Consumer markets are poised to absorb reactions from US financial markets with the outcome of the 2020 elections. Historical figures show that most indices and exchanges, at least initially, post income gains following the results of a presidential election, regardless of political affiliation. It’s the reduction of future uncertainty that investors like the most. What are you doing differently at your company to get on a pathway to success for 2020?
Increasing revenues and profit stability are the end goals. The way to achieve those results comes from knowing what key sales metrics to track. That is not to say that by adding new sales reports and figures you are going to discontinue industry-standard reporting procedures. Rather, when you begin to harness new sales metrics from a data capable POS system, you benefit from having pinpoint visibility. Gathering intelligence from areas of operations where you can make improvements helps you achieve better results.
Key Sales Metrics to Examine for Your Business
There are many kinds of data that are valuable to businesses, and these can vary by industry or business size. Here’s a look at some of the most important data points you may want to consider as you look toward 2021.
Average Ticket (Transaction) Size
The average value per sales ticket is a top-level metric that analyzes how much customers spend at your store on average. Business is cyclical, including retail, restaurant, salon, and other industries that rely on POS software. Holiday and Black Friday sales are the most profitable time of the year for retail businesses. Full-service restaurants naturally rely on dinner crowds to generate higher value sales receipts. Virtually all businesses can benefit from offering gift cards for sale. Automate this report on your cloud-based POS system so you can focus on how to increase the value transactions when you expect to have a lower volume of customers or smaller orders.
Gross Profit vs Net Profit as a Key Sales Metric
High-level managers customarily had to wait on monthly and quarterly reports to know how well the business is performing. Now, with real-time data, they can customize gross and net profit reports at a more granular level. Let’s say you’re itching to know the rate of profitability following the launch of a new promotional campaign. Targeted reporting allows you to customize a new report with filters that track the group of products for which the promo was created.
Product Mix Per Sale
When you own an apparel store, you want to ensure that you are selling from all the departments, categories, and brands represented in your store and online. Restaurants want to sell items from all over the menu. Having deadstock items in your store or on your menu hurts profitability. On the other hand, sales analysis reveals that when orders include accessories to the principle product, store profit margin per sale can change dramatically. Improving your product mix ratios can be aided by a cloud-based POS system that gives you the tools to “slice and dice” data in key sales metrics to track
Whether you sell quick service restaurant (QSR) food to athletic wear or anything in between, a strong product mix serves as a rain gauge of overall customer demand at your store.
Units per Transaction
How can you incentivize more of your patrons to add just one item to their shopping basket?
BOGO offers and other discounts are a popular method to get there. Take some sales metrics of your best-selling items and add BOGO offers. As you know, shoppers love to take home more for the same money. Run custom POS counter-marketing reports to assess the impact of your promotional campaigns.
Sales Per Category and Sales Per Employee
As a more granular analysis of product mix, you can begin looking closely at sales per category and sales per employee in a side-by-side comparison. Break out reporting into monthly and quarterly results. Revenue driven results can be based on sales per product category or employee goal. Add a bonus structure to your employee program when they exceed sales per category goal.
Online Sales vs Brick and Mortar Sales
Online vs brick and mortar sales, at a high-level, is a key sales metrics to track. You will need a software reporting solution designed for your type of business. Integrate your eCommerce with inventory management software on a cloud-based POS system. You can create customized reports that gather information about things like cart abandonment rate, product returns and exchanges, and so on.
Preparing for Business Success in 2021
talech POS systems suit for restaurant, retail, cafes, salons—make businesses run smoother. Cloud-based POS systems integrate all components of your business operations, including back-end accounting and inventory reports. We put commercial-grade business intelligence design into software so you have the tools to make better strategic planning and tactical management decisions. In the business world, knowledge is power, and a POS system that tracks every key sales metric for you will help you make smarter decisions in the year ahead.
