Defining a relevant range assortment is not a simple exercise in categorization. In an increasingly competitive environment, where consumers compare products in real time and expect immediate, personalized answers, the ability to offer the right product, at the right time, to the right customer becomes a real factor in performance and differentiation.
Conversely, a poorly calibrated assortment can quickly unbalance the entire sales process: overstocking of low-demand items, shortages of key products, and a confusing or inconsistent customer experience. To avoid these pitfalls, an assortment analysis is essential.
It enables us to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current offering, optimize coverage of customer needs, and more accurately manage sales performance.
This approach is based on several key steps, which we’ll look at in this article.
Step 1: Define objectives and scope of analysis
First and foremost, it is essential to clarify the purpose of the study. Assortment analysis is not carried out in the same way depending on whether it’s a range launch, a category repositioning or an optimization of the existing range.
The Category Manager must start by defining the precise objectives: improving profitability, increasing market share, reinforcing the price image, or boosting traffic at the point of sale.
This phase also includes reflection on the brand’s strategic positioning and the added value expected from each range segment.
In other words, this is where we set the guidelines that will guide all subsequent steps: why this analysis, for whom, and with what success indicators.
Step 2: Data collection and reliability
The Category Manager relies on both internal data on sales, margins, turnover rates, stock-outs and inventories, and external data on retailer panels, consumer research, market trends and socio-behavioral data. The richness of the analysis depends on the quality and granularity of this information.
Tools for retail analytics, data visualization and assortment management software today make it possible to centralize this data and extract a clear reading of it, exploitable in real time.
The objective is simple: to have a robust knowledge base to understand current performance and identify optimization levers.
Data collection can concern both assortments and product ranges.
Understanding the distinction between these two notions is essential to refining your analyses and strategic decisions. For a more in-depth look at the subject, we invite you to discover our article dedicated to the difference between assortment and range
Step 3: Analyze the market and the competition
Market analysis is an essential step in positioning your product range in a competitive environment.
It involves observing the strategies of existing players: the structure of their offer, their pricing policy, their segmentation, and their product promotion logic.
The Category Manager must do more than simply keep an eye on the market: he must conduct a genuine competitive analysis, enabling him to identify the market’s competitive advantages and areas of weakness.
A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis completes this diagnosis to determine where the opportunities for differentiation lie.
It is at this stage that we understand how to position ourselves to create value without entering into a destructive price war.
Step 4: Segment customers and needs
The effectiveness of an assortment depends on its ability to respond precisely to the expectations of different customer segments.
Segmentation enables us to identify buyer typologies – “premium”, “loyal”, “promotional” or “occasional” customers – and to understand their needs, motivations and purchasing behavior.
This step helps to calibrate the depth and breadth of the range: should we reinforce the core range, introduce exclusivities, or reduce redundancy on certain references?
Segmentation provides a customer-centric vision that guarantees the relevance and consistency of the offer on each sales channel.
Step 5: Diagnose current assortment performance
This is the heart of the Category Manager’s job.
Analyzing assortment performance involves measuring the contribution of each reference to overall performance: share of sales, margin, turnover rate, breakage rate and unit profitability.
Tools such asABC analysis, the BCG matrix or contribution/margin segmentation can be used to identify “star” products to be promoted, “sleepers” to be revitalized, and “low performers” to be rationalized.
This detailed assessment highlights any imbalances between ranges, sub-categories or price levels.
The aim is to achieve an optimal product mix: clear, profitable and consistent with customer expectations.
Step 6: Assess feasibility and development potential
Once the areas for optimization have been identified, their operational feasibility and economic potential need to be assessed.
This stage involves modeling the financial impact of an assortment adjustment: sales forecasts, projected margins, logistics costs, supplier constraints or product availability.
By analyzing projected profitability and simulating different scenarios, we can prioritize actions according to their impact and feasibility.
This analytical approach transforms marketing intuitions into rational, measured decisions.
Step 7: Build the assortment and marketing plan
Once the decisions have been made, the Category Manager draws up the target assortment plan. This defines the range structure (entry, core, premium), pricing architecture, promotion strategy (merchandising, promotion, digital) and distribution policy.
This plan is then translated into an operational marketing plan, integrating activation levers (offers, campaigns, POS, e-merchandising, cross-selling).
The result: a clear, measurable roadmap that aligns business objectives, brand promise and customer experience.
Step 8: Continuous testing, adjustment and control
Assortment analysis doesn’t stop at the design stage: it is validated and refined in the field.
Before any global roll-out, it is essential to test the new assortment structure in a controlled environment, be it a sample of outlets, a pilot channel, or a digital simulation.
These tests enable us to measure customer reaction, understanding of the offer, and actual sales performance in terms of tangible indicators: turnover rate, average basket, contribution to margin, or perception of value. Feedback from field teams and consumers then becomes invaluable material for refining product selection, adjusting merchandising, or reviewing price levels.
But the work doesn’t stop there. Once the new offer has been deployed, the Category Manager must continuously monitor the assortment, as this is a living, evolving process. Buying patterns evolve, trends emerge, the competition moves on: responsiveness becomes a key success factor.
Thanks to real-time monitoring tools (dashboards, out-of-stock alerts, margin indicators, etc.), he can quickly detect weak signals: declining performance, overstocking, cannibalization, and adjust his offer before the impact becomes more serious.
This iterative approach, both analytical and pragmatic, guarantees an agile, profitable and customer-centric offering, capable of constantly adapting to market trends and consumer expectations.
Turning assortment analysis into a strategic tool
Effective assortment analysis is more than just a product audit. It is a strategic management tool, at the crossroads of marketing, sales and data.
Thanks to assortment analysis tools such as XAB- Optimix Assortment and Benchmarksprovide retailers with a tool capable of analyzing their offer and those of competitors, and aligning your offer with market expectations.
By combining analysis, intuition and the power of data, our teams are now able to steer our offer with a global, agile and profitable vision.
The challenge is to maintain coherence between the company’s ambitions, the customer promise and market dynamics, while transforming each assortment decision into a lever for sustainable and measurable growth.
