Using Data Effectively for Successful Retail Leadership

Regardless of how you work and the approach you take, having sufficient data to measure your success is critical. In retail, we typically do not have a shortage of reports or information. In fact, we typically have just the opposite. We have too many reports that people want to review and analyze to ensure nothing gets missed. The problem is that it creates an overload of information, some of which can conflict with or contradict other information. That in turn slows the ability to act because additional research is completed to determine the right approach. This works as an anti-Agile approach.

For today’s article, I will concentrate the discussion around the data and opportunities that exist at the store and district level. This can impact the store leaders, district leaders, and even the regional leaders since all are heavily involved in the local approach to everyday activities.

My first piece of advice: stop creating additional reporting to find needles in the haystacks of the everyday. You likely already have built-in reporting somewhere that will tell you more than enough to make good business decisions. If for some reason, you really do need something additional, plan that out and land on the metric you know will measure the impact you are trying to make. In some instances, I think you will find that the best reporting will be self-reporting or a more qualitative approach to measure the early signs of success. You can reference the difference between measurements in a previous article, How Are You Balancing Between Qualitative and Quantitative Measurements?

Narrow the focus

Streamline and narrow the concentration of data points you are using. Most leaders in retail love reports and data. I admit that I find most reports and information about the business interesting. That doesn’t make them useful, functional, or even important. It just means they’re interesting. Field Leaders already have a lot on their plates, and dissecting a multitude of reports will not help improve performance. It usually results in a game of whack-a-mole on whatever data point someone sends most recently. That takes effort away from where it is most needed and momentum can be lost on critical metrics or behaviors.

Use this narrowed approach to identify the real opportunities that exist in your location. This could be a specific merchandising category, for example, or perhaps it is about the engagement actions of your team that can be measured through increased basket size. Create a small list of areas that you can act on and make an impact. In Agile terms, this is referred to as your ‘backlog.’ 

Plan the action

Even with a narrowed list of backlog items, it is likely still too long to implement and take action on all of them at once. So build a plan for the ones you want to begin with. This is a good activity for you to do with your store leadership team, so everyone is aware of the desired outcomes and what actions will be necessary to put the plan into motion. Allow everyone to contribute and determine what the actions should be. This is meant to be quick; you do not need hours or days to do this. Review the data and the resources currently available and finalize the actions you will take. This is similar to the ‘scrum’ activity in the Agile workflow process.

Measure the outcomes

Once you put your plan in place, immediately begin to gather feedback and measurements on the success. If you have selected your activities correctly, you should see movement almost as soon as you start. This is where having both lead indicators and lag indicators are necessary. Your lead indicators can be behavior-based and measurable by observing your team or the customers themselves. 

Each day, conduct a quick review of the progress made and what has been observed both through your reporting (lag indicators) and the observations you and your team have made (lead indicators). This daily ‘stand up’ huddle can help you identify early successes or troubles that need adjustments to ensure you are working towards the desired outcomes.

Make the adjustments

With the different data points now available each day, you can make the major or minor tweaks necessary. The challenging part is having the discipline to conduct the daily stand-up meetings and keep performing the observations to ensure that you have the information you need to make a good decision about the next step. In some instances, you will find points at which a longer data period will be required. There should still be updates daily to keep everyone aware and engaged in the tracking of this tactic. 

It is also important to understand that a suitable outcome of reviewing the data for the action you have put in place is to end it. Adjustments do not always have to be about trying harder to make something work. You may find that you have attempted to do something that will not work for the time or situation. In those cases, stop that action and review your other backlog options available, and select a new one to go after. You can reallocate those resources now to something that can make a difference.

That last point is something that I think many teams fail to take advantage of. They continue to take an approach that is not working. Resources are utilized for that, and then as new ideas, tasks, or requests are made from the various levels (district, region, corporate) they get piled on top of each other. Soon there are simply too many things to try to do with the people and resources available. Then all the actions suffer. As part of your Scrum discussions and the daily huddles, I encourage you to review those and ensure you align your available resources with what you know will make the biggest difference. (I know this is easier said than done, but the best retail leaders are constantly evaluating what they can really do and prioritizing what makes the most sense for their business at the time.)

Using an Agile approach to identifying business opportunities in your location can make a significant difference in overall, long-term outcomes. These small adjustments will add up over time. When you begin to look at this over the spread of a district or region, these results can become exponential, leading to large gains in sales or other key performance indicators. A narrowed approach combined with quick actions, daily review, and making adjustments along the way can become the game-changer retail leaders are looking for.

How can you take action on a narrowed set of metrics that will help you make a big difference in your overall results?

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