How 3 stores cut through the clutter with their favorite POS reports

It’s a well-known fact that the most financially healthy stores take full advantage of their point-of-sale systems. But those systems can create every imaginable report, which can create confusion.

So Garden Center Magazine asked some top retailers about their favorite reports.

Jim Crowell, Atlantic Garden Centers, Virginia Beach, Va.

Most useful report: Sales history category by department.

Why: Crowell has four departments, and the report shows him what his sales are for any period he enters. It gives him a snapshot of which departments are hurting the most. “I can compare a day or a month with last year, and it gives my sales, quantity of items sold in each department, shows my costs of goods that were sold during that same period, shows my profit margin, then it tells you what your increase or decrease is with the comparable time period,” Crowell said.

The summary at the end of the report, Crowell said, gives him a snapshot of how the entire store is doing.

Bob Sickles, Sickles Market, Little Silver, N.J.

Most useful report: Inventory analysis report

Why: Sickles and his general manager, Mark Sandstrum, keep an eye on how individual products are selling through with the inventory analysis report. When a department’s report is pulled, they can see how each product is doing compared to past years and how much is currently in stock. They can spot problems like over buying or slow-moving products.

The store has created home-grown reports to accompany the inventory analysis report, dubbed “homework.” Each department manager keeps a log of what happened that week, including anything that might affect sales. This includes weather conditions, advertising campaigns, which products were more popular, where stocking or buying problems popped up. The reports are filed in the main office and they help top management better understand what was happening the previous years. So if sales of a type of product were huge the prior year, but anemic in the current one, they can see that an ad campaign and gorgeous weather were the reasons why.

Dave Williams, Williams Nursery, Westfield, N.J.

Most useful reports: Customer loyalty report, and sales analysis by customer by item.

Why: Williams was surprised by who the top customers were -- and weren’t. He and his staff try to know all the top customers by name. In order to take care of your best customers, you have to know who they are.

He uses the sales analysis by customer by item report to create a specialized list to better target special events. He created a list of shoppers who’ve previously bought Radko ornaments. A direct-mail campaign of postcards went out to only 150 customers and cost $200 including postage. The campaign generated about $8,000 in sales.

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For more: Atlantic Garden Centers, (757) 481-1515; www.atlanticgardencenter.com. Sickles Market, (732) 741-9563; www.sicklesmarket.com. Williams Nursery, (908) 232-4076; www.williamsnursery.com.