Senko colors... why so many?

[The Baron]

I was browsing Gary Yamamoto senkos in my local shop, trying to find another bag of the color I'd had a great morning with.  They had about 20 colors in stock, which seemed like almost too many to sort through when it's so hard to identify the colors at a glance.  My 1/2 coffee thought of the morning was to look at the Yamamoto website... and I see they have over 150 colors(!).  My first thought is that's way too many and there's so much similarity in them, it's not necessary.  What a PITA for a store or rep to manage so many SKU's... and for the factory to be pouring them.  Even if a store had enough peg space to stock all 150, it would be an unwanted chore shopping through them.  I'd be very curious to see the sales figures on different colors - they must all sell, or they wouldn't keep making them (?).  I mean yes, once someone buys a bag of something and had a good day, they'll want that same color in their kit (guilty), but if there were not 16 different shades of gr. pumpkin and 14 versions of black I'd think those same sales numbers would be funnelled into the 3-4 they could offer.  So is it just me or does 150+ colors seem unnecessary, to the point of being ridiculous? 

[The Bassman]

Different fishermen bite on different colors.

[Drew03cmc]

5 minutes ago, The Baron said:

I was browsing Gary Yamamoto senkos in my local shop, trying to find another bag of the color I'd had a great morning with.  They had about 20 colors in stock, which seemed like almost too many to sort through when it's so hard to identify the colors at a glance.  My 1/2 coffee thought of the morning was to look at the Yamamoto website... and I see they have over 150 colors(!).  My first thought is that's way too many and there's so much similarity in them, it's not necessary.  What a PITA for a store or rep to manage so many SKU's... and for the factory to be pouring them.  Even if a store had enough peg space to stock all 150, it would be an unwanted chore shopping through them.  Is it just me, or does 150+ colors seem unnecessary, to the point of being ridiculous?  I'd be very curious to see the sales figures on different colors - they must all sell, or they wouldn't keep making them (?).

They only need a couple handfuls, as long as they have 194 and 297...maybe I have the 4 and 7 flipped...

[Deleted account]

23 minutes ago, The Baron said:

Senko colors... why so many?

 

$

[ChrisD46]

I'd say the reason for so many colors are : 1) Yamamoto either experimented with or was asked to make specific colors which later became part of the colors offered . 2) Because they can make just about any color you can think of ... A black & blue , green pumpkin , oxblood , junebug , watermelon and pearl white shad color - with varying glitter colors added as well as laminate colors covers most of the available bases .

[The Baron]

4 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

 

$

I think they’d sell just as many with 50 colors (?)

[Deleted account]

11 minutes ago, The Baron said:

I think they’d sell just as many with 50 colors (?)

Probably, but if a guy already has all the colors, then what? I'm sure there are several colors that do not sell well, or at all, but having the large selection increases the overall sale numbers. The majority of purchases, particularly small $ purchases are entirely or partially made on emotion. 

[LrgmouthShad]

Fav color is still straight black. Been a while since I tossed a senko though

[roadwarrior]

Too many choices? I don't see a problem.

 

                                                        

[Deleted account]

41 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Too many choices? I don't see a problem.                                                        

I have a great story about push week near UCLA sorority row...

[gim]

I'm with you @The Baron, that seems completely ridiculous to me to have so many colors.  Not only do they have a lot of colors, they also have various sizes too.  I don't think they make the smaller or bigger versions in as many colors as the standard 5 inch, but I'm sure its close.  I use about 5 or 6 colors fairly regularly.  The senko stick bait is arguably one of the most popular bass fishing lures of all time, if not at least in the soft plastic realm, so its probably profitable to continue making colors of them.

[Jaderose]

You realize you are under no obligation to buy them all, right?  Right?

[roadwarrior]

1 minute ago, Jaderose said:

You realize you are under no obligation to buy them all, right?  Right?

Well, EVERY TW order must include at least one bag of Senkos.

 

                                                                

[Stratocat_Joe]

I think one of the reasons there are so many colors (especially colors that are similar to one another) is to appease retail outlets that want to differentiate themselves from other retail competitors.  I don't think GY views the individual angler as their primary customer; rather, they view the retail outlets as their primary customer.  The retailers, particularly the larger retailers, like to have colors unique to their store.  I know Zoom does this as well.  There's a particular color I'm fond of that Zoom specifically makes only for Dick's Sporting Goods. 

[Munkin]

At some point I thought I needed every color of senkos and Zoom lizards. Now I carry 6 colors now, the 5 that work best for me and a random color.

