Five Ways to Beat Last Week - Using Sales Data to Maximize Your Opportunity

If you're like most brick-and-mortar retailers, you see the majority of your sales on the weekend. So when you start your Monday morning, the first thing you do is take a look at last week's sales (you do, don't you?). This data, when used correctly, will help you to make this weekend's sales even better than the last one.

Photo: Flickr user GoodNCrazy.

Here's five steps to making the most of your opportunity:

1) Identify what worked last week.
-  What product generated the most net dollars?
-  What product generated the most net profit by unit? - Which promotion generated the most traffic?

2) Identify what you need to sell this week.
-  What inventory do you need to move the most? What products are sunsetting?
-  What were the most profitable products you sold last week?
-  What's new on the market that needs promotion?

3) Check your calendar and see what promotions you'll have in the marketplace right now.
-  What are you advertising in the paper and local magazines?
-  What are you advertising online?
-  Did you have any emails or social media promotions planned for this week? For what?

4) This should provide you with a pretty comprehensive landscape of where you are - what's working, what you need to sell, and, based on your current marketing calendar, what you're pushing already.

5) Now, take a look at what you can adjust for the week based on what you need to sell. Adjustments you make now on email and social promotions can make a big difference this weekend. If you've ignored any of the things listed under item #2 above, then use today to adjust your email, Facebook, and Twitter posts accordingly.

Need help making sense of all of this? Let's connect and I'll provide you with a system for capturing the right data early in the week to understand your sales landscape and adjust to maximize your profitability each weekend.

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