How To Interpret KPI?

January 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment


Some retailers have difficulty figuring out reasons why their sales revenue is unsatisfactory. Key Performance Indicators, or KPI as they are most often referred to, are absolutely crucial for any business. Retail is no different.

This is a fact; if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. And, going even further, if you don’t know exactly how you are measuring it and how to interpret the result, you are not managing it.

Retail maths is crucial in retail management. Gaining an understanding of retail math lets the Store Manager put everything in perspective. The Store Manager gains new insight into exactly what is going on in their store. The Store Manager who knows some retail math will be able to focus on his store performance and interpret results much more easily. He will see the relationship between his sales performance, sales target, expenses, and how it reflects on his profit and loss. Just knowing all of the components makes it easy to see what needs to be improved upon.

The Store Manager will understand the current situation and the root cause. He will see that all alternative countermeasures were explored, and are deployed - even ones that are unpopular. He will know what to track when the plan is being executed, how to check the results against expectations, and see what additional countermeasures are needed to handle any gaps.

In any business, results come as an outcome of specific actions taken, not blind luck.

For more resources on Retail Maths.

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Factors Of Retail Success

January 8, 2009 | Leave a Comment


In 2008, retailers in many parts of the world faced many difficult and challenging issues. From the impact of high oil prices, failures of many retailers and business. In view of the current economic slowdown, it is even more essential to know how the market is moving and to know how your company stands. Recognizing the factors that contribute to your retail success is part of what retail management is about.

  • Key Performance Indicators
  • Market Intelligence
  • Strategic Management

Know Your Key Performance Indicators
Knowing your Key Performance Indicators (KPI) is the identification and selection of the critical metrics in your business for correct balanced scorecard implementation. From the strategic level to the operations level, these are the numbers that tell us how we are performing. Retail management on the front lines is knowing your Key Performance Indicators, and using that data to execute your retail marketing and operational plans.

Market Intelligence
Market intelligence informs us what direction the market trends are moving, what the competitors actions are likely to be, what new regulatory or industrial regulations are likely to be implemented. All of which affects the retail operation from strategic level to the operations in the frontlines.

Knowing how the retail environment is changing enables us to get the jump on our competition, to anticipate what our customers expect and demand of us. Intelligence enables us to implement changes that either reduce the negative impact of current market or allows us to reduce wastage on the expenditure budget. When you get down to it, this is how we earn our pay, by anticapting, preparing for and meeting the changing market demands.

Strategic Management
Strategic management and leadership is how we develop strategic imperatives to drive the company’s growth and take us in the direction to secure our future. It is through competent leadership that enables a company to focus on a performance based culture, develop retail concepts, and implement best practices in the industry.

Retail business owners and retail managers must take the initiative in acquiring cutting edge information, strategies and leadership, marketing tactics and the advanced concepts in managing a successful retail operation.

Have you read this post? Management Competes, Not Products

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