Case Study: Merchandise Chaos

There are simple reports I produce to introduce me to category performance. Below is a summary of five year's of demand/sales data by category. Prepare for chaos.

This is a company ("Beans" ... The Internet's Only Variety Store) that is lost.

Why do I suggest this company is "lost"?

There is no merchandise consistency within this brand. It is common for a handful of categories to be the "gravity" that holds a brand together. When I worked at Nordstrom, you'd have some mix of womens / mens / footwear / cosmetics that generally glued customers to the brand. It would have been crazy for footwear to be +40% and cosmetics to be -40% ... long before either category skewed beyond +/- 10% somebody would have been promoted/fired.

Look at Fashion ... Fashion is -46% IN JUST ONE YEAR! How does that happen?

Jewelry? It looks like it is being killed off. Same thing with Office. And Media. And Recreation.

Seasonal merch went from nothing to something to nothing.

Meanwhile, Table Top / Outdoor / Apparel Bottoms / Apparel Tops are not performing poorly.

I asked Paisley Ingram what happened?

From: paisley.ingram@beans.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2026 2:16 PM
To: Kevin Hillstrom <kevinh@minethatdata.com>
Subject: RE:  Five Year Category Performance

 

Our long-time Chief Merchandising Officer left the company four years ago to spend more time with her family. We wish her well in all endeavors. Her replacement left the company about two years ago to spend more time with her family. We also wish her well in all endeavors. Our current Chief Merchandising Officer is Sloane Montgomery. Sloane firmly believes in a focused assortment of favorites that customers love, and she is a strong believer in our apparel offering.

Thanks,

Paisley

______________________________________________________

 

From: Kevin Hillstrom <kevinh@minethatdata.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2026 11:47 AM
To: paisley.ingram@beans.com
Subject: Five Year Category Performance

 

I took a look at category performance by year. It is obvious that something unusual happened 3-4 years ago, and again in the past year or two. Is there anything I need to know about your merchandising strategy as I dig into category performance?

Thanks,

Kevin