Pattern / Modules / Assortment Studio
Module · Assortment

From budget to buy, guided by your customers.

Assortment Studio turns MFP targets into cluster-level range plans built around how your customers actually shop, not just how much each store turns over.

Cluster-level range building Attribute analysis before sign-off Reconciled to MFP inflow targets
Our philosophy

Store grades based on turnover alone are a blunt instrument. Assortments should be built around how your customers actually shop.

The Pattern approach

For heads of buying and planning

Answer the questions that matter at any point in the cycle: Am I on plan? Over-assorted? Underbought? The range is reconciled to MFP targets continuously, not at the end.

For the buying team

Attribute analysis by cluster before the buy is committed. See whether your coastal stores have enough dresses before sign-off, not in the markdown report afterwards.

For procurement and IT

Clusters, attributes and hierarchies are configured to your data and your structure during the Ignition Cycle. No generic template your teams have to bend to fit.

Capabilities

Range building that reflects how customers shop.

From MFP target to signed-off, cluster-level buy plan, with the evidence to back every call.

MFP to cluster-level plans

Budget targets flow straight into cluster-level buying plans. The financial plan and the range plan are never two documents.

Meaningful store clusters

Clusters reflect how customers shop, not just turnover bands. "Coastal Fashion-Forward" vs "Suburban Classic", built from your data.

Attribute analysis by cluster

Balance the range on the attributes your customers buy: styling, fit, fabric, price architecture. Evidence before commitment.

Hyper-localised range balancing

Track actuals vs targets at cluster level, with assortment factor analysis before final sign-off. Matrix buying, not wedge.

Continuous reconciliation

Options, depth and inflow continuously reconciled to MFP targets, so over-assortment and underbuying surface while they can still be fixed.

Feeds execution directly

Cluster definitions and range plans flow into Allocations and Critical Path, so what was planned is what gets bought, tracked and allocated.

Outcomes

Buy the range your stores can sell.

Assortment Studio is measured on the quality of the buy: trend capture, depth discipline and ranges that fit local demand.

01
Ranges that fit local demand

When clusters are built on customer behaviour, the range lands where the demand is. The Inland stores get the modest styling their customers actually buy, and the coastal stores get the fashion depth they can sell.

How Pattern does it
  • Customer-behaviour clusters instead of turnover grades
  • Attribute demand vs ranged share, checked per cluster before sign-off
  • Hyper-localised balancing across options, depth and price points
What it drives
  • Higher full-price sell-through per cluster
  • Fewer ranging misses that end in markdown
02
Depth and breadth in balance

Over-assortment quietly strands money in options that never get depth; underbuying strands sales. Continuous reconciliation against MFP keeps the buy honest in both directions.

How Pattern does it
  • Options vs depth visibility per cluster against target
  • Over-assorted and under-ranged flags raised during planning
  • Inflow reconciled to MFP targets at every stage of the cycle
What it drives
  • Less residual stock in fading categories
  • OTB weighted to growth, not last year's shape
03
A faster, defensible sign-off

Sign-off stops being a debate of opinions when every line of the range carries its evidence: cluster fit, attribute balance and reconciliation to plan, all in the room.

How Pattern does it
  • Assortment factor analysis presented at sign-off
  • One working surface shared by buying, planning and locations teams
  • Variance to MFP visible live, not discovered in the post-mortem
What it drives
  • Shorter range sign-off cycles
  • Buying decisions the whole business can stand behind
The shared foundation

Built on the Pattern Engine.

Assortment Studio works because the platform already knows your stores, your customers and your plan. The clusters, curves and targets it builds on are shared assets, not module settings.

1

Cluster definitions from the retail science engines, built from simple turnover bands to customer-profile-driven groupings, shared with Allocations.

2

MFP targets flow in natively, so the range plan reconciles to the financial plan without an export in sight.

3

Attribute and sales history from the data foundation powers cluster demand analysis at any level of your hierarchy.

4

Retail science engines supply size curves and optimums, so range depth decisions reflect real selling patterns.

05

Configured Workflows

Tailored to how you trade

04

AI Intelligence

Forecasting & reasoning

03

Retail Science Engines

Optimisation engines & methodologies

02

Data Foundation

Single extendable model, built for high-volume SKU retail

01

Data Ingestion

Any source system

Connected modules

The bridge from plan to buy.

Each module maps to a stage in the merchandise planning lifecycle. All draw from the same single source of truth, so what is decided here is already understood everywhere else.

← What flows in

Budget and inflow targets that frame the range plan per cluster.

Retail Science Engines

Cluster definitions, size curves and optimums, owned and tuned by your team.

Attribute and trend performance that informs next season's range architecture.

What flows out →

The committed buy plan that POs are raised and tracked against.

Cluster ranges and depth intent that shape initial allocation.

Planned inflow, reconciled back so the financial plan stays true.

See it on your own data

Build the next range around your customers.

See Pattern configured on your own data in weeks, not months.

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