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.
In most apparel brands, assortment planning happens in spreadsheets, disconnected from OTB budgets and buy planning. This creates reconciliation delays and decisions based on stale data.
- 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
- 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.
Book a live demo and see how RetailNorthstar connects assortment planning to your OTB budget and buy workflow.