Assortment Planning Software for Apparel Brands
Build seasonal assortments aligned to financial guardrails. RetailNorthstar connects your assortment decisions directly to your OTB budget and buy plan — no manual reconciliation.
What is assortment planning?
Assortment planning is the process by which apparel brands determine which products to carry, in what quantities, and across which channels and locations for a given season.
Effective assortment planning requires analyzing historical sales performance, customer demand signals, competitive context, and financial targets — then translating those inputs into a coherent product strategy at the style, color, and size level.
When assortment planning happens in a spreadsheet separate from the OTB budget and the buy plan, every assortment change has to be carried into those files by hand. Reconciliation lags behind the decisions, so buyers end up working from figures that have already moved.
In RetailNorthstar the assortment can also be built visually. In Canvas, merchandisers draft it by placing products onto boards, review it as a team and commit it in the assortment meeting, and the committed board is the assortment plan. See visual assortment planning.
Comparing several vendors? Our evaluation of assortment planning tools for apparel brands sets out the criteria and where each type of tool fits.
- Attribute-level planningPlan by style, color, size, and fabric with automatic rollup to department totals
- OTB-constrained assortmentAssortment decisions automatically reconcile against your OTB budget in real time
- Channel segmentationPlan separate assortments for DTC, wholesale, and marketplace with channel-specific targets
- Visual assortment on CanvasDrag products onto category, delivery, channel or tier boards; OTB, option counts and mix update as you place
- Performance-linked recommendationsAI surfaces product candidates based on historical sell-through and margin contribution
- Buy plan auto-generationConvert final assortment decisions into structured buy plans with one action
Connected to the full planning workflow
OTB sets the financial budget and receipt plan. Assortment planning uses OTB as its guardrail.
Build the product strategy. Choose styles, attributes, channels, and quantities within OTB.
Assortment decisions feed directly into buy plans. Quantities, vendors, and purchase orders.
Assortment planning for every apparel model
Assortment planning for DTC brands
DTC apparel brands need assortment plans that map to digital channels, optimize for full-price sell-through, and respond quickly to consumer signals. RetailNorthstar supports rapid iteration and SKU-level tracking.
DTC planning guide →Assortment planning for wholesale brands
Wholesale assortment planning requires managing account-level line sheets, floor set requirements, and minimum order quantities across multiple retail partners. RetailNorthstar structures this complexity.
Wholesale planning guide →Assortment planning questions
What is assortment planning?
Assortment planning is the process by which apparel brands determine which products to carry, in what quantities, across which channels and locations. It involves analyzing sales performance, customer demand, and financial targets to build a seasonal product assortment that maximizes sell-through and margin.
How does RetailNorthstar support assortment planning?
RetailNorthstar provides a connected assortment planning environment where teams can build product assortments aligned to financial guardrails, plan at the attribute level (style, color, size), and connect assortment decisions directly to buy planning without manual reconciliation.
What is the difference between assortment planning and OTB planning?
Open-to-Buy (OTB) planning determines how much budget is available to spend on inventory in a given period. Assortment planning determines what specific products to buy with that budget. In RetailNorthstar, these workflows are connected so assortment decisions automatically reconcile against OTB budgets.
See assortment planning in action.
Start a free trial and see how RetailNorthstar connects assortment planning to your OTB budget and buy workflow.
No credit card. No commitments.
Connected merchandise planning — live in weeks, not quarters.