Top 10 POS Data Insights to Look At
This is it. You finally have a demand intelligence business solution in place — one that feeds you clean POS data and presents it to you in stunning, colorful graphs and charts that make it oh-so-easy to identify trends, opportunities and challenges. At first, all those colors and numbers and insights are exhilarating — but they can quickly become overwhelming. With so much POS intelligence at your fingertips where do you start!?!?!
Take a deep breath. Clear your mind. Then start with our list of the Top 10 POS Data Insights to Look At.
1. Sales Units/Dollars. This is a great place to start. Determine what products are really selling and where they’re selling. What are your average sales by week? By store? Now flip the coin and look for your lowest performers — what isn’t selling? Are there recent trends?
- 2. Pricing. Optimized pricing is key — and can be heavily influenced by seasonality, demographics and promotions. Review the current prices of your items and measure the sales at that price. Does the price vary by time of year, by location, by size/feature?
3. Promotions. Be certain to measure the incremental impact of your promotions. When you promote an item, which method is most effective — advertisements, end caps, on-shelf stickers? And which deals gather the most steam — price cuts, two-for-one or buy-one-get one? Be certain to compare historical data — comparing past and present promotions to see what price, season and type of promotion is most effective for a SKU. If you have a new promotion, look to the historical data of past similar promotions to gauge inventory levels. Also be sure to look at how other items in the category are affected by the promotion — do they see a lift of decrease?
4. Assortment. With all the retailer debate about too many/too few SKUs on the shelf, it’s important that you look at assortment. How do items within the same group perform compared to one another? What’s selling, what’s not, and how should you react?
5. Attributes. Dig in — take a look at what’s going on with brands, sizes, colors, flavors. If a particular detergent has seen a decrease in sales, drill down to see if the item as a whole is suffering or whether it’s a particular scent or size. Analyze items within each attribute, and against similar attributes to determine trends and what action you should take.
6. Inventory. Out of stocks are bad news. So is too much inventory wasting away on shelves. Are you losing or winning sales based on your instocks? Are there any items/item groups, stores/store groups or distribution centers that need special attention?
7. Time frames. Don’t get stuck in a rut — make sure you analyze POS data using a variety of time frames. Analyze sales for pre/post transitions, holidays, peak weeks to determine selling patterns and trends.
8. Forecasting. None of us have a crystal ball, so take a good look at retaileryou’re your –own forecasts. Do they align? Can your supplier accommodate the forecast? What effects will the forecast have on sales, instocks? Look to historical data to see identify forecasting challenges.
9. Stores/Store groups. You certainly know that sales can be very unique to a particular store or store persona. How do sales differ in various stores or store groups? Should the assortment be modified in different stores based on their sales? Are there certain brands/flavors/etc that are popular in different stores/store groups?
10. Margin. Don’t forget about margin. Use item cost and retail to determine margin, and where you are winning/losing margin. Analyze by items, by brands, by promotions to determine whether you are “giving away” margin on promotions.
