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 …
Weather & Retail Myth #1: You Can’t Plan for the Weather
December 15, 2022
What does 53°F and light rain mean for sales? The answer is different in Chicago than in Charlotte; it varies if it is a day in March or October. The weather’s influence on consumers is complex and nuanced and temperature or precipitation data is easily misinterpreted and misused. As a result, many businesses believe planning …
Getting more from your digital marketing investment
October 7, 2022
A Harvard Business Review article entitled Closing the Gap Between Digital Marketing Spending and Performance looks at how businesses can optimize their marketing returns. “Marketers know that digital marketing represents the future of their business. That’s why, according to the February 2022 edition of The CMO Survey, they’re happy to allocate 57% of their budgets to digital marketing activities …