A fascinating case study in product catalog strategy comes from Charles Bentley, a UK heritage brand that Andrew Steel discussed on the eCommerce MasterPlan. He explained how they grew into a £30 million business not by blindly adding more products, but by first strategically cutting their catalog in half. It’s a powerful story that turns the common wisdom about "expansion" on its head.
When Andrew joined, the company had a sprawling catalog of around 2,000 SKUs. This wasn't a sign of health, but a source of inefficiency and margin erosion. They were holding inventory that wasn't moving, and the sheer volume made effective inventory management a nightmare. Their first, most critical step was a deep, data-driven analysis to rationalize the catalog. They didn't just look at sales velocity. They analyzed search term data to see what customers were actually looking for, they used price scraping tools to understand market positioning, and they even factored in how weather trends impacted sales for their seasonal products.
This rigorous analysis led them to cut about 1,000 SKUs. They eliminated the products that were unprofitable, had low demand, or simply didn't fit the brand's direction. This sounds like the opposite of expansion, but it was the move that enabled their profitable growth. By clearing out the dead weight, they freed up capital, warehouse space, and focus. They could now manage their inventory more effectively, prevent overselling on their popular items, and ensure their marketing spend was directed at products that actually generated a healthy return. This initial "contraction" was the foundation for their multi-channel eCommerce strategy, allowing them to expand onto different marketplaces with a curated, high-performing product list. The lesson from Charles Bentley is that true catalog expansion isn't about the number of SKUs, but the profitability and velocity of those SKUs.
For a completely different perspective, you can look at the story of TemplateMonster, which David Braun talked about on the 2X eCommerce Podcast. He built an eight-figure business on the back of a massive digital product catalog. In his model, the economics are entirely different. The cost to "stock" an additional digital template is virtually zero, so having a vast selection becomes a competitive advantage. Customers looking for a website template want choice, and being the destination with the most options is a powerful market position. There's no physical inventory to manage, no warehouse space to consider, and no risk of a product "spoiling" or going out of season.
These two examples show there’s no single rule for catalog expansion. For a business like Charles Bentley dealing with physical goods, smart expansion meant curating and reducing the catalog first to maximize profit from every SKU. For a digital business like TemplateMonster, expansion meant building the largest possible library to capture the long tail of customer demand. The key is understanding your own business model, your inventory carrying costs, and the quality of your product data. As Arv Natarajan mentioned on Ecommerce Coffee Break, poor product data quality can undermine any catalog strategy, making it harder for customers to find what they're looking for and hurting your revenue. Before you add or remove a single product, the first step is always to get your data in order.