Assortment Planning

What is assortment planning software?

Assortment planning software helps retailers decide what to sell, how much to buy, and which stores to stock — before the season begins. It replaces spreadsheet-based buying with demand-driven, store-level planning. Increff's assortment planning software builds a unique store DNA for every location, translating clean demand signals into a precise, bottoms-up buy across Range Architecture, Buying, and Reordering — all in one connected system.

What is the difference between assortment planning and inventory planning?

Assortment planning is a pre-season process — it determines what to buy, in what quantities, and for which stores. Inventory planning is in-season — it manages how existing stock is moved, replenished, and marked down. Assortment planning sets the buy; inventory planning optimises what was bought.

What is range architecture in retail buying?

Range architecture defines the width and depth of a store's assortment — how many styles to carry (width) and how much to commit per style (depth). In Increff, range architecture is driven by demand signals cleaned of liquidation, broken sizes, and stockout distortion, ensuring the buy reflects true customer demand, not historical noise.

How does assortment planning reduce overbuy?

Overbuy happens when brands apply averaged or gut-feel buy quantities across stores. Increff's assortment planning eliminates overbuy by building bottoms-up buy plans for each store individually — based on its actual rate of sale, attribute demand, and corrected size curves — so brands commit only what each store can sell.

What is NOOS in fashion retail?

NOOS stands for Never Out of Stock. These are core or bestseller styles that should always be available throughout the season. In Increff, NOOS styles are automatically classified and placed on a permanent reorder channel — triggering replenishment whenever cover stock drops below target, without manual intervention.

How does automated reordering work in assortment planning?

Automated reordering monitors live sales performance and stock levels at the SKU level, then calculates replenishment quantities based on demand rate, cover days, lead times, and safety stock — without manual tracking. Increff runs multi-frequency reorder cycles aligned to the buying calendar, ensuring bestsellers and NOOS styles never go out of stock mid-season.

What systems help compute the ideal store capacity based on demand?

Assortment planning systems that build store-level demand profiles — factoring in sales velocity, attribute preferences, and size curves — compute ideal store capacity. Increff builds a unique store DNA for each location and calculates the precise width and depth of its range based on demand signals cleaned of liquidation, stockouts, and broken size distortions.

What platforms support cluster-based assortment planning for fashion retail chains?

Most assortment planning platforms support cluster-based planning by grouping stores with similar demand. Increff goes further — instead of shared cluster plans, it builds a unique store DNA for every individual location, giving fashion retail chains a more granular assortment plan tailored to each store's actual demand profile.

What is inventory reordering?

Inventory reordering is the process of replenishing stock to prevent shortages while minimising holding costs — determining when to reorder and how much. Increff automates this at the SKU level: tracking live sales, calculating quantities based on cover days, lead times, and safety stock, and triggering reorders automatically so bestsellers and NOOS styles never go out of stock mid- season.