Best practices of a merchant on what data reports to analyze and how to prepare for a best seller meeting to Chief Merchandising Officer. Mech/ Merchandise /Revenue/Gross Profit/Margin/Dollars/Data/Ecommerce/Omnichannel/Retail

1. How to Conduct Best Seller Meeting
Joan Braatz
Vice President Merchandising

2. A Merchant’s Guide:
Best Seller
Meeting

3. Objective
A merchant group meeting
for individuals to report on
performance within a
category of business.
A merchandise meeting that brings buyers across the
organization together to report highlights of product
performance, promotion, innovation that is selling (or isn’t
selling) within a category. Commonalities can be derived
from each merchant’s presentation by category. This
meeting is usually led by the Chief Merchandising Officer on
either a weekly or monthly basis.
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4. How to Prepare?
Analyze data from the following reports:
Weekly Style Selling
Daily Sales Flash
Service Level Report
Assortment Plan
Open to Buy
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5. Decoding the Data
Deep dive into selling reports to identify top and bottom quartile performers by sub-
category, brand, style. These are the potential candidates to present at Best Seller Meeting.
Style Selling
• Isolate sku’s with high/low volume $’s
• Identify sku’s with high/low volume #’s
• Pinpoint sku’s with high/low sell-thru rate
• Find sku’s with high/low gross profit
• Review on hand / on order
• Quantify contribution to category
Daily Sales Flash Service Levels
• Analyze service level by sub-category
• Validate best seller sku funding
• Flag slow sellers to reduce purchases
• Outline recovery dates where needed
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• Evaluate contribution to plan + forecast
• Analyze channel performance
• Define regional differences
• Compare category to total company trend

6. Assortment Plan
Utilized by a merchant to strategize the number
and types of products carried within a category.
Quantifies inventory depth, choice count, and
fashion mix to optimize net sales and gross profit
for half or year.
• Roadmap for Category Assortment
• Foundation For Fiscal Financial Plan
• Records Unit Cost, Retail, Mark-up
• Defines Volume Grade Allocation
• Quantifies Newness and Core Replenishment
• Signals End of Purchase Cycle by Sku
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7. Open to Buy
Validate category performance:
• Record Current Sales Trend
• Quantify +90 Day Sales Forecast
• Recalibrate Markdowns (address worst sellers)
• Validate Vendor Allowances (safeguard margin)
• Forecast Gross Profit
• Calibrate Purchases within Budget
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8. Competition
Draw from market intelligence collected from vendor partners and store operations.
Leverage comp shopping to identify opportunities and threats from key competitors. It is
important to examine category performance through a consumer lens.
Market Intelligence
Leverage point of sale data from NPD or Neilsen
Utilize vendor relationships to uncover insights
Partner with store operations for regional differences
Study competitor marketing with Hootsuite or
Brandwatch
Competitive Shopping
Use in-store visits to identify merchant strategy
 Monitor in-aisle, off shelf presentations
Track promotional & product launch activity
Study inventory levels (in store + online)
Conduct MSRP + promo price review
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9. Illustrate with Samples
Pull selection of best sellers
Pull Selection of worst sellers
Consider deep dive into seasonal (e.g.,
sweaters, outerwear, shorts, swim, resort)
Look for commonalities in color
Study commonalities in design (length,
fit, fabric)
Limit number of samples to 5-10
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10. Plan the Narrative
Lead with net sales, gross profit and contribution to total category plan. Stay succinct and
focus on 1-2 story telling ideas. Conclude discussion with action plan for the coming week.
What’s Working:
Summarize total sales of featured best sellers, and contribution to
category plan and/or tie back to key strategy for year. Recap future
on order to fuel trend. Re-examine pricing/promotional strategy.
Market Intelligence
Share supplier insights, point of sale data, or findings from comp
shop trips. Report assessment of competitive threats or
opportunities.
What’s Not Working:
Present worst sellers, defining financial risk to category plan in net
sales, gross profit, and/or inventory. Highlight future on order that
will require cancellation. Discuss markdown plan.
Report on Action Taken
Communicate to leadership action steps that will be taken to optimize
the trend (additional purchases, change in marketing, off shelf
placement) or to mitigate risk (cancellation of goods, markdown or
return to vendor). Define timeline for action.
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11. Actively
Participate
Learned from merchant
peer presentations at a Best
Seller Meeting
Peer insights that can apply to your category management:
• Customer segmentation or demographics
• Best Practices in testing product innovation or pricing
• Sustainable packaging or delivery in store (e.g., store in a box)
• Disruptive off shelf displays
• Marketing strategies to drive traffic or gain market share
• Life cycle management of trend or product
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12. Summary
Conducting Best Seller
Meeting
 Analyze Data from Key Reports
 Identify Top and Bottom Performing Candidates
 Plan out Succinct Narrative
 Bring Samples to Illustrate Trend
 Conclude Discussion with Action Plan
 Consider Application of Insights from Other Merchants
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6/29/2021
ADD A FOOTER

13. Thank you!
Joan Braatz, Vice President Merchandising
Email:
braatzjoan@gmail.com
Phone:
214-733-9677
Website:
https://joanbraatz.com/