Assortment

The complete collection of products a business offers to customers, including all variations, sizes, colors, and price points. It represents the breadth and depth of choices available within your product categories.

Why it matters

Your assortment directly affects customer satisfaction and sales—too narrow and you lose potential buyers, too broad and you tie up cash in slow-moving inventory. Getting your assortment right means understanding what your customers want while managing the costs and complexity of carrying multiple products.

What Assortment is not

Assortment is not just having lots of products—it's having the right mix of products that work together strategically. It's also not the same as your inventory levels, which refers to how much of each product you have in stock.

Where this shows up

• Product planning meetings
• Inventory purchasing decisions
• Store layout and merchandising
• Online catalog organization

Related terms

• SKU (individual products that make up your assortment)
• Product Mix (often used interchangeably with assortment)
• Merchandising (how you present your assortment to customers)