ABM Assortment Enhances Assortment Management: Automated SKU Delisting Recommendations
Category management is not just about adding new products — it’s also about timely delisting of SKUs that are no longer profitable. This process is critical for maintaining a healthy assortment matrix. At ABM Assortment, we’ve long been working to make this process as automated and accurate as possible. Now, we’re introducing an enhanced module that automatically identifies unprofitable items and optimizes the assortment based on profitability.
SKU Delisting — A New Level of Category Management in ABM Assortment
This is a tool within the Assortment Matrix that generates weekly recommendations on which SKUs should be removed from the assortment. The primary criterion is low average daily gross profit. This approach allows for timely removal of unprofitable SKUs and helps prevent shelf overload.
You no longer have to guess which SKUs to delist — the system does it for you based on actual data.
What Are SKU Delisting Recommendations and How Do They Work?
- Every Monday, the system automatically analyzes SKU profitability within each category.
- Based on the category strategy, the system selects the SKUs with the lowest profitability and forms a list of items recommended for delisting.
- Not all low-performing SKUs are removed — only those that exceed the allowed SKU limit within the category. This ensures the strategy is followed without sacrificing key products.
The system takes into account:
- revenue, cost, and additional expenses
- number of days with available stock
Only SKUs with stock for at least 7 days during the last 30 days are considered.
How Category Managers Make Delisting Decisions
The system generates a list of items recommended for delisting — but the final decision is always yours.
Each recommendation can be accepted manually within 14 days and marked with the status “to be delisted.”
- If the status is not changed — the item remains on the list until the next recalculation.
- If accepted — the SKU disappears from the delisting list.
This gives you full control, while preventing you from overlooking the issue.
Assortment Management in a Cluster Model: How SKU Delisting Works
The tool also supports cluster-based assortment management. If your stores are grouped into clusters, SKU delisting analysis is performed for each cluster individually. This allows for local demand variations to be taken into account.
Business Value of Automated SKU Delisting in Category Management
- Automatic delisting of unprofitable SKUs without losing key items
- Assortment matrix optimization without subjective decisions
- Improved category profitability by removing shelf “dead weight”
- Reduced costs for logistics, storage, and marketing of non-performing items
- Structured management instead of reactive decisions
ABM Assortment — A Strategic Tool for Effective Assortment Management and SKU Delisting
- Timely removal of unprofitable items from the assortment
- Shelf planning based on profitability
- Building efficient assortment matrices for each store or cluster
Want to see how the system works in your business?
Contact us — and we’ll demonstrate ABM Assortment using your real-life data.
