Range planning is deciding what goes into a collection: how many styles, in which categories, at which price points, and in what color and size depth. Data-driven range planning replaces gut feel with sell-through history, margin analysis, and demand signals — and it shows in the P&L.
Assortment Architecture
Structure the range deliberately: core carryover styles (proven sellers, low risk), seasonal updates (new colors and fabrics on winning silhouettes), and fashion statements (high-risk, high-visibility pieces). A common split is 50/30/20. Track each bucket's sell-through separately — if fashion pieces never clear 40%, rebalance next season.
Option Counts and Productivity
Every option (style-color combination) costs design time, sampling money, and inventory risk. Measure sales per option and cut the long tail — most brands find their bottom 30% of options contribute under 10% of revenue. Fewer, better options also concentrate fabric buys for lower costs.
Pricing Tier Strategy
Map options across good-better-best tiers so every customer has an entry point and an aspiration. Analyze margin by tier, not just revenue: a tier that sells well at 35% margin may be worse than a slower tier at 60%. Reprice or redesign the underperformers before repeating them.
FAQs
- What is sell-through rate?
- Units sold divided by units received, expressed as a percentage. 70%+ full-price sell-through is strong in most apparel categories; below 50% signals over-assortment or weak product.
- How many styles should a collection have?
- It depends on channel and scale, but discipline beats volume: a focused 40-style range that sells through beats a sprawling 120-style range with heavy markdowns.
- What data do I need to start?
- At minimum: sales by style/color/size, markdown rates, and margin per option. POS and wholesale sell-through data together give the full picture.
- How often should ranges be reviewed?
- Formally each season, with in-season monitoring of bestsellers for reorders and dogs for early markdown action.
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