All eyes are on this season’s Black Friday numbers.
The industry’s been watching the holiday numbers with growing anticipation for the past few months, but this season’s Black Friday will be one of the first bellwether events that we can point to in order to identify the most accurate forecasting markers being used. However, the date (like many holiday season goal posts) has proven to be a shifting target and this is less of an indicator of the effects of COVID-19 and more of a sign of the blossoming DOTCOM era itself – one not fueled so much by industry insiders, but by the consumer market itself.
That said, the consumer has also proven to push back against most industry efforts to shift online entirely, opting in good part, for that familiar holiday experience of shopping locally at box retailers for their gifts and goods. This leverage they (the consumers) have in driving a market that ebbs this way and that is impressive and this is where Accelerated Analytics has helped familiar, household brands make better, data-driven decisions.
You see, our team looks at the wealth of raw POS data provided by retailers to manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors and we help your brand management team make sense of it all across the board… regionally, at the store-level, at the SKU-level, and yes… across multiple retailers all in the same reports. In some cases, we can provide more information than you’re offered out of the gate. So, as we all watch this holiday season to see where the consumer is indeed headed for their shopping needs, the data your team is getting could just be the start.