Ways to Leverage Sales Data and Increase Profits Fast

Firms that learn to capture and analyze their sales data benefit in many ways. They grow fast and make a higher profit on the products and services they sell.

 

To work out which products to sell and which to discontinue

 

Sales data highlights which lines are selling well, and which are not. Allowing the business owner to better work out which products they need to stock more of and which they should be considering discontinuing.

 

 

To optimize pricing

 

The key to selling more is setting the right price point. It is not enough to simply know how much you need to sell something to cover the cost of buying and stocking that item. Retailers also need to understand what price people are willing to pay.

 

Setting the price at various points and seeing what impact that has on the number of sales is the best way to work this out. Often, retailers discover that putting the price up slightly does not have a negative effect. Enabling them to make more per item sold.

 

 

To forecast sales

 

Being able to accurately forecast sales enables firms to have less of their cash tied up in stock. It greatly improves their cash flow.

 

For any business, a lack of cash flow is a huge issue. According to data from the US Bank around 82% of firms that go bust do so because of cash flow problems.

 

For example, they have to fold because they do not have enough cash available to buy the materials they need to fulfill a new order. Or to buy enough stock to keep their store open long enough to be able to trade through November and December when the majority of people spend the most.

 

 

To automate the ordering process

 

A well-stocked store is more attractive to shoppers. It also ensures that you do not miss out on sales because something is out of stock. Provided things are set up in the right way your sales data system will automatically reorder items that are close to going out of stock.

 

 

To find out who buys what when

 

Understanding what sells fastest at certain times of the day can help a store to better leverage its sales space. That is why, for example, small supermarkets change what they display in a fridge display that faces the door. Many stack them out with sandwiches and snacks just before lunch. 

 

Later in the afternoon, they may replace that display with ready meals and bottles of wine to tempt people returning home from work to buy something for their evening meal. Analyzing sales data enables retailers to spot these time-of-day peaks and troughs as well as the less subtle seasonal variations.

 

Make sure you get the whole sales picture

 

As you can see, there are many benefits to analyzing sales, but it is important to do it consistently and do so across your entire business. Both online and offline.

 

 

Capturing online sales data

 

Most firms have no problem capturing their online sales data. The ability to do so is usually built into their website and reports are produced automatically. The time that a promotion is set up can easily be recorded, which enables the owner to see what impact it has had on sales.

 

 

Measuring in store sales

 

Now that most companies use digital checkouts that record each sale in a central database, analyzing in-store sales is also no longer that difficult. 

 

The system can be set up to produce a range of reports automatically. Including ones that notify you of any products that have seen a sudden or significant uplift in sales. 

 

Enabling the business owner to order more of that line or to create a package deal that includes other related items that may not be selling so well.

 

 

Analyzing in-store sales with the help of digital display screens

 

Many business owners that are involved in the physical retail sector have realized that digital signs can improve sales and do so by a significant amount. 

 

Those retailers that learn to tweak what they are promoting throughout the day as the demographics of their customers change see their profits increase.

 

It is also possible to track the impact of each of those adverts and do so in real-time. Provided store owners buy the right package, they can download data that shows them what time they changed what was being displayed on each digital display. 

 

This can then be combined with the sales data to highlight which promotions worked and which ones didn't have the impact that they hoped for.

 

Bringing together all of your sales data

 

Carrying out proper analysis requires that data be pulled together into one place. This is now relatively easy for business owners to do using software that is easily available online.

 

It takes time to set up an in-depth sales analysis process. But, provided it is done the right way the savings made soon cover the cost and the time spent.