The New Science of Retailing

Book excerpt: Retailers today are drowning in data but lacking in insight. They have so much information at their disposal that they struggle with both how to sort through it, and how to add science to their decision-making process without blunting the art that they correctly believe is a key ingredient of their success. This book reveals how retailers can use data to manage everything from strategic assortment planning, inventory management, and markdowns to improve store-level execution. This data-driven approach to the retail supply chain leads to far greater and faster inventory turns, far fewer and lower discounted goods and services, and better profit margins. The authors also tease out the personnel issues and the organizational implications of this approach.