Assortment planning software for store-specific product ranges
Assortment planning software helps retailers decide which products to offer in each store group or channel, for a defined trading period. Codeblix develops custom software for category teams managing product-range choices, attribute coverage and approval handoffs. Start with the range decision your buyers need to make: which SKUs belong in the assortment, how much initial stock to allocate, and when the approved edition takes effect.
Give each range decision an accountable owner.
A product list becomes useful when the team can explain where it applies, which customer needs it covers and how its launch will be authorized.
Balance range breadth with initial stock depth
Choose the distinct products required to cover the category, then decide the opening quantity for each selected SKU. Compare price tiers, sizes, colors, pack formats or other relevant attributes without confusing extra variants with additional stock. Show gaps and excessive duplication against the category's agreed objectives.
Resolve differences between store groups
Plan around a documented group of locations or a channel. Use demand history, local requirements and capacity constraints as inputs to the decision. Retain the membership snapshot behind an approval so a later store reassignment does not silently change the range already released.
Release a traceable assortment edition
Keep alternatives, approved editions and effective dates distinguishable. Capture the category decision, buying confirmation and launch acknowledgement at the appropriate step. Stores need the selected product identities and start date; buyers need the initial allocation and unresolved supplier decisions.
Make the product choice clear at each handoff.
Compare the physical samples, evaluate alternative ranges and check the approved selection with the team preparing the store display.
Connect the range choice to its financial envelope
The category budget sets an investment boundary for buying. Assortment planning decides the product selection and its initial depth within that boundary. Attach the budget edition and valuation basis to the range review so a change in product mix has an explainable financial impact.
Review merchandise budgets and buying allowancesCheck physical placement after selecting the products
A selected assortment still needs to fit the intended fixtures. Product dimensions, shelf capacity and required facings belong in the layout decision. Exchange the approved product identities with the fixture-planning workflow and record which range changes require a new layout review.
Explore shelf placement and fixture planningKeep store observations connected to the released range
A store visit can reveal that an approved item has not arrived or that a replacement is on display. Reference the store, SKU and assortment edition when recording the issue. The range owner decides whether to revise the selection; the field team manages the visit evidence and assigned corrective work.
Connect store visits and retail executionFrom category objectives to an approved store-group range
Use these six steps to define the responsibilities of category planners, buyers, range approvers, data owners and store launch teams.
Define the category decision and planning period
Agree the customer needs, target price tiers and essential attributes the assortment should cover. Identify the stores or channels, start and end dates, and the unit used for initial stock quantities. Specify mandatory items, maximum range size and the budget reference before comparing alternative selections.
Prepare product identities and store membership
Map the product master, variant relationships and active supplier references. Flag missing sizes, dimensions, costs or pack conversions that affect selection. Assemble store groups with effective dates and a named membership owner. Reconcile any imported sales or stock history to its source and refresh time.
Build and compare candidate assortments
Create a draft edition with selected and excluded SKUs and the reason for each choice. Review attribute coverage, duplicates, new items and items being removed. Compare scenarios against the same category objectives and store-group snapshot. Show incomplete data as a decision issue before treating a range as ready.
Set stock depth and resolve constraints
Assign initial quantities per selected SKU and receiving location, with explicit pack rules. Check the allocation against the approved investment and any confirmed capacity limits. Separate supplier minimum quantities from store requirements. Record the buyer's answer to unavailable products, substitution requests and late supplier confirmation.
Approve and publish the effective edition
Route the range to the designated approver with its unresolved exceptions visible. Freeze the selected products, store membership, allocations and effective dates at approval. Send the agreed export or interface payload using one release identity. Track acknowledgement per recipient so a failed handoff can be retried without creating a second assortment.
Check launch and plan the next revision
Confirm each store or channel received the intended edition and document partial acceptance. Review launch stock, sales signals and local feedback against the released range. Manage outgoing inventory and replacement products through a separate dated revision. Preserve the previous approved edition so the team can explain what changed and why.
