- direct observation of customers, and
- records of sales and stock conditions.
Records, however, dovetail with direct observation to enlarge the scope of your information. They tell you what customers have bought (or ignored) in the past and what they are buying from day to day.
Why You Need Records
The broader your buying responsibilities, the more you need to master the use of records.
If you are in charge of many classifications, or serve several branch units, it is impossible for you personally to observe more than a small percentage of the sales transactions that take place or of the customers who visit the department.
The larger your operation, the more you have to depend upon reports of sales people, assistants, branch executives to round out your personal observations - and the more you have to rely upon records to tell you what is happening from day to day on the selling floor and in the stock.
Moreover, whether your department is large or small, records are your only means of using past experience - yesterday's, last week's, and last year's - to check your reasoning and your instinctive feeling about trends in demand.
Daily Sales Report
The flash report of daily sales shows how rapidly or slowly inventory is being converted into sales. It is your day-to-day indication of progress toward your volume goals and your day-to-day reminder to adjust the pace of inventory replenishments at each selling location to any marked deviation from planned figures.
It is also your early warning system of things about to happen. It may be your first indication of a possible upsurge or falling off of consumer demand, either generally or in some segment of your department.
If daily sales figures are high or low for several days running, and there is no obvious explanation (such as sales event, bad weather, etc.), cast about for possible reasons.
When you receive your monthly sales and stock report, the picture will undoubtedly be much clearer. But it is not always wise to wait. In the fashion business, you need to be poised for action at the first sign of change, so that you can be ready to move at the moment that developments indicate you should.
If sales are unusually high, look for;
- an unnoticed "natural" - a style or item that attracts customers spontaneously and that should be exploited promptly
- colors, styles, textures, that have suddenly become strong because of an incoming fashion trend, or because of the influence of the fashion coordination story your store is presenting
- price lines, classifications, etc., that have become suddenly strong because of a shift of consumer interest or a weakening of competition
- something you are doing right and should do more of in briefing your sales people, presenting your merchandise, etc.
- unnoticed "duds" and slow sellers that need action to get them moving
- colors, styles, textures, etc., that are out of step with the store-wide fashion story
- the absence from stock of wanted styles, sizes, prices
- prices that are too high or too low for present customer demand
- new or strengthened competition
- something you are not doing but should be doing to brief sales people, improve your merchandise presentation, etc.
No unit control system can tell you want sales you might have made to customers who asked for styles and items that were not in your stock. For that, you need a want slip system.
The usual want slip is a simple printed form on which each sales person can note items requested but not in stock. Notes are made both of items temporarily out of stock at a selling location, and of items not carried but requested. Reports of items running low are sometimes included.
Not every reported want makes sense and not every want indicates a possible purchase. Many of them do, however, and thus point the way to increased sales opportunities.
To get the most from a want slip system, you should:
- keep it simple
- "sell" it to your sales people by letting them know that you value their cooperation
- acknowledge want reports, however far out they may be, with a thank-you and an indication of your plans - "watching developments", "have had unfavorable reports", "expect delivery next week", etc.
- keep a record of wants for possible future guidance in assortment planning, especially when checking the adequacy of branch stocks.
Reaping the Benefits
Once you learn to make sales and stock records work for you, you will find fewer low and out conditions in your stock, fewer unnoticed slow-downs and spurts in demand, fewer unnoticed non-starters or run way sellers. You will make the reordering of basics almost automatic. You will develop stock and sales strategy that is sensitively attuned to customer demand. More than one great merchant has insisted that the so-called fashion sense consists largely of careful analysis of sales and stock figures.
