Watch The Transition, Carefully

It's one thing when a new CEO takes over a brand.

It's another thing when a new Merchant takes over your merchandising team. It's arguably more important. I mean, the only reason a customer buys from you is because they want/need what you sell, right?

The new merchant looks at your assortment, and immediately has judgments. S/He may not understand your customer base, likely doesn't understand the history of assortment decisions, and quite possibly couldn't care less about any of it. S/He is there to fix something.

If you are a marketer, this is the time you want to pay attention to what is happening.

What is the plan for existing winners?

What is the plan for existing contenders?

What is the plan for long-term categories you've always sold?

What is the plan for new categories you recently expanded into?

Will there be enough new items so that five percent of 'em will become winning items 1-2 years from now?

The pattern repeats over and over ... the new merchant makes a bunch of decisions that nobody in marketing understands or even wants to understand ... the existing customer doesn't embrace the changes, sales decrease, conversion rates plummet, ROAS is awful ... and it becomes time to fire the marketing folks, it's their fault!

During times of merchandise transition, watch the transition, carefully. This is a key inflection point in the timeline of any brand. Understand what is happening. Measure the living daylights out of what is happening. Forecast what you think will happen based on what is actually happening.