Author: Helen Thomas

Numerous research studies demonstrate that retail point of sale reporting (POS reporting) provides vendors with a critical advantage in sales and inventory management.  But we often find a disconnect between the POS report and a hard ROI.  Why is that?

Many vendors that create retail POS reporting systems are managing what we call “rear view” metrics.   A rear view metric tells you what happened yesterday or last week, but it is not very helpful in making actionable plans for the future.  For example, a POS report which shows units and dollars sold for the last 4 weeks is a rear view report.  It’s helpful to know what occurred, but without additional analysis, it does not indicate to you what actions should be taken.  What you should be looking to understand is the trend that sales are likely to follow in the upcoming 4 weeks.  Is the trend positive or negative?  That is the key information you need to put action plans in place.   An inventory weeks of supply is another very strong future looking POS reporting metric.  By understanding your lead time to put product on the shelf, and then comparing it against current weeks of supply inventory, you can quickly identify potential stock outs, which kill your vendor performance scorecard and your sales. 

Many vendors do not connect the dots between the POS reporting at corporate headquarters and the store.  I have personally sat in many meetings reviewing POS reports with a vendor and asked what actions they have taken to address low inventory levels seen on a POS report, only to hear, “Well, there’s not much we can do.”  Although I know many vendors feel that is the case, I know from practical experience it is not true.  The retail buyer or replenishment manager will listen to a well thought out and well documented business case on modifying inventory allocations.  Just make sure you are prepared for that conversation with accurate POS reports and make sure your fill level is not contributing to the problem.   Buyers have sales and profitability goals to hit just like you do, and to do that they need to have the right amount of inventory on the shelf.  A word of advice – focus your pitch on a small set of test stores where you want to change the inventory handling and have a test scorecard report ready to show the buyer so they know exactly how you will track the results. 

In order to get the hard ROI out of retail POS reporting, you have to design the reports the right way.   The tips above are a good start and there are many more good ideas on our blog, so stay a while and dig around.  You can also jump over to the contact us page and ask specific questions.

The warmest March in North America in more than 50 years resulted in many apparel retailers and department stores registering solid gains in March, as an early spring brought out shoppers looking for seasonal merchandise earlier than they typically would. 

Macy’s, Kohl’s Corp., Limited Brands and Gap Inc. were among the retailers who topped analyst estimates.

Macy’s said that its same-store sales climbed 7.3%, outpacing the 4.8% increase predicted by the Street. The company also raised its forecast for the key revenue metric for the combined March and April period, citing its strong March results.

Macy’s, which includes online sales in its calculation of the key monthly revenue figure, said that it benefited from an earlier Easter and moving a cosmetics event to March from April last year. Total revenue for the five weeks ended March 31 increased 6.9% to $2.36 billion.

Limited, parent of Victoria’s Secret and Bath and Body Works, said its same-store sales in March rose 8%, topping Wall Street expectations.

Gap Inc. reported a 10% increase in same-store sales in March, benefitting from customer response to its new merchandise. By brand, Gap North America’s sales rose 9%,  Banana Republic North America’s sales were up 5% and Old Navy North America saw its sales climb 11%. International sales were up 2%.

“We delivered solid sales performance in March and are pleased with customer response to product across all brands,” said Glenn Murphy, chairman and CEO of Gap.

Kohl’s credited warmer weather and an earlier Easter with helping to boost its same-store sales in March by 3.6%. Analysts had expected an increase of 2.1%.

Saks Inc. said its same-store sales rose 6.3% in March on strong demand for contemporary apparel, accessories and other items. The results matched average Wall Street predictions.

At The Buckle, same-store sales in March rose 6.4%, less than Wall Street had expected.

In other apparel same-store sales results for March,  Zumiez same-store sales rose 14.1%; The Wet Seal reported a 7.8% decline; and Cato Corp.’s sales increased 7%.

Source: retailingtoday.com

The Consumer Confidence Index from the Conference Board fell slightly in March to 70.2 from 71.6 in February. 

“Consumer Confidence pulled back slightly in March, after rising sharply in February,” said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center. “The moderate decline was due solely to a less favorable short-term outlook, while consumers’ assessment of current conditions, on the other hand, continued to improve.”

The Present Situation Index increased to 51.0 from 46.4, its highest level in three and a half years. The results, Franco said, suggest that despite this month’s dip in confidence, consumers feel the economy is not losing momentum.

The Expectations Index declined to 83.0 from 88.4 in February as consumers became less optimistic about the short-term outlook. The proportion of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months increased to 19.2% from 18.9%. However, those anticipating business conditions will worsen also rose, to 13.5% from 11.8%.

Source: retailingtoday.com

Nothing seems to be able to slow down the discount store channel right now as Dollar General opens it’s 10,000th store.  

“Opening the doors of our 10,000th store is a meaningful day for all of us at Dollar General, and we are excited to celebrate the occasion in California,” said Rick Dreiling, Dollar General’s chairman and CEO. “This milestone reiterates our commitment to bringing unmatched convenience and value to customers across the nation.”

