Assortment Optimization Analyzer
Optimize product assortments with data-backed SKU recommendations
What You Can Do
You can systematically evaluate your current assortment against sales data, margin targets, and inventory constraints to identify which SKUs are underperforming and where gaps exist relative to customer demand and competitor offerings. Claude synthesizes your sales analytics, shelf-space limitations, and strategic objectives into prioritized recommendations for SKU additions, discontinuations, and repositioning—helping you build balanced assortments that drive both revenue growth and operational efficiency.
Features
Evaluate each product against velocity, margin, turn rate, and shelf-productivity metrics to pinpoint low-performers and stars
Map your current assortment against customer segments, price tiers, and competitor offerings to uncover white space and duplication
Generate format-specific assortment recommendations for flagship, compact, or specialized store types
Balance profitability targets against sales velocity to optimize overall category contribution
Identify categories or price tiers where own-brand products can replace manufacturer SKUs
Prioritize SKU changes by impact and feasibility with phased implementation timelines
Compare your breadth and depth against competitor assortments to justify strategic positioning
Factor shelf-space, warehouse capacity, and replenishment cycles into SKU recommendations
Example Output
Example 1: Category Depth Analysis
Input: Sales data for snack-chip category (52 SKUs, 18-month history) + shelf-space allocation + margin tiers
Output:
- Consolidation Opportunity: 12 SKUs below velocity threshold (< $500/month); recommend discontinuing 8 low-margin dupes
- Gap Identified: No organic/better-for-you options in $3–5 price tier (competitor has 3); recommend 1 new premium SKU
- Margin Recovery: Shift promotional support from bulk items to higher-margin snack packs; estimated +$12K annual margin
Example 2: Store-Format Assortment
Input: Performance data for flagship vs. express-format stores + inventory constraints
Output:
- Flagship: Recommend 68-SKU assortment (full breadth/depth, 4 private label)
- Express: Recommend 28-SKU core assortment (best sellers + private label focus)
- Private Label Opportunity: Replace 6 low-velocity manufacturer SKUs with 2 private label variants to improve margin by 8%
What's Included
- assortment-optimization-analyzer.md: Structured prompts and analytical framework for SKU evaluation
- SKU Performance Template: Data collection sheet (SKU name, sales, margin %, turn rate, shelf space, velocity tier)
- Assortment Audit Checklist: Step-by-step guide to gather and organize portfolio data
- Competitive Benchmarking Framework: Competitor assortment mapping template
- Implementation Roadmap Template: Phased SKU change prioritization and timeline
Who It's For
- Category Managers — Build data-backed assortment strategies aligned with margin and velocity targets
- Merchandisers — Optimize SKU mix and shelf allocation across store formats
- Buying Teams — Justify SKU additions/deletions with performance and gap analysis
- Retail Operations Leaders — Reduce inventory carrying costs while maintaining customer choice
- Private Label Planners — Identify opportunities to expand own-brand within categories
Best For
- Seasonal and annual assortment reviews and resets
- Identifying and closing competitive assortment gaps
- SKU rationalization and low-performer discontinuation
- Store-format-specific assortment customization (flagship vs. compact)
- Private label expansion planning and manufacturer SKU replacement
You might also like
You can systematically analyze vendor quotes by deconstructing cost structures, identifying hidden costs and margin compression points, and modeling multiple pricing scenarios. The skill enables you to forecast margin impact across volume tiers, develop proactive negotiation strategies grounded in vendor financials, and build data-backed proposals that improve both your margins and vendor sustainability—transforming reactive price-pushing into strategic partnership analysis.
by cowork-os
You can process historical sales data and market signals to generate demand forecasts tailored to electronics SKUs, accounting for seasonality, product lifecycle stages, and supply chain lead times. The skill helps you identify optimal reorder points, calculate safety stock requirements, and flag slow-moving inventory or obsolescence risks—enabling you to make data-driven purchase order decisions that balance working capital efficiency with service level targets.
by cowork-os
You can rapidly assess current planogram performance against sales data, identify underperforming SKUs and space inefficiencies, and generate detailed shelf layout recommendations that balance profitability, velocity, and compliance. Claude processes your category mix, fixture dimensions, regulatory constraints, and competitive positioning to produce actionable planograms ready for retail operations review and store execution.
by cowork-os
Transform raw sales data into strategic insights by decomposing performance variance into specific drivers, benchmarking category health against targets, and quantifying the financial impact of merchandising decisions. You'll uncover hidden patterns in customer behavior, identify performance bottlenecks, and build executive-ready business cases backed by rigorous data analysis—moving beyond dashboards to actionable strategy.
by cowork-os
You can upload category sales data, market metrics, and competitive intelligence, then leverage Claude to apply a diagnostic framework that identifies performance drivers, quantifies gaps against benchmarks, and prioritizes improvement opportunities by revenue impact. The skill translates raw data into executive-ready strategies with ROI projections, cutting your quarterly diagnostic phase from weeks to hours.
by cowork-os
You develop strategic visual merchandising plans that integrate business objectives, customer behavior analysis, and brand guidelines into actionable retail presentations. This skill guides you through spatial psychology, color theory, product hierarchy, and sales velocity analysis to create zone-specific placement strategies, seasonal displays, and fixture specifications that drive conversion and average transaction value. You'll analyze competitor approaches, align visual hierarchy with margin targets, and build frameworks for multi-location consistency.
by cowork-os
This skill transforms raw sales, inventory, and market data into actionable assortment insights. You'll rank SKUs by velocity, margin, and trend trajectory to identify underperformers worth pruning. Discover whitespace gaps—missing size/color/price tier combinations that competitors stock but you don't. Model the financial impact of proposed assortment changes, projecting revenue and margin shifts before implementation.
by cowork-os
You can convert raw pricing data into defensible, actionable price recommendations by analyzing competitor behavior, demand elasticity, inventory health, and seasonal factors simultaneously. This skill helps you balance revenue maximization against competitive positioning and inventory velocity, enabling you to prioritize which SKUs to adjust first and justify price changes to stakeholders with quantitative rationale.
by cowork-os