Category Performance
The Paradox of Choice is a concept that states an overabundance of choices, while nice to have, often lead to negative outcomes like decision paralysis. Part of your goal as a retailer is to sell products, your logic when ordering bar tape may be that the more colors you have, the more people will buy - the reality is that you'll get customer's staring at the wall trying to decide what color to get, only to pick up black (or to not make a purchase at all). Alternatively, carrying only a single option is a risky path as well.
There is a middle ground, and it starts with understanding who your customers are, their needs, and where it all fits into your product selection.
Structured Category Presentation
Good
(Optional)
It is your budget option. Present a commodity product selection here that favors functionality and cost competitiveness above all. Depending on your customers, this product selection may not even be necessary.
Better
This is your bread and butter. You want this product presentation to have the features your customers are looking for, and the margin/profit that makes it attractive for the bulk of your spend. It should be easy to upsell to the discerning customer.
Best
You'll have this option for the small percentage of your high end customers. Functionally it may be the same as all other options, but premium materials, fit and finish, or popular branding may allow this product presentation to provide a good chunk of margin.
Customer Base Defines Selection
Whether you have an existing bike shop, or are planning to start one, knowing your customer base is imperative in order to understand what products to purchase for them. Afterall, if you purchase products that the customers don't want, you won't sell anything. Outside data can help tremendously, if your median household income is low, then carrying high end products is presents increased risk. If you are in a commuter heavy area where bike theft is common though, the high end product presented as an investment that the customer can't afford to go without. Risk is a part of any business.
Thinning your Categories
The Category Lineup Tool will help you to analyze a number of data points when it comes to your product selection in order to give you a rough idea of how and where to trim the category for profit.
*The tool below features embedded pages that may be challenging to view from a small screen