A line review should be much more than a meeting where buyers and vendors discuss new products.
Done correctly, a retail line review is a comprehensive examination of a category as a business.
What should a line review evaluate?
A strong line review should consider:
- Category sales and profitability
- SKU productivity
- Inventory turns
- GMROI
- Assortment gaps
- SKU duplication
- Pricing
- Competitive positioning
- Vendor performance
- New product opportunities
- Private brands
- Promotional performance
- Customer needs
Start with the customer, not the vendor
One common mistake is allowing the vendor’s product offering to define the assortment.
Instead, begin by asking: What assortment does our customer need from us?
Only after answering that question should the retailer determine which brands, products, vendors, and price points best satisfy the need.
Every SKU should have a reason to exist
An SKU may generate traffic, provide margin, complete a project, satisfy a specific customer segment, create a price point, or provide differentiation.
But there should be a reason.
Adding items year after year without removing underperformers eventually creates assortment complexity and excess inventory.
A line review should produce decisions
The outcome should not simply be another presentation.
It should result in clear actions involving assortment, pricing, vendors, inventory, promotions, space, private brands, and future opportunities.
For retailers, disciplined line reviews can be one of the most powerful tools available for improving merchandising performance.
