Sparkle In Pink Sees Profits Surge By 600% Since Joining Inventory Planner by Sage 

“Inventory Planner gives us the data and the analysis to know exactly which items to invest in” – Zak Larsen, Inventory & Retention Specialist at Sparkle In Pink 

Once a retailer has acquired a reputation for being a ‘cheap’ or discount brand, it can be hard to shrug it off.  

It’s even more challenging to turn things around once your customers have become ‘trained’ to only shop when there’s a promotion running.  

But Sparkle In Pink – a Shopify-powered girls’ clothing retailer based in Bluffdale, Utah – is a rare example of a brand that’s done exactly that.  

So, what was the magic formula for this e-commerce retailer’s successful pivot from ‘growth-at-all-costs’ to a profit-focussed business model?  

 It’s all come down to a smart shift in the brand’s approach to inventory planning. 

 “With the rise of ultra-cheap Chinese marketplaces like Shein and Temu at the same time as rising costs, we realized we couldn’t keep trying to compete purely on price. It was a race to the bottom,” says Zak Larsen, Inventory & Retention Specialist at Sparkle In Pink. 

“The trouble was, our approach to inventory was upside down and out of control. Around 90% of our stock was items that weren’t selling that well, and just 10% was best-sellers.  

“Thanks to Inventory Planner, we’ve been able to change all that.” 

A Sparkling Success 

Inventory Planner by Sage is a top-rated inventory planning tool that reveals which inventory to order, how much to order, and the perfect moment to order it, based on accurate forecasting that factors in supplier timescales, seasonality and promotions alongside historical sales data.  

The app integrates seamlessly with e-commerce platforms including Shopify and BigCommerce as well as shipping providers, marketplaces and 3PLs. POs can be automatically created, saving tons of time, and the software flags up both slow-moving and hot-selling items – so merchants can avoid cash flow killers like overstock and stockouts. 

Sparkle In Pink, which specializes in clothing for girls aged six months to 14 years along with popular ‘mom and me’ matching sets, has used it to significantly reduce excess stock and optimize its inventory mix, cycling out poor performing items and instead focusing on best sellers. 

It’s been a successful strategy that’s enabled the brand, which sells exclusively via its own Shopify-powered webstore, mobile app and VIP Facebook group, to increase its growth six-fold.  

Zak says: “We’ve gone from being a growth-at-all-costs retailer to one that’s focussed on profits as a top priority.  

“Inventory Planner gives us the data and the analysis to know exactly which items to invest in.  

“It assesses inventory on a granular level but gives you the info you need in a simple, easy-to-understand way. It means we’ve now got complete visibility and control, despite having around 50,000 SKUs.  

“Now, around 90% of our inventory is made up of proven best-sellers and the remaining 10% is new items that we are testing the market with.  

“We’re designing fewer items and focussing on quality over quantity, which has saved us time, money and resources.  

“Because we can accurately predict demand now, we’re able to order bigger volumes with more confidence – which means we’ve negotiated better rates from suppliers, so our margins are bigger.  

“Inventory Planner has been completely game-changing for our business. I’d say we’re around six times more profitable than before.” 

Glittering Gains 

As a largely seasonal business, offering themed outfits for holidays including Easter, Halloween and Christmas, Sparkle In Pink has used Inventory Planner to strategically plan its inventory around anticipated demand windows, ensuring optimal stock levels for each product category.  

Alongside forecasting and purchasing functionality, the insights from Inventory Planner’s customized reports have become fundamental to operations, helping Sparkle In Pink’s teams in design, marketing and sales collaborate easily.  

The software proactively alerts the team when items aren’t selling as well as forecast so that prompt action can be taken to avoid overstock, which ties up cash and takes up valuable warehouse space.  

Zak says: “It’s so important for us to understand on a granular level which products are most popular – especially when it comes to sizing and our range of matching sets for mums and their daughters.  

“By analyzing reorder quantities and stock levels using Inventory Planner, we avoid designing too many similar outfits and focus on the most popular items that drive the most profit.  

“If the software flags up items which aren’t performing as well as predicted for some reason, we use these to create Mystery Boxes. These contain a random bundle of items in a particular size – customers go crazy for them and it’s a really good way for us to clear stock without offering discounts.  

“By aligning our marketing with our inventory planning using Inventory Planner, we can advertise more effectively and ensure we always have the right items in stock which means we don’t disappoint customers who respond to our ads.  

“Thanks to Inventory Planner, we’ve come such a long way from the days where we relied far too much on discounting and promotions. We’re still affordable, but our prices are the highest they’ve ever been. We’re definitely attracting and retaining more high-value customers now.” 

A Rosy Outlook 

“Inventory Planner has been completely game-changing for our business. We’re around six times more profitable than before” – Zak Larsen, Inventory & Retention Specialist at Sparkle In Pink 

Now that the business has its inventory planning nailed, it is able to focus on expanding and growing profits even further.  

Zak says: “It’s a challenging time to be in fashion retail right now – especially with the likes of Shein and Temu and their huge marketing budgets.  

“However, we feel confident that we can continue to grow and become more profitable by focussing on who we are and what we do best. We couldn’t achieve any of it without Inventory Planner.  

“Honestly, I’d recommend it to anyone.” 

Want to see how Inventory Planner can boost your business? Book a demo now.