Rebuilding the Womenswear Range Plan for a European Fashion Distributor
A European fashion distributor’s womenswear range had grown wider every season while depth per option shrank. A range architecture review, recalculated size and colour curves and a new open-to-buy plan moved the buy into proven options, monitored weekly in Power BI.
Womenswear Range Planning Challenge for the Distributor
The womenswear range had grown season by season: more options each time and less depth behind each one. Stores ran out of core sizes early, while fringe colours ended up in markdown.
The size curves had been copied from the previous plan, together with the distortions caused by earlier stock-outs.
- Broken size runs in core lines by week four
- Markdown absorbing a growing share of margin
- No shared sell-through figure between buying and finance
What Was Done to Rebuild the Womenswear Range Plan
Womenswear Range Architecture Review by Category and Price Tier
Option counts compared with sell-through and margin history.
Size and Colour Curves Recalculated from Cleaned Sales
Returns, stock-out weeks and promotions removed from the history.
New Womenswear Buy Plan and Open-to-Buy Model
Depth moved into proven options, with monthly phasing.
Weekly Womenswear Range Monitoring in Power BI
Sell-through and size integrity tracked against the plan.
Womenswear Range Plan Results in Numbers
sell-through on core categories
option count
markdown spend across two seasons
Tools Used in the Womenswear Range Plan Project
Excel Buy Plan and Open-to-Buy Model
Monthly phasing and scenario comparison.
Power BI Range Monitoring Report
Weekly sell-through and size integrity.
Related Service: Assortment Planning and Merchandise Planning Consulting
Range architecture, size and colour curves, a merchandise plan and in-season monitoring, adapted to your categories and markets.
Fewer options, more depth — the hardest conversation was the first one.
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How to Build a Range Plan in Fashion Retail
What a fashion range plan contains, the steps from brief to buy, and how options, depth and price tiers fit into one range plan template.
How to Build a Retail Size Curve from Last Season’s Sales Data
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Womenswear Range Plan Rebuild Case Study FAQ
The project took eight weeks, from the range architecture review to the new buy plan and open-to-buy model. Weekly monitoring in Power BI then continued through the season.
Sales, stock, returns and receipts by option and size, with sell-through and margin history by category and price tier. Stock-out weeks and promotions had to be identifiable so they could be removed before the size and colour curves were recalculated.
Buying now works from a narrower range with more depth in proven options and a monthly open-to-buy plan. Buying and finance look at the same sell-through figure in a weekly Power BI report, which also flags broken size runs.
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