Tariffs have become a defining variable for retailers in 2025. As they rethink sourcing, pricing, and inventory strategies, category management has emerged as one of the most affected domains. Here’s how Delaplex helps retailers navigate these challenges.
The Tariff Shock: Rising Import Costs & Supply Chain Disruption
Recent U.S. tariffs ranging between 10–55% on major categories are squeezing margins and forcing strategic shifts. Notable examples include:
- Apparel: According to Market Watch, retailers can tolerate ~10% tariffs, but costs beyond 20% often transfer to them, altering product strategies, pricing, and promotional plans.
- Toys: U.S.-imported toys faced a jaw-dropping 145% tariff in April 2025, leading manufacturers to pause China production and shift sourcing, raising prices and shrinking SKUs ahead of key retail seasons, according to Mexico Business News.
- Household electronics & appliances: U.S. tariffs on steel, aluminum, and even home appliances spiked up to 50%, creating cost pressures that echo through product categories, as stated by Wikipedia.
Some of the retail giants have already raised prices, pared back private-label assortments, and selectively canceled orders to absorb costs. While some budget-conscious brands are reevaluating popular SKUs and relying on flexible sourcing to offset impacts.
Category Management Under Threat
Tariffs disrupt category management in several critical ways:
- SKU reduction & shrinkflation: To maintain margins, retailers may reduce assortments or downsize SKUs, making planograms obsolete and risking shelf gaps.
- Pricing pressure & demand elasticity: As prices rise, demand may fall, forcing repricing strategies, promotions, and inventory realignment mid-season.
- Supplier mix changes: Shifts out of China toward Southeast Asia or domestic sources require category-level rebalancing.
Real-World Consequences
- Empty shelves & visual gaps: When popular SKUs vanish due to sourcing cuts or low margins, store displays suffer, reducing the visual appeal that drives engagement and spending.
- Poor forecast accuracy: Traditional forecasting tools struggle amid tariff volatility, leading to overstocks in slow-moving lines and undersupply in high-demand ones.
- Margin dilution or lost traffic: Retailers face the dilemma of passing costs to consumers or eating the toll, both of which impact category sales and brand loyalty.
How Delaplex Helps Retailers Manage Categories During Tariff Turbulence
Delaplex offers a four-pronged strategy to preserve category performance and in-store experience during tariff cycles:
Tariff-Aware Assortment Optimization
We use AI-driven SKU scoring to model cost-increase impact, demand elasticity, and shelf layout importance—helping retailers preemptively adjust assortments and avoid voids in planograms.
Agile Source Diversification & Supply Planning
By simulating supplier price parity across geographies, Delaplex enables retailers to pivot sourcing mid-season, maintaining balance in categories and avoiding panic ordering.
Dynamic Planogram & Shelf Realignment
As SKUs shift or disappear, our system reconfigures display plans to minimize visual disruption, reducing gaps and preserving perceived abundance even under limited inventory.
Real-Time Margin & Pricing Intelligence
Actionable dashboards track SKU-level margin impact, enabling pricing teams to adjust prices or promotion strategies dynamically protecting both profit and perception.
Why Retailers Should Act Now
- Consumer behavior is shifting: A slowdown in discretionary categories hints at greater price scrutiny—poor category management can drive shoppers away.
- Holiday timing matters: As seasonal peak windows approach, even small assortment misalignments can result in lost revenue, branding damage, and costly markdowns.
- Retail differentiation depends on experience: Strong category presentation drives loyalty, upsell, and efficiency. During turbulence, it becomes a competitive advantage.
Final Takeaway
Tariffs aren’t just an economic disruption—they’re a direct hit to category performance, margin stability, and in-store experience. As SKUs shrink, sourcing shifts, and prices rise, the retailers that win will be those who respond with speed, intelligence, and precision.
Delaplex equips retail leaders with AI-driven tools to protect margins, preserve shelf appeal, and adapt assortments in real time—before shoppers notice a gap or competitors gain ground.
Now is the time to future-proof your category strategy, especially ahead of high-impact seasons and continued global uncertainty.
Ready to fortify your category management strategy?
Contact Delaplex to learn how our tariff-responsive planning, real-time shelf management, and margin intelligence help retailers stay resilient and visually compelling in uncertain times.
