LinkUp 2025 Canada: Solving the Supply Chain Puzzle, Together

The fashion retail industry is no stranger to disruption

The fashion retail industry is no stranger to disruption. In fact, it's the new normal. From economic uncertainty and geopolitical instability to evolving consumer demands and sustainability regulations, fashion brands face massive pressure to do more — with less. The question isn't if the industry must change, but how quickly and how intelligently it can respond.

Our recent BlueCherry LinkUp 2025 event in Montreal brought together an incredible mix of clients, partners, and industry visionaries from across Canada who came together to help tackle some of these pressing industry challenges — and share innovative solutions.

As BlueCherry continues to expand its footprint across North America, we're especially proud of the deep relationships we've built here in Canada. Our local team brings unmatched regional knowledge and hands-on experience that help ensure we're delivering solutions that truly reflect the needs of Canadian fashion brands.

We're incredibly grateful to everyone who joined us for this energizing, solutions-focused conversation. Your input, engagement, and ideas are exactly what makes the BlueCherry community so special to us.

A supply chain in flux

Today's supply chain leaders are being asked to virtually do the impossible: deliver products faster, reduce costs, improve sustainability, and maintain visibility — all in the face of tariff volatility, global instability, and unpredictable consumer trends. In our recently released 10th annual State of the Supply Chain & Technology Report, we found that the top challenges include:

• Economic pressure and tighter margins
• Inventory and order fulfillment issues
• Rising costs from tariffs and sourcing disruption
• The urgent need for digitization

The good news? There's a clear path forward — and BlueCherry is already paving it.

Smarter tools for smarter retail

At LinkUp, we spotlighted some of the tools and strategies brands are using to build resilience, agility, and profitability into their operations.

These conversations were especially meaningful given the uniquely Canadian challenges and opportunities we explored — from navigating cross-border logistics to meeting evolving compliance standards. Our on-the-ground team was thrilled to share how we're tailoring BlueCherry solutions for success in the Canadian market.

BlueCherry Planning AI

Legacy spreadsheets just aren't cutting it anymore. BlueCherry Planning AI combines apparel expertise with advanced forecasting to help brands manage inventory, reduce waste, and optimize product availability.

With AI-driven demand planning, scenario modeling, real-time insights, and intuitive dashboards, our clients are seeing better alignment between supply and demand—leading to stronger margins and faster response times. Here's how:

• AI-driven demand planning. Eliminate the guesswork. Our machine learning algorithms analyze historical sales, market trends, seasonality, and other variables to generate highly accurate forecasts—helping brands make smarter decisions and avoid costly overstock or stockouts.
• Scenario modeling. Plan for the "what ifs." With built-in scenario planning, users can simulate different business conditions—like supplier delays, demand spikes, or promotional campaigns—and instantly see how those scenarios impact inventory, margins, and fulfillment timelines.
• Real-time insights. Say goodbye to outdated reports. BlueCherry Planning AI delivers always-current data through dynamic dashboards, ensuring you're making decisions based on the latest trends, orders, and market conditions—right when it matters most.
• Intuitive dashboards. Designed with the user in mind. Role-based, easy-to-navigate dashboards allow planners, merchandisers, and executives to view the KPIs and metrics most relevant to them, with visualizations that make complex data simple and actionable.

Together, these capabilities help our clients streamline planning processes, react swiftly to changes in demand, and drive better performance across the entire supply chain.

BlueCherry PLM

We also unveiled major enhancements to BlueCherry PLM that have turned it into its own powerhouse for product development and collaboration.

• Faster tab loading. Speed matters—especially when you're managing dozens (or hundreds) of styles across global teams. Our performance upgrades dramatically reduce load times, keeping your workflow moving without lag or frustration.
• Multi-costing capabilities. Brands can now generate and compare multiple costing scenarios within a single style, making it easier to evaluate vendor quotes, raw material changes, and production locations—so you can balance cost, speed, and quality with confidence.
• Modernized user interface. A more intuitive and visually clean interface improves user adoption and productivity across departments. With customizable layouts and simplified navigation, users can find what they need faster and stay focused on value-driving tasks.
• Embedded AI tools. Features like intelligent search, machine language style recognition, and transparent image conversion are reshaping how teams interact with product data. These tools reduce manual entry, speed up product development, and create new efficiencies across design and sourcing.
• Single source of truth. Centralized product data, updated in real time, enables stronger collaboration between design, merchandising, sourcing, and production teams—leading to fewer errors, faster approvals, and better decision-making.

By bringing together innovation and practicality, BlueCherry PLM helps our clients streamline operations, improve margin control, and deliver on-trend products to market with speed and confidence.

Coming soon: BlueCherry Next

The future is SaaS, and it's coming fast. BlueCherry Next, launching this quarter, represents a seamless evolution of our platform, offering:

• Role-based dashboards
• Real-time operational insights
• Embedded AI and automation
• A modern UI with no third-party licensing required
• Flexible SaaS delivery and scalable performance

We're building a future where brands don't have to choose between innovation and stability. With BlueCherry Next, they'll have both.

Looking ahead, together

As we look toward 2025 and beyond, the fashion retail industry must embrace three foundational strategies:

• Digitize to survive. Real-time responsiveness and end-to-end visibility are no longer optional, they're mission critical.
• Plan with precision. AI-powered planning tools are defining the next era of profitability and agility.
• Strengthen community. Because no transformation happens in isolation.

At BlueCherry, we believe innovation thrives when it's shared. The insights, feedback, and collaboration we witnessed at LinkUp 2025 Canada reaffirm the power of our growing global community. You — our clients, partners, and peers — are at the heart of everything we do. Your challenges shape our roadmap. Your goals inspire our technology.

We're proud to be more than a platform — we're a partner, both globally and right here in Canada. Our commitment to the Canadian market is only growing, with dedicated local experts working alongside brands to solve today's toughest challenges and unlock new opportunities.

And as we continue to evolve with solutions like Planning AI, PLM, and BlueCherry Next, our focus remains the same: helping you stay competitive, connected, and future ready.

Together, we are The Right Fit.

Contact BlueCherry to learn how we can help your business plan smarter and grow stronger at https://bluecherrysuite.com/