Those of you who regularly read my writing for retailers know how much I love trade jargon, and I’ve just learned a new term: the daily sales flash, also known as day-over-day (DoD). DoD statistics compare sales to the same day one year earlier (adjusting for the day of the week), or a specific day of the week to the same day the previous week.  Monthly comparisons are also useful to evaluate.

You’ll need to be in business for a couple of years before these statistics take on any real meaning. It’s natural for there to be a significant increase in sales as people discover your shop, and it may take time for you to get the hang of selecting merchandise for your market. That’s one reason that it’s important to have enough capital to cover your expenses during the first year or so in business.  Few stores break even from day one.

There are factors other than your own efforts that need to be taken into account when analyzing sales figures: weather, local events and roadwork, and political/economic issues. Many major holidays fall on different days of the week from year to year, which can also impact sales. This year Halloween is on a Saturday, which is good – but so was the 4th of July, which was bad. Keep this in mind when you do your comparisons.

Of course sales are not the only indicators that you may want to track. The number of customers walking through the door (the traffic count) is important, and also how many of these people make a purchase (the conversation rate). You can also keep tabs on the average purchase, because an improvement in any of these categories can result in more business. 

Data is only important if you put it to good use. These metrics can be useful in spotting trends and tracking growth. You may also want to use them to manage inventory and optimize staffing.  Perhaps the statistics will influence your decisions about store hours and special events. You might use the information to plan advertising and social media campaigns for when they’ll be most effective.

We use an open book management approach, so our entire staff has access to our sales figures. It can be motivating to have your employees try to beat last year’s sales figures, although they need to understand that sometime there are factors – the pandemic, for example – that are out of their hands.

Happy retailing, 

Carol “Orange” Schroeder