'Good, Better, Best' in Summer 2026. Did It Work For Your Assortment?
'Good, Better, Best' in Summer 2026. Did It Work For Your Assortment?
Looking back at Spring/Summer 2026, did your good, better, best architecture work for you, or did more sales transition from Better to Good? Are your terminal stocks on plan, better than plan or worse? For some retailers, customers who previously shopped the "Better" or "Best" tiers of the assortment traded down significantly to the "Good" (entry price) options, and brands saw more switching to private label, or abandoned the purchase entirely.
It is tempting to blame this entirely on the macroeconomic climate and squeezed household budgets. While that is a factor, it is an incomplete explanation. When a customer trades down, it is often because we have failed as retailers to sufficiently articulate the value proposition of the assortment.If a customer cannot stand two metres away from a fixture (or view two products side-by-side on a screen) and immediately understand why one item is $15 more expensive than another based on visible quality, features, or benefits, they will always choose the cheaper option.
Protecting margin in 2026 requires a renewed focus on clearly differentiating your price architecture through skilled product development and compelling visual presentation. Review your competition for the category carefully alongside your respective quality positions. If you are a high-quality retailer, make sure you have entry level price points comparable with their better price points, but spell out the difference in merchandise presentation and signage, and maybe have fewer entry level price point options. If you are similar quality, have entry level price points that are competitive with theirs.
If, as many retailers did, you ran more promotions in the first half of 2026, make sure they were focused on the Better segment. Shoppers are more responsive to offers that reduce the price increment they must pay for a better-quality item.
Walk your key competitors stores during August and look at the carry over racks. What didn’t sell for your competitors and your own stores, and can you learn any lessons from the comparison? You may still have some flexibility to tweak Fall/Winter 2026 depending on how well you planned your OTB.
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Posted by Brian Hume
26th August 2026
