Case Study: What A Difference

Yesterday we talked about comp segment reporting. I can slice and dice the reporting ... in this case, I share comps for new merchandise and existing merchandise. What do the two tables tell you?

Starting in April 2024, somebody decided to not invest in new merchandise - comps responded accordingly. Of course, the most important months for Beans (The Internet's Only Variety Store) are November and December - the two-year comp in November is -49.4% for new merchandise. I mean ... that's business malpractice.

The two-year trend for new merchandise is -34.6%.

The two-year trend for existing merchandise is -1.2%.

Obviously I'm going to dig into category data, but I have to share what I've learned with the owner (Paisley Ingram). My email correspondence is listed below.

From: paisley.ingram@beans.com
Sent: Monday, April 27, 2026 9:06 AM
To: Kevin Hillstrom <kevinh@minethatdata.com>
Subject: RE:  New Merchandise and Existing Merchandise Comp Segment Results

 

I shared your tidbit with our merchandising team. They are frustrated with my marketing team. They are frustrated with copywriters. They are frustrated with the website. They are frustrated with tariffs. They are frustrated with AI. They are frustrated with overall business performance. I need to position this work as a way to make them look better instead of the work being an audit of their failures.

Thanks,

Paisley

______________________________________________________

 

From: Kevin Hillstrom <kevinh@minethatdata.com>
Sent: Monday, April 27, 2026 8:55 AM
To: paisley.ingram@beans.com
Subject: New Merchandise and Existing Merchandise Comp Segment Results

 

I had a chance to analyze comp segment performance for new merchandise and for existing merchandise during the past three years.

Over the past two years, new merchandise posted a -34.6% comp. Existing merchandise posted a -1.2% comp.

The data clearly indicate that the merchandising team made decisions to not source new products at a sufficient rate to grow your business the past two years. In upcoming days, I will dive into the data and identify categories where new merchandise investment did not meet customer expectations.

Thanks,

Kevin