Three More Days To Get In At The Introductory Rate: The MineThatData Elite Program

You have three more days to get in on the introductory rate ($1,000 per season, three seasons, $3,000 per year). After 11:59pm PDT on Thursday, August 20, rates double. Get in now!!

Frequently Asked Questions:

Question: Why can't I get more for $1,000 than this? Where is the detail?

• Think of this as being your annual physical. Your annual physical is inexpensive, you get checked over, and if there are any problems, you go see a specialist and the meter really begins to run. That's what I am doing here. I am measuring the overall health of your merchandise assortment. If I find that there are problems, then I recommend that you hire your favorite vendor, preferably me, to dig into the issues via a Merchandise Forensics project.

Question: Why does the cost double after an arbitrary date?

• As you know from following me for nearly a decade, I offer the best prices on new products to my long-term client base and long-term subscriber base. Then, prices increase, and when a product is fully fleshed out, the price is increased again. Those who partner with me at the beginning of a process are rewarded.

Question: Are you planning on using straight averages or weighted averages for the competitive portion of the analysis?

• I might do both. In the early stages, we might have a large business and nine small businesses, so the overall average will be misleading and the weighted average will be misleading. Once I have the initial roster for the first run in October, I may do both and share both with you.

Question: Can I see the competitive results and not pay and not send you data? I'd love to see the overall results, as would anybody.

• No. That's called "getting something for free" or "taking advantage of others who are paying for a solution". Go talk to Woodside Research, let them set you up with a solution.

Question: Why use 2x buyers last year for your comp segment analysis? I think your definition is biased.

• More than 50 Merchandise Forensics projects illustrate that the 2x-last-year definition is most effective at identifying merchandise trends. 1x buyers are infrequent and are influenced by new buyers. Loyal buyers are too highly influenced by discounts, promotions, and loyalty programs. A proper comp segment analysis needs to illustrate the impact of merchandise on your business. You are always free to run a comp segment analysis yourself, using your own data.

Question: Can you run a customized segment analysis just for my business? I'd prefer to see 5x buyers!

• Probably not. You are welcome to speak to your in-house analyst and have your in-house analyst perform the work. Or, work with me on a Merchandise Forensics project. Now, having said that, the structure of the product may change over time, and may include more detail. I reserve the right to provide more insight over time, and will quite likely do so. If you get in on the introductory rate, you get to play a role in the evolution of the product, and you lock in on low pricing.

Question: Can I join your pilot group after August 20 and still get the low introductory rate?

• No. How is that fair to the companies that followed the rules and jumped-in early?

Question: Let's say your analysis shows that I have a 5% drop in merchandise productivity on November 1. What do I do with that? How do I make the analysis actionable?

• Use the analysis to prevent a 5% drop in merchandise productivity in November 2016. Where did the problem happen? On your best items? Specific merchandise categories? Within various price points? New items? Defective items? Items with high return rates? Items that are sold on Amazon? Proprietary items? Dig into your data, and figure out what you did wrong on or around November 1, and make sure it doesn't happen again. Or hire me for a Merchandise Forensics project, and I'll dig into your data for you.