Deep Assortment

If you are looking for an American Professional Series Fender Stratocaster guitar, do you go to a Walmart or a Guitar Center? Most people would choose the latter, as it's presumed that they would be specialists in music equipment.

Retail generally falls into two primary categories: those that carry a wide range of products of a general nature for each category, i.e. housewares, food, electronics, women’s clothings, shoes, etc. such as a Walmart, and those that specialize in a particular area, like hardware, or in the case of Guitar Center, musical instruments.

Some specialty retailers, however, go much deeper into their particular sector. If you're looking for an unusually designed screwdriver or drill bit for a specific application, Joe’s hardware store may not carry it, but odds are good that Home Depot will. A company like a Home Depot or Guitar Center is said to have a deep assortment strategy, meaning it offers such a complete menu of items that all professionals and amateurs, as well as lay people DIYers, would never be lacking.