Roles, permissions and exceptions
- Category planners create alternatives for their assigned categories; buyers confirm supplier and quantity constraints. Keep product-master administration separate from range approval.
- Approvers authorize a specific range edition and store-group snapshot. Delegation should have effective dates, clear limits and a record of the person making the decision.
- Store managers review their own location's released range and submit launch exceptions without changing another location's selection. Restrict buying costs and margin assumptions to the intended roles.
- Define an escalation owner for incomplete product attributes, discontinued items, conflicting mandatory products and a store joining or leaving a group after approval.
Migration, data and integration scope
- Inventory the current range workbooks, product master, store lists and category history. Map product IDs, variant parents, pack units and effective dates before importing active ranges.
- Agree the authoritative source for product details, cost, sales and stock. Review the available CSV or API interfaces, data permissions and refresh frequency during the consultation.
- Specify whether the first release exports range decisions, passes allocations to a buying system or publishes item availability to a channel. Each direction needs acknowledgement, retry behavior and a reconciliation owner.
- Treat replenishment, purchase orders, e-commerce publication and physical layouts as defined handoffs with their own source identities. Agree which connections belong in the initial delivery and which follow a pilot.
Delivery, demonstration and ongoing support
- Pilot one category with two store groups, an existing range and a new trading period. Use representative products and known exceptions before extending the model to the full catalog.
- Agree acceptable import size, concurrent editing behavior and comparison response times. Decide how two planners resolve changes to the same draft and which actions require another approval.
- Set hosting, access administration, backup restoration and retention responsibilities. Include the stores' time zones and the support window needed around range launches.
- Ask the quote to separate application development, data cleanup, interfaces, migration, team training and launch support. Forecasting or optimization needs its own data history, evaluation method and acceptance criteria.
Six records that make an assortment decision reproducible
Use this model in a provider demonstration or a Codeblix consultation. It connects a product choice to the location group, quantity and dated approval that make it actionable.
| Record | Example inputs | Required output and control |
|---|---|---|
| Category brief | Category ID, planning period, attribute requirements, mandatory items, range limit and budget reference | Approve the selection criteria; preserve the assumptions used to compare alternatives. |
| Product and variant record | SKU, parent/variant relation, attributes, status, supplier reference, pack unit and source timestamp | Validate required attributes and unit conversions; distinguish unavailable data from a valid zero. |
| Store-group snapshot | Group ID, location or channel members, effective dates, constraints and membership owner | Freeze the membership used for approval; review later changes as an explicit revision. |
| Assortment edition and range line | Edition ID, group snapshot, included/excluded SKUs, selection reasons, status and start/end dates | Keep alternatives separate; prevent conflicting effective ranges for the same category and destination. |
| Initial stock allocation | Range line, receiving location, units, pack multiple, unit cost and buyer confirmation | Reconcile breadth, depth and total investment; resolve minimum quantities and substitutions before release. |
| Approval and launch acknowledgement | Approver, frozen edition, release ID, destination, acknowledgement status and exception owner | Send one identifiable release; retry missing acknowledgements and retain partial acceptance without duplicate publication. |
Illustrative homeware range, with quantities in individual units: Compact stores receive six selected mug SKUs at eight units per SKU per store, giving a breadth of six SKUs and an initial depth of eight units each. Across three Compact stores that is 6 × 8 × 3 = 144 units. Large stores receive ten SKUs at twelve units each across two stores: 10 × 12 × 2 = 240 units. Total opening allocation is 384 units. If every unit in this simplified example costs 5 in the same currency, the initial investment is 1,920. The category brief requires an entry-price option and two neutral colors in both groups; missing attribute data must be resolved before approving that coverage. A seventh SKU requested by one Compact store changes range breadth and needs a dated exception, rather than an unrecorded extra row. If that store moves to the Large group after approval, the frozen release still targets its original membership until a revision is approved. When one store's import fails, retry the same release identity for that destination; do not send the full range as a second independent edition. This example excludes replenishment, tax and freight, which require their own agreed calculation and handoff.
