The 80/20 rule is the fastest way to reclaim focus: roughly 20% of SKUs generate 80% of sales and margin. The task isn’t to know this — it’s to enforce it. Rank by contribution; protect A-class from stock-outs; tune B-class; compress the C-tail to free cash.
Action: Build a rolling 13-month item–store contribution chart; A-class with 2+ stock-outs/quarter triggers root cause analysis.