Assortment Management Case Study: Brand Extension vs. Fewer, Bigger, Bolder

What to know when launching new items

*Publishers Note: This is the Third in a three part series on assortment management. If you are new here, start with Managing Your Assortment & The Case for Item Expansion and the read Fewer, Bigger, Bolder: How to Grow Through Hero Launches.

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Introduction

Most businesses think of assortment planning as an or decision. Do we do a brand extension or a hero launch? Over a long enough time it will almost assuredly become an and decision — We need to launch a brand extension and a hero item!

In from 2020-21, I was part of a team that did both the brand extension and hero launch strategies and the results could not have been more different. I’m going to show you our performance data and get specific with what worked and what didn’t.

Case Study 1: Brand Extensions

Here is a real life example of the impact expanding your assortment can have on a business. This example is taken from a brand in the health and wellness space. The brand began the year with 10 active SKUs selling on the marketplace and total sales were strong, but growth was starting to slow.

Starting in month 4 of the year, the brand began introducing new items in complimentary categories. The items were an immediate success and since month 6, the brand averaged 25% MoM growth through the rest of the year.