Assortment Optimization Analyzer
Transform sales data into data-driven assortment recommendations instantly
What You Can Do
This skill transforms raw sales, inventory, and market data into actionable assortment insights. You'll rank SKUs by velocity, margin, and trend trajectory to identify underperformers worth pruning. Discover whitespace gaps—missing size/color/price tier combinations that competitors stock but you don't. Model the financial impact of proposed assortment changes, projecting revenue and margin shifts before implementation.
Features
scores products by velocity, margin, and trend trajectory to identify stars, cash cows, and dead weight
surfaces missing size/color/price tier combinations where competitors gain share while you have blind spots
estimates revenue and margin impact of adding, removing, or consolidating SKUs across channels
identifies unfilled demand signals and customer preference segments your assortment currently ignores
surfaces redundancies and optimization opportunities when harmonizing online, in-store, and wholesale SKU mixes
flags gaps relative to competitor assortment breadth and price tier coverage
calculates carrying cost impact of SKU rationalization to quantify working capital improvements
Example Output
Example 1: SKU Performance Analysis
- Blue Cotton T-Shirt (XS-XL): Velocity 8.2/10, Margin 42%, Trend ↑ → Keep and increase buy
- Green Wool Sweater (M-L only): Velocity 3.1/10, Margin 38%, Trend ↓ → Discontinue; missing XS, XL, XXL sizes blocking $12K annual revenue
- Fleece Jacket (Grey only): Velocity 6.7/10, Margin 51%, Trend → Gap: Navy and Black variants stock at 3 competitors; estimated $8K upside from color expansion
Example 2: Financial Impact Projection Removing 12 slow-moving SKUs (avg velocity <2.0) + adding 8 whitespace variants (Navy jacket, extended sizing):
- Annual inventory carrying cost savings: $34K
- Projected incremental revenue: $156K
- Net margin improvement: +$48K
- Shelf/warehouse space freed: 18% reduction
What's Included
- SKILL.md: full instruction set for SKU performance analysis, gap identification, and financial modeling
- Sales Data Template: structured format for uploading velocity, margin, and trend data by SKU and channel
- Assortment Gap Assessment Checklist: guide to systematically evaluate size/color/price tier coverage against competitors
- Financial Impact Model Framework: spreadsheet-ready calculations for revenue, margin, and inventory cost projections
- Assortment Recommendation Template: formatted brief for presenting findings to buyers, merchants, and leadership
Who It's For
- Merchandisers and Assortment Planners — optimizing SKU mixes and category breadth across retail channels
- Buyers and Category Managers — making data-backed decisions on new items, discontinuations, and seasonal refreshes
- Inventory Managers — reducing SKU complexity and carrying costs while maintaining revenue
- E-commerce Managers — harmonizing online and offline assortment and identifying omnichannel gaps
- Retail Operations Teams — diagnosing underperformance in store-specific assortment mixes
Best For
- Seasonal assortment planning (Q1, Q3 transitions) with sales velocity and margin analysis
- SKU rationalization projects to reduce inventory carrying costs and improve turns
- New category entry analysis—identifying whitespace and competitive assortment gaps
- Competitive assortment benchmarking against direct retailers
- Multi-channel assortment consolidation (online, in-store, wholesale) to reduce complexity
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