Beach Accessories: How to Plan Your Store’s Assortment

Plan your beach assortment around shoppers’ needs: carrying belongings, keeping wet swimwear separate, and setting up for a day at the beach. Consider five groups: carry bags, separate bags for wet items, folding beach chairs, towels, and umbrellas. Determine purchase quantities based on customer requests, sales, and actual stock.

Start with a small batch of new items. Before paying, check the specifications of the specific models and the cost estimate. Separately calculate how much money would remain tied up in unsold goods under a hypothetical scenario of your choice.

Find out what beach situation shoppers need the item for

Ask sales staff to ask visitors: “Is there an item you were looking for but couldn’t find?” Record the item’s name and the shopper’s requirements. Ask about the required size, capacity, and carrying method.

Consider this situation: a shopper is walking to the beach, carrying a towel and other belongings, and wants to put wet swimwear in a separate bag after swimming. Suggest comparing a carry bag with a separate bag for wet items. Show the handles, dimensions, and closure method of the specific products. Before suggesting a chair or umbrella, check whether the shopper needs one and whether its dimensions are suitable.

Choose product groups and compare specific models

Use the models shown as examples of specifications to compare. For goods you plan to purchase, record their own specifications from the manufacturer’s documentation. These examples do not determine demand or order quantities.

Record product and packaging dimensions separately. For example, the packaging for the chair shown is 52 cm wide, 3 cm high, and 102 cm long; it weighs 2.58 kg. The packaging for the towel shown is 30 cm wide, 4 cm high, and 34 cm long; it weighs 0.55 kg. Use the relevant packaging dimensions when planning shelf space, and the product dimensions when explaining its size to a shopper.

Keep the conditions of use with the model specifications. Do not apply the capacity, maximum load, or waterproofing of the listed article number to other products in the same group.

Determine the number of products and variants

Assortment breadth means the variety of products. Depth means the number of variants of each product, such as colors or sizes. Decide separately which groups to add and how many variants of each item to purchase.

1. Count the accessories on hand and compare actual stock with inventory records. Resolve any discrepancies before placing an order.
2. Compare the items in stock with customer requests. Identify what is missing: a different product or a variant of an existing model.
3. Check the minimum order—the smallest quantity the supplier is willing to sell. Also ask about the delivery time.
4. Agree on a small initial batch. Increase purchases after you have reliable sales data.

Calculate the purchase cost and possible surplus

Stock costs include purchasing, ordering, storage, management, and holding the goods. List purchasing, delivery, packaging, and storage separately in your estimate. Add any other costs associated with your order.

Hypothetical example. A store buys 20 bags for carrying belongings at UAH 200 each. The purchase cost is UAH 4,000. Assume delivery costs UAH 200, packaging UAH 100, and storage for the batch UAH 100. The total costs included are UAH 4,400, or UAH 220 per bag if these costs are allocated evenly. All figures are illustrative and do not relate to the models shown.

If the store sells 16 bags with no other stock coming in or going out, 4 units will remain. That is 80% of the initial batch sold. The purchase cost of the remaining stock is UAH 800, excluding other costs; with the included costs allocated evenly, it is UAH 880. Further storage is not included in this amount.

Regularly review the share of stock sold and the unsold units in each group. Check actual stock before reordering. At the end of the season, list the remaining items and decide separately which to store, reprice, or stop purchasing.

Torgsoft: Filter sales for the required period

To review sales of beach accessories, use the “Аналіз реалізації за видами товару” (Sales analysis by product type) mode. You can filter data by period, accounting center, manufacturer, or customer.

Select the period for which you are assessing the purchased batch. Use the filtered data when reviewing the next order. Take the selected filters into account: make decisions about the entire assortment only after reviewing the relevant selection.

Torgsoft: Find items with zero stock

In the “Аналіз залишків товару” (Stock balance analysis) mode, the “Показувати товари з нульовим залишком” (Show products with zero stock) toggle displays products with zero stock on the selected date. Use it to review those items.

Compare the list with customer requests and sales. Count the actual goods before ordering. Determine the quantity for a new purchase separately, taking these data and the supplier’s minimum batch into account.