In my years of experience in merchandising, I’ve witnessed product assortments evolve in ways that can sometimes lead to an all-too-common problem: assortment bloat. It’s a real issue, but the good news is, it’s completely manageable once you know how to diagnose it.
So, what exactly is assortment bloat? In a nutshell, it’s when a retailer or brand offers an overwhelming variety of products within a category—too many sizes, colors, or styles—that don’t necessarily align with what customers actually want. Instead of boosting sales, this overload often leads to inefficiencies, inventory headaches, and customer confusion.
Sound familiar? If you’re in the uniform business, it might. As companies add new items to secure deals or grow client relationships, assortment bloat can creep in. And before you know it, your product offering is bloated, unmanageable, and costly.
How to Tell If You Have Assortment Bloat:
- Crunch the numbers.
Look at your sales data and zero in on products that are underperforming. Are there a bunch of items in your lineup that barely sell or move at a snail’s pace? This can create excess inventory and tie up resources that could be better spent on faster-moving products. - Measure inventory turnover.
If certain items are piling up in the warehouse while demand lags behind, this is a classic symptom of bloat. These slow movers often turn into “dead stock,” draining resources and preventing investment in the products that actually sell. - Review product variations.
Take a hard look at how many SKUs (style/color/size combinations) you’re offering in each category. If you find a lot of overlap—items that look and feel nearly identical—you’ve likely got too many choices competing for the same customer, leading to cluttered assortments and diminished sales. - Align with customer demand.
Are your customers gravitating toward just a handful of your products? If the bulk of your assortment goes unnoticed, that’s a signal your offering may be broader than necessary. Focus on what’s selling and trim the fat where needed. - Leverage the Product Lifecycle Method.
As I’ve mentioned before, managing your assortment according to the product lifecycle is one of the best ways to keep things in check. It ensures that you’re continuously refreshing your lineup while phasing out items that have outlived their usefulness. - Spy on the competition.
Sometimes it helps to take a peek at what your competitors are doing. How does your assortment stack up? If your product lineup feels oversized in comparison, that’s a red flag.
Key Indicators of Assortment Bloat:
- A high proportion of SKUs with little to no demand.
- Low inventory turnover and rising levels of “dead stock.”
- Increasing operational costs and complexity due to managing too many SKUs.
- Customer confusion from an overwhelming number of similar product choices.
But here’s the catch: sometimes a low-performing style might be just the thing to land a new program or client, meaning it’s worth keeping in your mix. The challenge is finding the balance—knowing when an item helps round out the assortment and when it’s just dragging you down.
At the end of the day, data analysis is your best friend in making these tough decisions. There are fantastic assortment management tools out there to help you stay on top of your product offering, streamline operations, and boost profitability.
