Amazon Product Portfolio Rationalisation

Optimise your product mix by scaling winners and exiting margin-destroying loss-makers.

Most Amazon vendors accumulate large product catalogues over time without rigorous profitability-based portfolio management. Products are added through opportunistic supplier relationships, line extensions, and customer requests without systematic evaluation of margin contribution. The result is unwieldy catalogues where 20-30% of SKUs destroy margin whilst consuming operational focus, working capital, and warehouse space that could be better deployed on profitable products.

Our Product Portfolio Rationalisation service applies rigorous financial analysis to your entire catalogue, segments products by margin contribution, and provides strategic recommendations for portfolio optimisation. We identify star performers deserving increased investment, marginal products requiring operational improvement or repricing, and loss-makers requiring immediate exit. This strategic portfolio management typically improves overall margin by 5-12% through selective SKU exits and resource reallocation.

For Finance Directors seeking to improve return on working capital and operational efficiency, portfolio rationalisation creates immediate margin improvement whilst simplifying operations.

Key Takeaways

Profitability-Based Segmentation: We segment your entire catalogue into profit tiers based on true net margin contribution: star performers generating substantial profit, marginal contributors with low but positive margins, and loss-makers destroying portfolio profitability. This segmentation enables strategic resource allocation aligned with profitability contribution.

Strategic Exit Recommendations: For loss-making products with no path to profitability, we recommend strategic exit with structured transition plans. This includes inventory liquidation strategies, customer communication approaches, and timeline planning that minimises disruption whilst accelerating margin recovery.

Scale vs Exit Decisions: Beyond simple profit/loss categorisation, we identify which marginal products can be rescued through operational improvements or repricing versus which should be exited. This nuanced analysis prevents premature abandonment of products that could become profitable with strategic intervention.

Working Capital Optimisation: Portfolio rationalisation releases working capital trapped in slow-moving or unprofitable inventory. Exiting loss-makers frees cash for investment in star performers or debt reduction, improving overall return on working capital employed whilst reducing inventory carrying costs.

Operational Simplification: Smaller, more focused portfolios consume less operational complexity: fewer SKUs to manage, fewer supplier relationships to maintain, reduced warehouse space requirements, and simplified operational processes. This simplification reduces overhead costs whilst improving operational quality for retained products.

The Problem

Portfolio Bloat: Over years of operation, vendors accumulate hundreds or thousands of SKUs without systematic portfolio management. Many products added opportunistically or experimentally never achieved profitability but were never formally exited. This bloat creates operational complexity whilst destroying margin.

Misallocated Resources: Working capital, warehouse space, operational focus, and management attention are allocated equally across all products rather than concentrated on profitable performers. Loss-making products consume the same resources as stars, representing massive opportunity cost.

Sunk Cost Fallacy: Vendors hesitate to exit products due to historical investment in development, supplier relationships, or inventory positions. This sunk cost thinking perpetuates losses rather than cutting them strategically, destroying shareholder value through delayed action on unprofitable products.

Lack of Exit Strategy: Without structured portfolio management processes, vendors lack clear criteria for product exits or systematic approaches to liquidation and customer transition. This procedural gap prevents action even when unprofitability is recognised.

Our Process

Step 1: Complete Portfolio Profitability Analysis

We calculate true profitability for every SKU in your catalogue, segment products into profit tiers, and quantify margin contribution and destruction by product category, supplier, and strategic segment.

Step 2: Strategic Categorisation & Recommendations

We categorise each product with specific strategic recommendations: scale (increase investment in star performers), optimise (improve profitability through operational fixes or repricing), maintain (acceptable performance as-is), or exit (no path to acceptable profitability).

Step 3: Exit Planning & Resource Reallocation

For products requiring exit, we develop structured liquidation plans including inventory disposal strategies, customer communication, and timeline management. We model working capital release and recommend reallocation to scaling star performers.

Step 4: Implementation Support & Performance Tracking

We support portfolio changes through execution, monitor margin improvement, and validate that expected benefits materialise. Ongoing portfolio management ensures future product additions meet profitability standards.