Assortment Planning and Merchandise Planning Consulting for Fashion Retail
Assortment planning consulting helps fashion brands and distributors decide how many options to carry per category, how deep to buy each size and colour, and which market gets which part of the range. You get a merchandise plan and an open-to-buy model built on your own sales data, which your planners keep running after the handover.
Assortment Planning Problems This Consulting Service Solves
Too Many Options and Too Little Depth in the Assortment
The range looks rich on paper and sells thin in store: sizes are broken by week four and no bestseller has stock behind it.
Size and Colour Curves Copied from Last Season
Curves are inherited rather than calculated, so last season’s stock-outs and returns quietly distort every following buy.
One Assortment Pushed into Very Different Markets
The same range ships to markets with different climates, price expectations and store sizes, and markdown absorbs the difference.
No Agreed Sell-Through Figure Between Buying and Finance
Every range review starts by reconciling two versions of sell-through instead of deciding what to buy.
What the Assortment Planning Consulting Work Includes
Five workstreams in a fixed order. Each ends with a document or model that stays with your team.
Range Architecture Review by Category and Price Tier
Option counts by category, price tier and market, compared with sell-through and margin history.
Size and Colour Curve Calculation from Cleaned Sales Data
Curves rebuilt from sales history with returns, stock-out weeks and promotions removed.
Merchandise Plan and Open-to-Buy Model in Excel
One model your planners maintain: units, cost, margin and phasing by month and market.
In-Season Assortment Monitoring in Power BI
A weekly view of sell-through, stock cover and size integrity, built on agreed definitions.
Handover Workshops for Buying and Merchandise Planning Teams
Two working sessions and written documentation, so the next season runs without me.
Assortment Planning Results for Fashion Brands
sell-through on core categories in the first full season
option count, with depth moved into proven sizes and colours
markdown spend across two consecutive seasons
Tools Used in Assortment Planning Projects
Excel Merchandise Plan and Open-to-Buy Model
Open-to-buy, monthly phasing and scenario comparison in one workbook.
Power BI for In-Season Assortment Monitoring
DAX measures for sell-through, stock cover and size integrity.
PLM Product Data Behind the Range Plan
Clean category, season and colour attributes behind every option count.
Related Case Study: Rebuilding the Womenswear Range Plan for a European Fashion Distributor
Rebuilding the Womenswear Range Plan for a European Fashion Distributor
Fewer options, more depth in proven sizes and colours, and a new open-to-buy plan for a womenswear distributor.
Related Retail Analytics Articles
ABC and XYZ Analysis for Retail Assortment in Excel
How to run ABC analysis by sales contribution and XYZ analysis by demand stability in Excel, and use the matrix for assortment decisions.
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
How to clean sales data of stock-outs, returns and promotions before calculating size ratios per category, market and store cluster.
Assortment Planning Consulting FAQ
Assortment planning in fashion retail is deciding which products a brand will sell in a season: how many options per category and price tier, how deep to buy each size and colour, and which stores or markets receive them. It balances range width against depth so that customers find choice and bestsellers stay in stock. The output is a range plan that the buy and the open-to-buy budget are built on.
Assortment planning decides what to sell: the options, sizes, colours and their split by market. Merchandise planning decides how much money to spend and when: sales, margin, stock and open-to-buy by month and category. The two plans have to agree, so I build them together.
Ideally two seasons of sales, stock and returns at SKU and week level, plus product attributes such as category, colour, size and price. One season is workable, but the size and colour curves then carry more uncertainty. Standard ERP or PLM exports are enough.
Yes. The model keeps one range architecture and lets depth, size split and phasing differ by market. That way each market plan stays comparable with the others while still reflecting local demand.
No. Most brand teams need a clear process and a reliable Excel and Power BI model first. If you later choose planning software, the model becomes its specification and the team already knows what it needs from the system.
Your planning team. The plan is built in the tools they already use, documented step by step and handed over in two workshops. Ongoing support is available if you want a monthly review.
Discuss an Assortment Planning Project with Tatsiana Bandziuk
Send me the category you are least sure about. I will reply with what the sales data would need to show for that part of the range to be right.
Tatsiana