It's Time For The Next Run Of The MineThatData Elite Program!!!

For just $1,800 (and $1,000 ongoing thereafter) you get my standard comp segment analysis, rolling twelve-month analysis, annual view of key customer metrics, and in this run ... you get a pricing analysis. I'll look at your customer base, dividing it into customers who buy at low price points, average price points, and high price points. Then, I'll measure whether your customer base is willing to make changes, or I'll measure the fact that your customers are stuck in various price bands and are unwilling to move.

Key Deadlines:

• Decide to participate by June 10.
• Data to me no later than June 20.
• Results forwarded no later than July 4.
• Send five years of purchase history (I'll forward you the file format if you are interested).

J.C. Penney Won-Lost Record

You keep hearing about the "Retail Apocalypse" ... a term leveraged by a handful of trade journalists to earn clicks by describing the sadness of the current state of retail.

But if you go back a decade or so ... you'll learn that the "Retail Apocalypse" has been in fine form for a long-time.

Here's the won-lost records for J.C. Penney ... for the past decade:

• 2017 = 4-12.
• 2016 = 5-11.
• 2015 = 4-12.
• 2014 = 3-13.
• 2013 = 1-15.
• 2012 = 1-15.
• 2011 = 4-12.
• 2010 = 6-10.
• 2009 = 5-11.
• 2008 = 6-10.
• 2007 = 8-8.

You can see the impact of the Ron Johnson era (back-to-back 1-15 seasons in 2012 and 2013 ... that's Cleveland Browns bad).

But then a "turnaround" was initiated.

How did that work out?

• Not very well ... 3-13 then 4-12 then 5-11 then 4-12.

If you translate sales/profit data into something that the common professional can understand, you clearly demonstrate how woeful retail is (for some companies) ... and has been for a very long time.

Macy's Won-Lost Record

At a recent industry conference, there was a lot of talk about how great Macy's is performing as they "rebuild" their brand.

Macy's gets a lot of positive press ... it's hard to find an industry article that is critical of the brand.

And yet, when we convert their 17-year trajectory into an NFL-style Won-Lost record, we're left unimpressed, aren't we?

• 2017 = 7-9.
• 2016 = 6-10.
• 2015 = 6-10.
• 2014 = 7-9.
• 2013 = 7-9.
• 2012 = 8-8.
• 2011 = 8-8.
• 2010 = 8-8.
• 2009 = 6-10.
• 2008 = 5-11.
• 2007 = 6-10.
• 2006 = 9-7.
• 2005 = 12-4.
• 2004 = 7-9.
• 2003 = 6-10.
• 2002 = 6-10.

No "winning seasons" since 2006.

My goodness.

And the improvements and positive press? It's reflective of a 2017 where Macy's posted a 7-9 season ... a losing record.

See how the formula helps us see if a company is "winning"?

Want to know your Won-Lost Record over time?

• Send me annual net sales.
• Send me annual earnings before taxes.

Won-Lost Record

I've told you this story before, but it is an important one to repeat.

I visited a company. The Executive Team didn't quite understand how "dire" their situation was. They made a lot of excuses, and they perceived that their performance was reasonable (i.e. they were making "some" profit, so things weren't so bad). So I translated their sales/profit data into an NFL-style Won-Lost Record.

What was their Won-Lost Record?

• 4-12 (i.e. 4 wins, 12 losses).

It was like somebody lit hair on fire ... all of a sudden there was a "war room" and people scrambled into action.

Why?

Because nobody wanted to be associated with a brand that posted a 4-12 record. Nobody wanted to be on a losing team.

It's important to find a communication style that causes people to take action. Sales declines and tepid profit are generally not enough to motivate folks to take action.

What is your Won-Lost Record?

Want to know?

Send me the following:

• 2016 Company Net Sales.
• 2017 Company Net Sales.
• 2017 Company Earnings Before Taxes.

Send me the data, and I'll plug your results into my equation. We'll see if you are winning or losing.

Memorial Day Weekend

There's the obvious reason why we "celebrate" Memorial Day.

And then there's the secondary outcome ... an unofficial celebration of the start of Summer.

So let's get an early start on the unofficial start of summer.

I'll return next week ... and through the summer, don't be surprised to see me take a few days off. You should do the same. Who knows, you might recharge your batteries enough to come up with new merchandising ideas that help grow your business, right?

Lapsed Buyers

Here's a case where I can measure repurchase rates by year of recency - going back a whopping twenty-two years.

Tell me what you observe?

Say you are told that there is a "pot of gold" in your lapsed buyer audience. So you go apply some "vendor magic" to customers who last purchased 9 years ago, and the "magic" works 5% better.

• 1,945 * 0.05 = 97 additional buyers.

A pot of gold worth 97 buyers.

This company acquires 230,937 new customers per year.

Now obviously it can be helpful to increase the number of 13-24 month buyers by 5% (34,292 * 0.05 = 1,715 buyers). But still ... it's 1,715 buyers. It's nothing.

Think about how much time you spend trying to "tickle the buying bone" of your lapsed buyer file.

Think about how much time you spend trying to acquire new customers.

Focus on the latter.

Empty Seats

One of the handful of accounts I follow on Twitter is Empty Seats Galore (click here).

Empty Seats in sports are comparable to missing your sales plan.

Why are there empty seats in sports?

• Tickets are too expensive.
• The stadium is lousy.
• The team is lousy (most likely).

Why are you missing your sales plan?

• Prices are too expensive.
• Your store is lousy.
• Your merchandise is lousy.

So why spend so much time trying to fix things via marketing tactics when you know full well why business is not meeting expectations?