The need for detailed POS analytics with 10,000 stores is hard to understate but the quantity of data produced from a chain of 10,000 stores is pretty massive.  Even with a small number of SKU’s a vendor supplying to Dollar General has a large amount of data to analyze which makes exception reports critical. Working with our vendors we create inventory and sales exception reports to sort through the data quickly and make sense of it.  For example, an inventory report at a store/SKU grain which identifies any out of stock or low weeks of supply is a fantastic tool for staying on top of inventory.  We also use a sales exception report to identify any SKU/store with a large percentage change in sales over a rolling four week period.  

Exception reports are the key to managing large amounts of data quickly.  What exceptions are you monitoring?

The Accelerated Analytics team will be attending The National Hardware Show® May 1-3, 2012 in Las Vegas again this year.  We have attended the show the past several years and find it is a very good opportunity to connect with our customers and network with retail buyers and vendors.    If you have not attended the show, or if you have not attended in a few years, it would be worth considering.  The National Hardware Show® has become huge in the last few years with products across categories like hardware and tools, homewares, lawn and garden, storage, plumbing and much more.  It takes several days to just walk the entire floor and check out all the booths. 

If you are planning to attend the show what are your objectives?  Find new products, new distribution for your current products, network with industry peers?

Dollar General reported quarterly profits were up 33% to a record $299 million for the quarter.  Total sales and same store sales were also up significantly.  

The value Dollar General offers to cost aware consumers is clearly paying off for them.  Our teams provide reporting and analytics on Dollar General EDI 852 and we have noticed strong sales as well.   When you are a vendor to a retailer like Dollar General with 9,800+ stores, using EDI 852 to closely monitor sales and inventory is critical.  Imagine if you have just 5 SKU’s at every Dollar General store – you would have about 50,000 SKU/store combinations to manage and keep an eye on.   Dollar General offers both a daily and weekly EDI 852 feed so you can get visibility into store sales performance and help partner to grow the business.

Spring Apparel, Candy to Send Easter Sales Past $16 Billion, According to NRF

It seems even high prices at the pump can’t keep the Easter Bunny away this year.  According to NRF’s Easter spending survey, conducted by BIGinsight, Americans will shell out an average of $145.28 on everything from apparel and candy to food and decorations this year, up 11 percent from $131.04 last year. Total spending is expected to reach $16.8 billion.*

“Though the price of gas is on everyone’s mind, Easter is one of the few holidays some consumers are willing to stretch their budgets, especially because many children look forward to treats and new outfits on Easter morning,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “Retailers will make sure to offer plenty of promotions on candy, apparel, food and decorations in the coming weeks for eager holiday shoppers.”

Read the entire article on NRF’s website.

February Retail Sales Increase 8.6 Percent Over Last Year, Marking 20 Consecutive Months of Growth

With a spring in their step, retailers marked 20 consecutive months of sustained year-over-year retail sales growth in February as unseasonably warm temperatures and comparisons with weak sales in 2011 resulted in stronger-than-expected increases. According to the National Retail Federation, the world’s largest retail trade association, February retail industry sales (excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants) increased 0.5 percent seasonally adjusted from January, and 8.6 percent unadjusted year-over-year.

 “Though February is typically a month for consumers to stay home and wait for spring, shoppers this year took advantage of mild weather to get a head start on outdoor projects and warm-weather apparel,” NRF President and CEO Matthew R. Shay said. “While February sales certainly present continued reason for optimism, retailers are paying close attention to rising gasoline prices, which are forcing millions of our customers to spend a significant portion of disposable income filling their gas tanks.”

February retail sales, released today by the U.S. Department of Commerce, showed total retail sales (which include non-general merchandise categories such as autos, gasoline stations and restaurants) increased 1.1 percent adjusted month-to-month and 10.3 percent unadjusted year-over-year. NRF continues to forecast retail industry sales will rise 3.4 percent in 2012 to $2.53 trillion.

“Pent-up demand is turning desires into needs, which is one reason why consumers have begun opening up their wallets,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said. “There is no doubt that the economy is on the upswing, certainly compared to six months ago. Stronger-than-expected February sales and an improving labor market paint a bright picture of the U.S. economy, although the impact rising gas prices will have on the economy’s momentum remains unclear.”

Other findings from February retail sales numbers include:
•    Pleasant weather lifted retail sales at sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores 1.0 percent seasonally-adjusted month-to-month and 7.4 percent unadjusted year-over-year.
•    Homeowners used the mild winter to work outdoors, which helped sales at building material, garden equipment and supplies dealers increase 1.4 percent seasonally-adjusted month-to-month and 18.2 percent unadjusted year-over-year.
•    Department stores saw increased retail sales of 1.5 percent seasonally-adjusted month-to-month and 4.8 percent unadjusted year-over-year.
•    New spring and summer fashions helped lure shoppers to clothing and clothing accessories stores, which saw retail sales increase by 1.8 percent seasonally-adjusted month-to-month and 11.6 percent unadjusted year-over-year.

For Immediate Release, NRF
Stephen E. Schatz (202) 626-8119
SchatzS@NRF.com