Target adds software to localize store assortments

-- Home Textiles Today, 3/23/2010 7:20:00 AM

San Mateo, Calif. – Looking to offer shoppers a more locally focused and tailored fashion, Target Corp. has signed a contract with DemandTec Inc., a provider of on-demand optimization solutions for retailers and consumer products manufacturers.

Dan Fishback, president and ceo of DemandTec, noted that, like pricing in recent years, assortment planning has permanently changed, and rank reports and basic analytics “simply don't provide major retailers with the right insights they need to optimize and localize assortments for different store clusters, store layouts, and customer segments. Target selecting DemandTec's Assortment Optimization is a testament to this change and we are honored to further expand our strategic relationship with such an innovative industry leader."

The software service initially allowed retailers to fine-tune assortments by store cluster and fixture size based on statistical modeling of transferable demand, the company explained.

It now also is able to plan cross-category layouts, leveraging embedded shopper insights to understand brand and item preferences by segment, and further localize assortments based strategies for both a category and defined customer segment.