In our 2020 POS Analytics Benchmark Study, we asked respondents what their number one pain point is with respect to POS (point of sale) data. The following is a breakdown of the responses we received, and insight on how to overcome each challenge.

Analyzing Sales Performance Across Different Retailers

Issue:
Each week, data comes from each retailer at different times, in different file formats and the weeks don’t align, making it difficult to quickly assess sales performance across the channels.

Why that’s a problem:
Growth in one retailer or one category may have come at the expense of another one, maybe even at a lower price.

Wouldn’t it be great if…
…there was a way to quickly consolidate all retailers data — both physical and online — in one place so you could see what was true incremental growth versus one retailer stealing share from another retailer?

How krunchbox solves the problem:
Krunchbox takes care of collating the data on your behalf, be it via portals, EDI files, email attachments and so on, and gives you easy-to-read dashboards and reports that summarize your results.

The Time It Takes to Collate the Data from Retailers Each Week

Issue:
Every week, you wait for an analyst to download all the data from different retailers, upload it into excel or a third party application, and then run their standard reports, before distributing it to users.

Why that’s a problem:
It’s Wednesday before you see any consolidated results, and even then, you have follow up questions, and have to wait for a response, which means by the time you get the data you need, it’s too late to do something about it!

Wouldn’t it be great if…
…you had access to the data as soon as it is released by the retailer, and in a helpful format that allows you to interrogate the data easily?

How krunchbox solves the problem:
Krunchbox not only collates the data for you as soon as it is released, but also sends you exception reports based on your personalized filter criteria, and gives you the tools to quickly find the key insights.

Presenting Specific Recommendations Back to the Retail Buyer in an Actionable Format

Issue:
Well-intentioned analysis and recommendations falls on deaf ears when presented to your retail buyers.

Why that’s a problem:
You are a category expert, so it makes good sense for you to make recommendations to your retail partners about how they can drive higher sales. However, if your plan is missing key data (e.g. store ID) or addresses the ‘wrong’ KPI, you’re simply not going to get traction, and you’ll end up frustrated!

Wouldn’t it be great if…
…your recommendations were presented as actionable prioritized bullet points, each one addressing a specific KPI you know to be a hot button for your buyer?

How krunchbox solves the problem:
Krunchbox lets you choose the metric and the trigger point, so that you are focused on the opportunities that match the buyer’s priorities. Excess stock? Low weeks of stock? Min/Max allocation? All available in a shareable format, so you can instantly collaborate.

Defining the Value of Lost Sales Due to Out-of-Stocks

Issue:
How do you value the opportunity cost of being out of stock? What would your sales have achieved had you been fully in stock at all times?

Why that’s a problem:
You know you’re missing out on sales when there is no stock on shelf. You also know that the rate of sale was compromised before you ran out of stock. So what’s the true potential?

Wouldn’t it be great if…
…you had visibility of what the sales were at the store/SKU level before they ran out of stock on shelf? Then at least you could estimate what you might have sold? Not surprisingly, a $ figure can get the attention of the retail buyer, who can raise an order to fix the issue.

How krunchbox solves the problem:
Krunchbox has an automated opportunity cost report which only shows items that have zero or negative stock, and what those items sold in those stores prior to running out of stock. So you have a regular quantification of lost sales in units and dollars.

Managing All the Different File Formats

Issue:
Data arrives every week in a multitude of different formats — excel, EDI, csv, portal extracts and so on. Someone has to collate those files into one common database, then run the reports and analysis, and only then can they distribute the data to the consumers of data.

Why that’s a problem:
Valuable time is wasted, which has two consequences. One, you have an expensive resource tied up with a non value adding activity. Secondly, there is a delay in getting the data into the hands of those that can action it!

Wouldn’t it be great if…
…there was a system that could automatically handle all the different file formats, collate the data, and generate exception based analysis — all in a matter of minutes, rather than days?

How krunchbox solves the problem:
Krunchbox works with over 175 retailers around the world, and can automatically collect, translate and process your data. Then krunchbox dashboards, reports and analytical tools arm you with the ability to cut through the noise and prioritize the key opportunities to grow sales.

Figuring Out What to Focus on Each Week

Issue:
Every retailer, every store, every SKU, every week — that’s a lot of data points! You can easily waste time sifting through the data, looking for opportunities, and even then, you don’t know if you’re focusing on the right ones.

Why that’s a problem:
You might well be focusing on what is urgent rather than what is important. Your valuable time should be spent working on the highest priority opportunity or the highest impact issue. But how do you know where to focus your gaze?

Wouldn’t it be great if…
…rather than seeing all the data, you could see filtered results, based on triggers you had set in advance, so that you could focus your attention on the big ticket items?

How krunchbox solves the problem:
Krunchbox is an exception based reporting and analytics application, which can filter out the noise and show you only what you need to see — out of stocks, low stock, dead stock, predictive demand, weeks of stock, etc.