Lesson 6: Developing Your Product Assortment

It's time to take a closer look. You'll need to do the research on what brands to bring in according to what matches your brand outlined in steps 1-5

Take a hard look at the list you made in Project 5. How many categories do you have? How many products do you have? Based on the customer you want to serve and your opening budget how many do you feel is an appropriate number to begin offering at launch? Focus on 3 products within each category to begin and 5 within each subcategory. Search for products you believe your customer will be interested in. Do you already have brands you love and want to work with? Reach out. Call, email, or setup accounts to wholesale with them. Are you looking for exclusivity and zip code protection from the vendor? How many styles/products will you be offering in each subcategory? ie (category) Apparel => (subcat #1) Tops => 3 Variations: Tank, Short Sleeve, Long Sleeve => How many styles of each? Can they be merchandised together on the selling floor? Do they work as outfits with correlating subcategories? How much of your budget can you allot to each subcategory?

When searching vendor offerings, pay attention to how items are sold (pack size) and what you think the life span on the selling floor will be to help determine how much you can purchase a product for and how quickly that will be turned back into cash for more open-to-buy dollars.