approximate net profit for each show and the entire tour.

Next allocate sale percentages on a per item basis and atVenu MerchIQ will calculate how many units of each item and size you’ll need for the tour. Enter tour level expenses like salaries, freight, comps, art, and more to accurately plan your profitability. Once all this data is in place, MerchIQ provides a Summary of your expected tour performance highlighting both financial and product details.

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MerchIQ Forecasting

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We heard you loud and clear! The forecasting report we built was a simple trend analysis to help give a bit of insight into your performance. This was a stepping stone to MerchIQ Forecasting. Once you begin settling shows, MerchIQ Forecasting takes over! You’ll see, in real time, your tour performance comparing the plan to actuals and forecast. This doesn’t just show what you’re going to sell by end of tour, but it forecasts your gross, expenses, and net profit. This allows you to make immediate decisions early on to ensure you make as much money as possible. Monitor sales, adjust inventory, and control costs.

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MerchIQ Forecasting will provide algorithmic analysis of anticipated show performance. However, if you have information we don’t, like the tour is picking up and you have updated ticket counts, enter those details to further adjust the forecast. With show performance in place, the product tab details what you’ve sold, what you need to finish the tour, and which items you’ll run out of and when!

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And this is just the beginning! Soon, all MerchIQ artists will have access to their own historic data, as well as aggregate (anonymous!) industry data, to better aid them in planning and forecasting! atVenu MerchIQ will provide data around $/Head at venues, sales trends, % of size allocations, % of top selling items, and so much more!

For more info, check out the overview video below.

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As we’ve said from the beginning, we know artists can make more money selling merch on the road and we’re committed to make it happen! Thanks to all the incredible teams we’ve worked with who are leading the charge to better service their artist tour merch business!

Happy 2015!
atVenu

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