How should I split my open-to-buy budget for market?

A structured budget split prevents trade-show energy from overriding your data. The largest portion — 60 to 70 percent — should go toward depth buys in your top-performing categories: more colors, size-gap fills, and style-matched reorders from proven vendors. This protects the revenue your store already knows how to generate.

Twenty percent goes to identified gaps your data revealed. Maybe your sell-through audit showed you're underserving a category your customers clearly want. That gap deserves intentional investment, not a random booth discovery.

The remaining 10 to 20 percent is your test budget for new vendors and emerging trends, but it comes with a rule: schedule a 60-day sell-through review before you even leave for market. This way you're not saying never try anything new — you're saying try new things with guardrails and a deadline. Write this split on your one-page market rules sheet and carry it in your hand at every booth so the numbers stay in front of you when the pressure builds.