Better Size/Color In-Stocks = Greater Sales & Profits

by Jackie Biallas

Back to School shopping with my teenage daughter.  Imagine her frustration when searching through a full rack of clothing and not being able to find her size.  So, we moved to the next rack.  Again, there were plenty of all the other sizes, but none in her size.  All I could think was, “They need SAFIO Solutions.

Has this happened to you?  Have you ever been frustrated that every other item in the assortment is available except for the one you want?

With the proper tools for demand analysis and planning, companies can achieve better in-stock positions resulting in more satisfied customers and more profits for themselves.  At the click of a button, a product assortment can be analyzed by size, color, or another important attribute to determine what the true demand is, and in what ratios the inventory should be purchased.

Using customized reports, SAFIO Solutions helps companies drill down into the demand of a particular category or style (or any desired level).  Demand can be compared to how the inventory was purchased and how it is currently owned.  With this knowledge, adjustments can be made to balance out the assortment so that the owned inventory matches future demand at a SKU level.

I have often heard that companies are not able to do this because the vendors have set prepacks.  For example, a prepack may contain 1 Small, 2 Mediums, 2 Larges, and 1 XL.  You may have found through your data that your company sells this category in a 1-1-2-2 size scale.  If you work with the vendor far enough in advance, they may be able to adjust the prepack.  Final production may not be complete yet. Consumer demand will be met, resulting in happy customers and greater sales and profits for your company.

By using data, I have been able to work with vendors to supply sizes that were previously not even offered in a particular style.  Several years ago, when I was working for a children’s apparel retailer, a new hot license emerged in the marketplace.  With early sales data, I was able to determine that this new property was not selling the same as other items in this category of merchandise.  While other items in this category sold much heavier towards the younger child sizes, this property was selling heavier towards the older child.  This was a problem since the vendor did not even make items in preteen sizing.  With our early sales data, we were able to present this information to the vendor and convince them to expand their offering to include preteen sizes.  You know what?  That size became the second-best size for that property.  It was a Win-Win for my company, as well as the vendor’s.  We were each able to realize increased sales revenue and profits because of data.

SAFIO Solutions helps companies analyze their data efficiently, giving them the data power they need to work with their vendor partners to create profitable assortments that customers demand!  For more information, visit: