Rotation Is Dead. Here's What Smart Brands Use Instead
Rotation Is Dead. Here's What Smart Brands Use Instead
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Rotation Is Dead. Here's What Smart Brands Use Instead
Rotation Is Dead. Here's What Smart Brands Use Instead
March 26, 2025
March 26, 2025
🔮 A clear, realistic view of your sell-through at the end of the season, before you’ve even made a move.
📉 To choose the right price, rotation Sounds Smart — But It Only Tells You What’s Selling Right Now
Most of the time, rotation is based on the last 4 weeks of sales — simply because we don’t have a better way to estimate future demand.
But in fashion and home, those 4 weeks often belong to a completely different season.
👕 A t-shirt in December?
🧥 A coat in April?
Rotation doesn’t get that timing matters.
And that t-shirt not moving today? It might explode in sales next week.
4-week-back rotation doesn’t see what’s coming.
It’s like checking the weather with last month’s forecast.
🧠 Rotation is not enough. We Need the forecasted sell-through-rate.
What if you knew today how much stock you’d have left at the end of the season?
Not just what’s moving now — but what will move, and how fast?
Imagine a metric that:
Predicts how your product will perform throughout the season
Knows when seasonality peaks will kick in
This is the predicted end-of-season STR — and it's way more useful than looking backwards.
Now that’s a pretty good metrics.
🔥 But Wait—There's More
Even if you could predict how many units will sell…
It’s still not enough.
Because how much you sell depends on how you price the product.
No promo? People wait
-10%? Some start buying.
-40%? Boom—stock gone.
So when we say "predict end-of-season STR", we’re not talking about just one number.
We’re talking about a system that can say:
👉 “If you do nothing, this is what happens.”
👉 “If you go -20%, here’s the result.”
👉 “If you hit -50%, you’ll clear everything.”
And the best part?
The system doesn’t just simulate — it predicts what you will do.
If sales are slow, it anticipates the merchandiser’s reaction — a stronger discount — and projects the most likely end result.
It predicts the human decision, then shows the outcome.
🤖 Meet the Smart Metric
Imagine a tool that:
Predicts sales across the full season
Understands seasonality
Simulates all possible promo plans
And most importantly: adapts to your future decisions — even if you haven’t made them yet
That’s what the smartest brands are using.
It’s not just a forecast.
It’s a flexible, dynamic system that thinks like a merchandiser.
Now that’s a god-tier metric.
📊 Rotation vs. Predicted STR
Metric | Sees real sales potential | Handles seasonality | Adapts to discount plans | Compares all types of products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Rotation | ❌ Just past 4 weeks | ❌ Blind to peaks | ❌ Ignores discounts | ❌ A tee ≠ a coat |
Predicted STR | ✅ Full season view | ✅ Includes peaks | ✅ Simulates promos | ✅ % works for everything |
🔥 Bottom Line: Why Smart Brands Are Moving On
Rotation is stuck in the past.
It can’t plan. It can’t predict. It can’t adapt.
Smart brands don’t wait to see what happens.
They simulate, test, plan, and then act.
👉 So... still think rotation is the metric?
Or are you ready to upgrade from guesswork to god-mode? 🔮
By Damien Jacquemart, PhD, Differs' CTO
🔮 A clear, realistic view of your sell-through at the end of the season, before you’ve even made a move.
📉 To choose the right price, rotation Sounds Smart — But It Only Tells You What’s Selling Right Now
Most of the time, rotation is based on the last 4 weeks of sales — simply because we don’t have a better way to estimate future demand.
But in fashion and home, those 4 weeks often belong to a completely different season.
👕 A t-shirt in December?
🧥 A coat in April?
Rotation doesn’t get that timing matters.
And that t-shirt not moving today? It might explode in sales next week.
4-week-back rotation doesn’t see what’s coming.
It’s like checking the weather with last month’s forecast.
🧠 Rotation is not enough. We Need the forecasted sell-through-rate.
What if you knew today how much stock you’d have left at the end of the season?
Not just what’s moving now — but what will move, and how fast?
Imagine a metric that:
Predicts how your product will perform throughout the season
Knows when seasonality peaks will kick in
This is the predicted end-of-season STR — and it's way more useful than looking backwards.
Now that’s a pretty good metrics.
🔥 But Wait—There's More
Even if you could predict how many units will sell…
It’s still not enough.
Because how much you sell depends on how you price the product.
No promo? People wait
-10%? Some start buying.
-40%? Boom—stock gone.
So when we say "predict end-of-season STR", we’re not talking about just one number.
