342. The Data Said, Delete It. Here's Why That Could Have Been an Expensive Mistake.

342. A category management report can be mathematically correct and still point you toward the wrong decision.

In this episode of Bulletproof Your CPG Brand, I share what happened when one of the lowest-velocity, highest-margin items in an assortment looked like an obvious candidate for deletion. The ranking made sense. What it could not fully show was the job the item was doing for the shopper, retailer and category.

I break down three questions I use to pressure-test an assortment recommendation: SOURCE, RETENTION and INCREMENTALITY. Where does the volume go if the item disappears? What shopper, trip, basket or need state could the retailer lose? What actually disappears when the SKU disappears? 342 The Data Said Delete It. He…

I also share a second assortment decision where 11 of our SKUs were recommended for removal across more than 2,500 stores. After rebuilding the decision around shopper loyalty, substitution, retailer economics and category consequences, the 11 stayed and the final outcome became four additional SKUs per store. 342 The Data Said Delete It. He…

The lesson is not to ignore the data.

Use the data. Then understand what the data cannot see before you make the decision.

If your team has the reports but still cannot agree on what the decision should be, bring me one retailer, one report and one decision:

RetailSolved.com/DecisionTools

Show notes and resources: RetailSolved.com/session342

Chapters

00:00 Category Management: When the Math Is Right and the Decision Is Wrong

01:08 The Trial-Size SKU the Ranking Missed