 

Allen 

[LrgmouthShad]

4 minutes ago, Munkin said:

At some point I thought I needed every color of senkos and Zoom lizards. Now I carry 6 colors now, the 5 that work best for me and a random color.

 

Allen 

At the moment I feel I need to try a bunch more of the colors of the zoom mag 2.

 

Plum, junebug, black, watermelon red, tequila sunrise, scuppernong have all been good. I even have a pack of a color called huckleberry. 
 

 

[Darth-Baiter]

i am 99% using Senko #925,  i buy three sizes and keep things simple.  the other 1% is me burning the leftovers i bought before. 

[Allen Der]

they only sell bulk packs in 5 colors, so those must be the best sellers.  I use 3 of those 5.

 

[Gera]

26 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

i am 99% using Senko #925,  i buy three sizes and keep things simple.  the other 1% is me burning the leftovers i bought before. 

this....

[NHBull]

Most of the bait sold is to catch fishermen, not fish.

 

I now limit it to Black, GP and sometimes June Bug.  Done!

[WRB]

Soft plastic colors evolve over decades of changing angler preferences. Colors change over time and colors get retired, not all 150 Senko colors are still available off the self.

Add colors anglers have custom made and the variables become mind boggling. 

Then the opposite exist for anglers that rely on 1 or 2 colors.

Tom

[casts_by_fly]

8 hours ago, The Baron said:

I was browsing Gary Yamamoto senkos in my local shop, trying to find another bag of the color I'd had a great morning with.  They had about 20 colors in stock, which seemed like almost too many to sort through when it's so hard to identify the colors at a glance.  My 1/2 coffee thought of the morning was to look at the Yamamoto website... and I see they have over 150 colors(!).  My first thought is that's way too many and there's so much similarity in them, it's not necessary.  What a PITA for a store or rep to manage so many SKU's... and for the factory to be pouring them.  Even if a store had enough peg space to stock all 150, it would be an unwanted chore shopping through them.  I'd be very curious to see the sales figures on different colors - they must all sell, or they wouldn't keep making them (?).  I mean yes, once someone buys a bag of something and had a good day, they'll want that same color in their kit (guilty), but if there were not 16 different shades of gr. pumpkin and 14 versions of black I'd think those same sales numbers would be funnelled into the 3-4 they could offer.  So is it just me or does 150+ colors seem unnecessary, to the point of being ridiculous? 

 

7 hours ago, The Bassman said:

Different fishermen bite on different colors.

 

The answer in one.

 

7 hours ago, The Baron said:

I think they’d sell just as many with 50 colors (?)

 

Possibly.  I work in another industry but we often have to make variant (color, scent, flavor, size) rationalizations.  It is always a pareto chart for incrementality.  Your first variant will always be the biggest incremental gain from zero to X.  Each one after that is a smaller gain.  Eventually you reach a point where the extra cost/complexity/capacity usage isn't worth the incremental sales for your business.  Some businesses don't mind holding lots of stock so they might run a less common color once a year and produce a full year's worth (or two!) in one go and hold the balance.  Some prioritize minimal stock holding (fewer obsolete items later, less storage space required) and produce more frequently.  It just comes down to process economics and company appetite/choice.  With 150 colors in one size plus all of the other size color combinations, they are around 300 SKUs of just Senkos.  Add in all of the other soft plastics they make (22 I think) and the other colors (about 10 per on average) and they are around 500 SKUs.  I think we can deduce which choice they have made.

 

That said, from a manufacturing standpoint, its pretty much just injection molding with a low temp plastic.  Once you are running one color, changing out molds is pretty fast.  And for some of the colors I have to imagine they have fairly dedicated lines like the bulk pack colors.  You can also do things like running watermelon, then watermelon black flake, then watermelon black and green flake so that you never really have to clean out the lines.  Just keep molding and let the colors flow into each other.  I'm not sure of their process, but they might (probably?) do late stage mixing also where it is the same base color but right before injection a flake/additive is added.  That makes it really easy to do swaps.

 

Do more colors catch more fish?  No.  But if your process and business support it and your retailers will stock them then why not?

[The Baron]

@casts_by_fly… outstanding response, with really great information and thoughts.  Thanks! ??

[gim]

4 hours ago, Allen Der said:

they only sell bulk packs in 5 colors, so those must be the best sellers.

That is a great point.

[QED]

I bought bulk packs of 4” senkos in black/blue flake and green pumpkin/black flake. That’s all the senkos I need until they are depleted. I’ve said it before but it is worth reiterating - given the different sizes/weights, colors, and lure types, the combinatorial explosion makes it unwise to explore all options.  I stick with stuff I know works so my bait expenses are trivial.