All Sorts of Fun Findings

There are an infinite number of ways to categorize the items you sell based on how well they sell. In the past year, I've generally settled on something like this.

• Winners = Top 15% In Sales.
• Contenders = Top 16% - 50% In Sales.
• Others = 51% - 100% (bottom half) In Sales.

I evaluate each day - ranking items every single day. In other words, an item could be a winner on January 9 but on January 14 it is a contender. If you read my Merchandise Forensics booklet from a decade ago, yes, this is different than the way I looked at the world back in the day.

However, the analyses you can conduct with this style of measurement are a lot more fun and are also more insightful!

Example:  I reviewed an item that used to be a best seller. The item had fallen on hard times. Upon looking at winner/contender/other status, two things stood out.

1. When the item was a winner, it sold well via the call center.
2. When the item was a winner, it sold well via email marketing.

In other words, the brand stopped "advertising" this item like they previously advertised it. The item wasn't necessarily a "winner" as much as it performed well if the item was advertised.

It's important to find actionable tidbits in your work.

It's also important to do work that is fun, creative, and different than what Google / Facebook / Shopify / Your Marketing Agency want you to do.