Compare providers using the same range and launch case
These current primary product pages describe different assortment-planning approaches. Use their published focus to prepare a demonstration around your own store groups and product records.
| Option | Published focus | Ask in your demo |
|---|---|---|
| Board | Attribute-based range goals, store clustering and visual assortment review. | Can the demonstration preserve the exact location membership and attribute coverage behind an approved range? |
| Blue Yonder | Store-specific product mixes, capacity considerations and assortment optimization. | How does a local product exception affect initial allocation, approval and the edition sent to the receiving store? |
| RELEX | Category objectives, product duplication review and coordination with forecasting and replenishment. | What happens when an outgoing product still has stock and only part of a revised assortment has been acknowledged? |
A packaged platform may suit a retailer whose hierarchy, planning methods and interfaces fit its configuration. Custom development is useful when the range decision, approval rules or receiving-system handoff needs a focused application around existing tools. Compare license and implementation costs with data preparation, migration, interface maintenance, hosting and range-launch support. Demonstrate a missing attribute, a supplier substitution and a partial release alongside the ideal case.
Category reference: Board: assortment planning and store-cluster range decisions. The original six-record model, two-group allocation example and 20 acceptance cases provide a concrete brief for evaluating software and requesting a development quote.
Give the chosen range a financial boundary
Use the approved category investment and receipt plan when reviewing initial stock depth. Reconcile product choices with the buying allowance before authorizing supplier commitments.
Open the related solutionConnect the selected range to retail operations.
Keep product choices linked to buying budgets, store groups and launch feedback while each team retains a clear decision responsibility.
Explore the retail operations contextQuestions for your assortment planning consultation
Bring category planning, buying, product-data ownership and store launch responsibilities into the same discussion.
What does assortment planning software help a retailer decide?
It supports the choice of products offered by category, location group or channel during a defined period. A useful range review explains coverage, selection reasons, initial stock quantities and the approval needed to launch. Agree which decisions your team needs the application to support before comparing visual planning screens.
How do we request an assortment planning development quote?
Share a current range workbook, an anonymized product extract, the store groups and a sample approval or launch process. Describe one category decision that is difficult to complete today. Codeblix can scope a pilot around the records, roles, interfaces and acceptance cases your team needs, including migration, hosting and support.
What is the difference between assortment breadth and stock depth?
Breadth is the number of distinct products included in the range. Depth is the quantity held or initially allocated for each selected product. Six mug SKUs with eight units each have a breadth of six and a total allocation of 48 units per store. More units of an existing SKU do not add a new product to the range.
Is assortment planning the same as merchandise financial planning?
The assortment decision selects the products and variants each group will carry. Merchandise financial planning sets sales, margin, stock investment and receipt budgets. Link the chosen range to an approved budget reference so the buyer can assess its investment without making either workflow responsible for the other's decisions.
Do we also need planogram software?
A planogram addresses product placement and facings within measured fixtures. Your range can provide the selected product list, while the layout workflow checks dimensions and physical fit. Include that handoff when shelf constraints affect approval; keep the range edition and layout edition individually identifiable.
Can existing product, POS and ERP data be used?
Review the sources that hold authoritative product details, sales, stock and supplier references. Map identifiers, variant relationships, unit conversions and refresh times, then reconcile a sample extract. The development scope defines the imports, exports or API handoffs that will connect the application to those systems.
How should new stores, discontinued products and substitutions be handled?
Define a dated range revision or an authorized exception. Keep the original approval's membership and selected products intact, assess outgoing stock and record the buyer's substitution decision. Give the receiving store an identifiable update and track its acknowledgement, especially when some destinations accept the change before others.
What determines development cost and ongoing support?
Product-master quality, range size, store groups, approval complexity, concurrent users and external handoffs drive the scope. Include historical range migration, training, launch monitoring and recovery from failed imports. Forecasting or automated selection adds data and validation requirements; agree those separately within the project quote.