We’re talking about a system that can say:
👉 “If you do nothing, this is what happens.”
👉 “If you go -20%, here’s the result.”
👉 “If you hit -50%, you’ll clear everything.”
And the best part?
The system doesn’t just simulate — it predicts what you will do.
If sales are slow, it anticipates the merchandiser’s reaction — a stronger discount — and projects the most likely end result.
It predicts the human decision, then shows the outcome.
🤖 Meet the Smart Metric
Imagine a tool that:
Predicts sales across the full season
Understands seasonality
Simulates all possible promo plans
And most importantly: adapts to your future decisions — even if you haven’t made them yet
That’s what the smartest brands are using.
It’s not just a forecast.
It’s a flexible, dynamic system that thinks like a merchandiser.
Now that’s a god-tier metric.
📊 Rotation vs. Predicted STR
Metric | Sees real sales potential | Handles seasonality | Adapts to discount plans | Compares all types of products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Rotation | ❌ Just past 4 weeks | ❌ Blind to peaks | ❌ Ignores discounts | ❌ A tee ≠ a coat |
Predicted STR | ✅ Full season view | ✅ Includes peaks | ✅ Simulates promos | ✅ % works for everything |
🔥 Bottom Line: Why Smart Brands Are Moving On
Rotation is stuck in the past.
It can’t plan. It can’t predict. It can’t adapt.
Smart brands don’t wait to see what happens.
They simulate, test, plan, and then act.
👉 So... still think rotation is the metric?
Or are you ready to upgrade from guesswork to god-mode? 🔮
By Damien Jacquemart, PhD, Differs' CTO
🔮 A clear, realistic view of your sell-through at the end of the season, before you’ve even made a move.
📉 To choose the right price, rotation Sounds Smart — But It Only Tells You What’s Selling Right Now
Most of the time, rotation is based on the last 4 weeks of sales — simply because we don’t have a better way to estimate future demand.
But in fashion and home, those 4 weeks often belong to a completely different season.
👕 A t-shirt in December?
🧥 A coat in April?
Rotation doesn’t get that timing matters.
And that t-shirt not moving today? It might explode in sales next week.
4-week-back rotation doesn’t see what’s coming.
It’s like checking the weather with last month’s forecast.
🧠 Rotation is not enough. We Need the forecasted sell-through-rate.
What if you knew today how much stock you’d have left at the end of the season?
Not just what’s moving now — but what will move, and how fast?
Imagine a metric that:
Predicts how your product will perform throughout the season
Knows when seasonality peaks will kick in
This is the predicted end-of-season STR — and it's way more useful than looking backwards.
Now that’s a pretty good metrics.
🔥 But Wait—There's More
Even if you could predict how many units will sell…
It’s still not enough.
Because how much you sell depends on how you price the product.
No promo? People wait
-10%? Some start buying.
-40%? Boom—stock gone.
So when we say "predict end-of-season STR", we’re not talking about just one number.
We’re talking about a system that can say:
👉 “If you do nothing, this is what happens.”
👉 “If you go -20%, here’s the result.”
👉 “If you hit -50%, you’ll clear everything.”
And the best part?
The system doesn’t just simulate — it predicts what you will do.
If sales are slow, it anticipates the merchandiser’s reaction — a stronger discount — and projects the most likely end result.
It predicts the human decision, then shows the outcome.
🤖 Meet the Smart Metric
Imagine a tool that:
Predicts sales across the full season
Understands seasonality
Simulates all possible promo plans
And most importantly: adapts to your future decisions — even if you haven’t made them yet
That’s what the smartest brands are using.
It’s not just a forecast.
It’s a flexible, dynamic system that thinks like a merchandiser.
Now that’s a god-tier metric.
📊 Rotation vs. Predicted STR
Metric | Sees real sales potential | Handles seasonality | Adapts to discount plans | Compares all types of products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Rotation | ❌ Just past 4 weeks | ❌ Blind to peaks | ❌ Ignores discounts | ❌ A tee ≠ a coat |
Predicted STR | ✅ Full season view | ✅ Includes peaks | ✅ Simulates promos | ✅ % works for everything |
🔥 Bottom Line: Why Smart Brands Are Moving On
Rotation is stuck in the past.
It can’t plan. It can’t predict. It can’t adapt.
Smart brands don’t wait to see what happens.
They simulate, test, plan, and then act.
👉 So... still think rotation is the metric?
Or are you ready to upgrade from guesswork to god-mode? 🔮
By Damien Jacquemart, PhD, Differs' CTO
