Restaurant Sales Volatility Increases in Winter Months
October 31, 2023
As we flip our calendars to November and Mother Nature begins to flip the weather script, it is a good reminder for quick service, fast casual, and other restaurant chains that the conditions outside will begin to have a greater effect on consumers and therefore, traffic trends and sales. Weather Sensitivity, a metric Planalytics calculates …
NRF CEO says retail inventories are in good shape ahead of holidays.
October 27, 2023
Predictive demand analytics can help retailers sustain healthy stock levels and minimize markdowns. Retail Dive reports that retailers “have largely gotten their inventory under control ahead of the holiday shopping season, National Retail Federation CEO Matthew Shay told the press on Monday.” “The industry is in a better place and will be well positioned for …
Weather-Based Sales Sensitivity During the Holiday Shopping Season
October 19, 2023
Retail’s Q4 (for most, November through January) and the critically important Christmas and holiday shopping season is nearly here. The question on everyone’s mind…: how strong will retail sales be? RIS summarized some of the outlooks in their fourth annual guide to peak selling season: Holiday retail sales are likely to increase between 3.5% and …
Forbes Highlights Key Areas for Retail AI
September 7, 2023
Forbes has laid out four ways artificial intelligence (AI) can be leveraged to improve retail basics. “The days of reactionary responses, such as raising or slashing prices on consumer goods to break even or move excess inventory for long-term success, are gone. Retailers must work in new, better ways, as the economy—along with shoppers and …
Theme Park Operators Point to Challenging Weather in Recent Earnings Calls
August 24, 2023
“The weather continues to get in the way of what was originally forecast to be a strong summer for theme park operators,” according to the Seeking Alpha article Theme parks from California to Florida have been hit by worse weather than normal this summer. Industry leaders, Six Flags Entertainment, SeaWorld Entertainment, and Cedar Fair “all …
FMI Research: More Grocers Plan to Use Technology to Optimize Fresh Inventories
August 11, 2023
“Shrink in fresh departments is considerably higher on average, and food retailers have seen a small increase in their fresh shrink this past year,” reports the FMI in their 74th annual The Food Retailing Industry Speaks analysis. “Technology is helping to support a range of functions for fresh foods operations. Twenty percent of responding retailers …
WSJ: Retailers Look to Fix the Forecast & Close Gaps with Analytics
July 13, 2023
An article published in The Wall Street Journal – Retailers Are Trying to Fix Their Supply-Chain Forecasts – took a look at how businesses are focusing on analytics, technologies, and data to optimize inventory management. “Retailers are turning to new technology and greater use of data across their supply chains… The efforts are aimed at …
After a dreary start to the spring season, UK retailers are seeing stronger footfall and sales on sunnier days and warmer temperatures.
June 22, 2023
In an article entitled Retailers Should Make Hay While the Sun Shines on Shoppers the author notes that Next is raising its sales forecasts after a strong start to its second quarter. “Part of the reason for the outperformance is the weather. After a cold, wet April, the sun shone in May and June has …
Descriptive, Predictive & Prescriptive: Understand & Optimize Performance
May 19, 2023
How Analytics Around a Core Consumer Demand Variable Help Businesses Understand & Optimize Performance Harvard Business Review (HRB) published a useful overview on how advanced analytics “can help companies solve a host of management problems, including those related to marketing, sales, and supply chain operations, which can lead to a sustainable competitive advantage”. The article …
Integrate this critical consumer demand factor to improve retail planning and replenishment.
May 15, 2023
Retailers and other consumer-focused businesses need to consider many factors when forecasting consumer demand. Everything from broader macroeconomic conditions (like employment levels and inflation) to buying trends (is a product’s sales growth accelerating or turning negative) to the type of product (is it a staple item or discretionary purchase) play a role in determining a …