Diffusion fashion brand Armani Exchange, which has 162 stores worldwide, is to deploy assortment planning and business intelligence tools from IT Resources.

The tools will supplement Armani Exchange's existing merchandising systems to automate assortment planning decisions, do store grading and make size optimisation decisions.

Armani Exchange chief operating officer Lee Byrd said: "Being able to generate assortments that reflect the preferences of our customers in today's challenging retail environment are one of the primary benefits we expect to achieve through the use of Buyer's WorkMate."

Using the Buyers WorkMate tools, IT Decisions says that retailers should be able to achieve a significant return on investment though increased sales and margins as a result of optimised product assortments in stores.