Too Many Options, Not Enough Sizes

The option total hides the customer’s actual choice

A customer does not buy a share of the department’s total units. They ask for a particular option in a usable size. A range with many colours can look complete at the buying table while offering only a few units of its most requested size in each store.

This is the width-versus-size-depth decision inside a fixed buy. It differs from correcting a size curve: the curve can be reasonable and the quantity behind it still too small. Core’s range planning makes the option quantity and size distribution part of the same commercial discussion.

Translate breadth into local quantities

Assume a $12,000 stock envelope at a common $20 unit cost, giving 600 units. A twelve-option range assigns fifty units to each option. Across five stores, an equal allocation gives ten units per option per store before the size curve is applied.

A four-size curve of 20%, 40%, 20% and 20% gives two small, four medium, two large and two extra-large units in each store. The middle size has four units, even though the buyer approved fifty of that option overall. Equal store quantities are an assumption here, not an allocation recommendation.

Compare a different range shape on the same budget

An eight-option alternative gives seventy-five units per option from the same 600-unit buy. Across the same five stores, each option has fifteen local units. Applying the unchanged curve gives three small, six medium, three large and three extra-large units per store.

Neither the budget nor the percentage curve changed. Medium depth rose from four to six because the range retained fewer options. If medium demand is two units per week at a store, its assumed cover rises from two to three weeks. Actual option demand must still justify that retained depth.

Do not assume removed options donate their demand

The eight-option comparison is a structural test, not evidence that customers will accept less choice or buy a retained colour instead. An option serving a distinct customer need may deserve a small test even when its depth is thin. Another may duplicate a role already covered.

Use Core’s option plan to state the purpose of each retained or trial option. Compare its cost, expected selling window and size requirement with the space left in the envelope. Avoid assigning the lost demand from four removed options to the survivors without a defensible reason.

Read size sales with the opportunity to sell

Core’s size analysis uses selected years, seasons and trading weeks. Check the availability behind the observed curve before treating sold units as unconstrained demand. Four medium units sold quickly do not establish that four were enough if the size then remained unavailable.

The example holds the curve constant to isolate breadth. A real review may need to change both the curve and the total option depth. Make those two decisions explicit so the team can explain whether the proposed improvement comes from a better size split, more units per option or both.

Keep a trial separate from the continuity promise

A small fashion test can use limited depth to learn. A continuity promise requires enough suitable sizes across the intended selling window. Giving both the same option quantity can overstate the trial and underfund the line customers expect to find again.

Core brings the range and MFP/WSSI assumptions into the discussion. Check the receipt timing that supports the chosen depth. A three-week medium cover comparison does not guarantee availability if the first delivery arrives late or the local demand rate is materially stronger than assumed.

Sign off the size run behind the range

The decision table gives the buyer two intelligible choices: twelve options with four medium units per store, or eight with six, at the same cost. A third solution could retain a broader trial with selective deeper core options, but its quantities must also reconcile to the envelope.

The useful range review therefore asks what each store can actually sell in each key size. Merchmix Core connects that question with the approved option structure. The strongest range is the one whose choice and depth fit the customer, rather than the one with the largest number of pictures.

Common questions