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A range is reported as a count and a revenue line. Whatever the company calls them — SKUs, listings, titles, part numbers, models, brands — the count goes up, the revenue goes up, and nobody divides one by the other. The cost of carrying one item is real and never stated: listing it and maintaining its data, forecasting it, holding it, giving it shelf or slot, changing a line over to make it, and the planning attention it consumes all sit in overheads that are never divided by the item count. So every item looks free to keep, and only the revenue it adds is visible. This pack turns it into a sort and a multiplication. Sort by revenue, draw a line, and multiply the items below it by what carrying one costs; multiply their revenue by the tail's own margin rather than the range's, which always overstates it. Then the question that actually decides it: if those items went, some of what they sold would move to the rest of the range and would earn the rest's margin, which is higher — so the whole decision reduces to the break-even substitution share, how much of the tail's revenue has to move for pruning to be worth doing. It stops on five conditions: no item count, no revenue, no line drawn, no carrying cost, and no margin on the tail.
The test that runs through every file
Breadth is bought with money that sits in overheads nobody divides by the number of items, so every item on the list looks free to keep. It is the argument in the deck, it becomes the wizard’s axes, it drives the model’s inputs, and it reappears as lines on the checklist. That is what makes 16 files a product rather than 16 documents.
The model resolves to one number you can negotiate with: The carrying cost — what one item costs to keep, and what the tail costs to carry. It ships blank and worked, and every input is a named cell rather than a figure buried inside a formula, so the number arrives with its assumptions attached rather than on its own authority.
What is in the Assortment Strategy Pack
- Foundations. The framework: why the carrying cost is never stated, the arithmetic, what a narrow range buys, and the five halts.
- Concept deck. Twenty-one slides for a board or a merchandising review, with nine sourced ranges and what each does not establish.
- Decision wizard. Eight scored questions returning the band, the weakest answer, and either of the two halt conditions.
- Range model. Eleven candidate substitution shares across the columns, what the tail costs to carry, and the break-even share.
- Strategies and tactics. The moves at each of the four positions, what to do when the model halts, and four ways to make the next range decision cheaper to judge.
- Case studies. Nine sourced ranges — three deliberately narrow, one deliberately broad and profitable, one that pruned a hundred brands, and one that cut the wrong thing.
- Fit worksheet. The single page of record: the count, the sort, the carrying cost, the tail's margin, and what the evidence says would move.
- Roadmap template. Five phases with gates and owners, the assumptions register, a reporting change and a periodic review line.
- Practitioner manual. Counting the range, drawing the line, assembling the carrying cost, the tail's own margin, the substitution evidence, six failure modes.
- Field checklist. The one-pager that survives outside the binder.
- About the package. What each file does and the order in which to run them.
An honest note on fit
This is a kit for running a decision, not a research report and not a course. It is worth buying if a real decision is in front of you and you would otherwise start from a blank page. It is not worth buying to read.
Worked examples use an explicitly fictional business, labeled on every file that contains one, with numbers tuned to teach rather than to flatter — each worked case is built so that the decision does not simply come out well, and so that what settles it is the test the pack exists to run. A worked example where everything works is a brochure. The price excludes customization, implementation and support, and where the pack reasons beyond its evidence it says so on the page.
Questions
- What is the Assortment Strategy Pack?
- The Assortment Strategy Pack is a decision-support kit for one question: How much of what you sell earns its place? It contains 16 files — foundations, concept deck, decision wizard, range model, strategies and tactics, case studies, fit worksheet, roadmap template, practitioner manual, field checklist, about the package — built around a single organizing test: breadth is bought with money that sits in overheads nobody divides by the number of items, so every item on the list looks free to keep. It is what a leadership team uses to run the decision and leave a record of what they assumed, rather than a report about the topic.
- Who is the Assortment Strategy Pack for?
- Anyone who has to make this call and answer for it: an operator or owner facing the decision, the executive team running it, the board or investor testing the reasoning, or an adviser who would otherwise build the framework from a blank page. It is worth buying when a real decision is in front of you. It is not worth buying to read.
- What is in the Assortment Strategy Pack?
- 16 files in Word, PDF, PowerPoint and Excel: Foundations (Word + PDF) — The framework: why the carrying cost is never stated, the arithmetic, what a narrow range buys, and the five halts. Concept deck (PowerPoint + PDF) — Twenty-one slides for a board or a merchandising review, with nine sourced ranges and what each does not establish. Decision wizard (Excel) — Eight scored questions returning the band, the weakest answer, and either of the two halt conditions. Range model (Excel, blank and worked) — Eleven candidate substitution shares across the columns, what the tail costs to carry, and the break-even share. Strategies and tactics (Word) — The moves at each of the four positions, what to do when the model halts, and four ways to make the next range decision cheaper to judge. Case studies (Word) — Nine sourced ranges — three deliberately narrow, one deliberately broad and profitable, one that pruned a hundred brands, and one that cut the wrong thing. Fit worksheet (Word, blank and worked) — The single page of record: the count, the sort, the carrying cost, the tail's margin, and what the evidence says would move. Roadmap template (Word) — Five phases with gates and owners, the assumptions register, a reporting change and a periodic review line. Practitioner manual (Word + PDF) — Counting the range, drawing the line, assembling the carrying cost, the tail's own margin, the substitution evidence, six failure modes. Field checklist (PDF) — The one-pager that survives outside the binder. About the package (PDF) — What each file does and the order in which to run them.
- What number does the Assortment Strategy Pack produce?
- The carrying cost — what one item costs to keep, and what the tail costs to carry. The model ships blank and worked, and every input is a named cell rather than a figure buried inside a formula, so the number you take into a room arrives with its assumptions attached and can be argued with rather than merely believed.
- How is the Assortment Strategy Pack delivered?
- As a single download of all 16 files, immediately after payment, with the same link sent by email. It can be downloaded 3 times and the link is valid for 30 days. There is nothing to install and no account to keep.
- How much does the Assortment Strategy Pack cost, and is it a subscription?
- $499, one-time. It is not a subscription and there is nothing to cancel. Where the pack is revised within 180 days of your purchase, the new release is yours. The price does not include customization, implementation help or support.
- Are the worked examples in the Assortment Strategy Pack real companies?
- The case studies are real, sourced and dated, and each one states what its evidence does not establish. The worked model, wizard and worksheet use an explicitly fictional business, labeled as such on every file that contains one. A worked model needs roughly fifteen populated inputs; for a real company you would have public figures for perhaps four, and the rest would be estimates wearing the authority of a spreadsheet.