AI-Powered Assortment Planning & Size Profiling for the Ozempic Generation

Accurate sizing and assortment planning are critical to both customer satisfaction and overall profitability, especially for retailers in apparel and footwear. When sizing misses the mark, it leads to excess inventory, higher return rates, and lost sales. And as weight-loss drugs continue to gain popularity, size profiling has to become more dynamic to keep up with shifting trends. By harnessing data on shopper behavior, regional fit trends, and inventory performance, AI-powered tools enable smarter, more localized assortment planning that boost sell-through, reduce returns, and meet customers where they are—ensuring the right products, in the right sizes, reach the right customers at the right time.

Rise of GLP-1 & The Impact on Assortment Planning

Style, color, size. 

Assortment planners typically determine their mix 6-9 months in advance. And with lead times in production and planning, there’s little room for error—products made months in advance that don't align with actual demand can tie up resources and margin for an entire season.

The rise of weight-loss medications is forcing retailers and wholesalers to be more agile and adjust their assortment planning to match the shift in size trends. While the long-term effect of weight-loss medications are yet to be seen, the apparel industry is already having to adapt their size curves as popularity for drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy soars. With 6% of the American population using GLP-1 drugs to lose weight, brands are starting to see smaller sizes selling more.

“Brands typically adjust (size) algorithms once a year. But now as more people use GLP-1 drugs, brands are updating these models more often than they have before to meet the need for small sizes.” - Kelly Pedersen, PwC retail leader.

Retailers who specialize in clothing or footwear know that accurate sizing is critical to customer satisfaction and profitability. AI can help improve size profiles by analyzing customer purchase patterns, returns data, and even social media feedback in real-time to identify the most accurate sizing for different customer segments and simplify assortment planning. 

Enhancing Size Curves and Profiling with AI

AI enhances assortment planning by analyzing sales at the most granular level: style, color, size, by store, by week to recommend optimal buy. Instead of traditional, static clustering, AI systems such as 7thonline can optimize size profiling by store location to ensure demand is met. When AI fine-tunes sizing strategies, retailers benefit from higher profit margins as they avoid overstocking unpopular sizes while ensuring they have enough of the right sizes. 

Proactively react to shifting consumer behavior and needs with data-driven AI-based insights. By leveraging AI to its full potential, retail businesses can unlock efficiencies, reduce waste, and meet consumer demand in a more personalized and profitable way. The future of retail is demand-based and data-driven—and those who embrace AI as an integral part of their operations will be the ones to reap the rewards in the rapidly evolving retail landscape.

7thonline is a leading provider of cross-channel assortment management solutions, unlocking efficiencies, reducing waste, and meeting consumer demand in a more personalized and profitable way. With demand forecasting and inventory optimization for leading retailers and wholesalers, the company's solutions offer complete demand visibility and planning capabilities for wholesale, retail, and ecommerce. 

To learn more about how AI can help make assortment planning more agile and dynamic, book a demo or email us at info@7thonline.com.