---
sourceDocument: Australia Strategic Portfolio Management
sourceDocumentLink: https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/r/it-business-management

 Release :

    - australia

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Australia Strategic Portfolio Management

ft:clusterId :

    - itbm

bundleId :

    - itbm

workflow :

    - Technology


---

# Explore

# Explore Retail Strategic Portfolio Management Suite {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Australia  
Updated April 29, 2026  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 1 minute to read  
The Retail Strategic Portfolio Management Suite (SPM Retail) is a purpose-built extension of the Project Workspace offering from ServiceNow that gives retail organizations a structured, repeatable way to manage store lifecycle projects. Playbooks for these projects give retail project managers a ready-made, step-by-step roadmap for every store scenario. As a result, they execute consistently and never have to invent the sequence or approvals.

## Retail projects {#explore-spm-retail-suite__section_xz3_smd_hjc}

Retail customers regularly execute standard store-related operations such as opening new stores, closing under performing stores, refurbishing existing stores, and relocating stores. These are recurring, high-volume activities common across the retail industry. Retail customers often manage these store operations across many disconnected tools, creating three pain points:

* Senior executives and management don't have a single platform to see all store-related projects in one place. They also can't track any underlying milestones like signing a lease or grand opening dates.
* Project managers coordinate manually across scattered tools, chasing multiple stakeholders and managing spreadsheets instead of using a single workflow.
* Delivery teams such as IT deployment, construction, and procurement don't have easy access to complete their assigned work and report status to leadership.
{#explore-spm-retail-suite__ul_dxv_5m3_fjc}

To learn more about retail projects, see [Explore retail projects](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/IwFR88EoSGFdgqG8w4~CWQ "Retail Strategic Portfolio Management Suite enables retail organizations to plan, execute, and track store life cycle projects such as new store openings, closures, refurbishments, relocations, and technology refreshes.").

## Playbooks for retail projects {#explore-spm-retail-suite__section_qcp_tmd_hjc}

Playbooks give retail organizations a prescribed, repeatable way to guide store life-cycle projects through every stage from initiation to closeout. The right activities are executed by the right teams at the right time.  
Without a prescribed playbook, retail organizations face three pain points:

* Project managers rely on incomplete knowledge or personal checklists to decide what activities to run, in what order, and when to involve which team.
* Critical activities such as compliance sign-offs, lease approvals, asset recovery confirmations, and final readiness reviews are skipped, delayed, or completed in the wrong sequence.
* New project managers and delivery teams have no documented guidance to learn from, so onboarding to retail store operations is slow and inconsistent.
{#explore-spm-retail-suite__ul_pb_pain}

These playbooks work as stages, prescribed activities, approvals, and checkpoints to tailor them specifically for retail store operations. Each playbook is attached to its corresponding project type and guides every persona through
the same sequence on one platform.

To learn more about playbooks, see [Explore playbooks for retail projects](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/Hb8kbkvPrR4y3KeGJQnaFA "Playbooks in Retail Strategic Portfolio Management Suite provide a guided, structured approach to managing store life cycle projects from initiation to completion. This helps project teams follow a consistent process across every store scenario.").