Analyse This Daily Demand Driver to Increase Sales
WEATHER ANALYTICS HELP RETAILERS AVOID LOST SALES BY BETTER ALIGNING INVENTORIES WITH CHANGES IN CUSTOMER DEMAND
Taking advantage of selling opportunities when they materialise has never been more important. The pandemic has constrained spending, consumers are focusing more on need-based purchases than discretionary ones, and shoppers are making fewer trips to stores. All in all, retailers have a limited number of chances to get it right, capture sales, and satisfy customers before their competitors do.
Staying ahead of shifting consumer demand patterns is difficult; after all, there are a lot of external variables that a retailer can’t control. For many of these uncontrollable factors – the economy, consumer confidence, and of course, COVID-19 – businesses can really only react and adapt. Many of these large-scale underlying factors tend to develop over time and evolve slowly. Retailers make the adjustments they can until circumstances begin to change, often months later.
The weather is another uncontrollable demand driver. However, unlike the previously mentioned factors, the weather’s impact on demand will flip between positive and negative frequently and often dramatically, creating new opportunities (and risks) on a daily basis. There is another key difference between weather and the other external demand influencers – the weather’s impacts can be proactively managed by retailers.
This article was also published in The Retailer, our quarterly online magazine providing thought-leading insights from BRC experts and Associate Members.
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