LOGISTIC S & SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
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little to overall profitability – indeed some may actually make a loss. Likewise, the
same conclusions would probably emerge from an 80:20 analysis of products.
Sometimes when performing the 80:20 analysis across the product range, it
is tempting to suggest that where a ‘long tail’ exists it should be removed through
product rationalisation. However, there may be strategic reasons for maintaining a
high level of variety or indeed there may be opportunities to use alternative strate-
gies to manage the slow movers to make them profitable. For example, it has been
suggested that if an Internet distribution channel is available then the ‘long tail’ can
become a source of profitable business ...