Sales Metrics Dashboard

The Sales Metrics dashboard is a combination of widgets: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), focused metric tables and graphic displays of your data.  The data displayed on the dashboard is intended to give you actionable insights into your sales performance, and also a tool for informing other operational factors such as shopper incentive opportunities and labor allocations.

You will see a link to this document in the heading of the dashboard, click on Dashboard Help to access the document.

KPIs

At the top of the dashboard, a selection of KPIs appear in two rows. The top row represents the "Review Date" metrics, and the bottom row represents the "Comp Date" metrics; these date periods are controlled with the filters to the right of the dashboard. Here you can compare the KPIs for two time periods to gauge performance, as well as to measure initiatives you may be testing. You can watch the metrics to be sure your expected performance is on track for the period, and make adjustments as needed.  As you initiate operational changes and set goals to measure success, you can use this section of the dashboard to know how the results compare with your goals and with previous results.  You are able to filter the KPIs to activity related to certain categories & items, or to specific promotions.  You are also able to filter to specific stores to further narrow the focus.  

You will notice that in the top row of KPIs, the Sales $ metric includes an option to drill further into category details.  If you click on the metric, a drop-down will appear and display your category distribution in graphic form as well as in a table, filtered by the Review Date on the main dashboard.  On the chart, if your distribution contains "Other" as a grouping, this represents the smaller sections of category sales - click on the "Other" section to expand that section; to revert back to the initial graphic, click on the "Back" button that appeared when you clicked on "Other".  The data table inside the drop down shows your category distribution sorted from largest to smallest, again for the Review Date range selected.  This table is exportable by clicking on the 3 dots at the top right corner of the table, choose Download and export an image or file.  The recommended file type for a spreadsheet is CSV.

Sales Trend

A trend line for sales in the last 12 months is directly below the KPIs.  This graphic will respond to the filters to the right of the dashboard, so you are able to see a variety of trends by using the filters.  Pay attention to the ebbs and flows of the trends - you will want to be aware of seasonality, special events and other causes for the spikes and dips. Next to the sales trend is a dual transaction / customer trend graphic - here you can see the correlation with the sales numbers, which will generally have similar flows.  Additionally you can see how your numbers of customers vs. transactions are related - you might see that seasonally or during a special event more customers shop with you, or that more transactions are made.

Comparative pie charts just below the trend lines respond to the Review Date and Comp Date filters to the right of the dashboard, and will show you how your category sales allocations compare for the two time periods.  You may want to see how an initiative or special event affects your normal category spread, or you may want to see how a floor reset in a location has impacted sales in certain categories.  You might see here that from one period to another the allocation by category has shifted, when your operations made no significant changes - you'll want to dig deeper to understand what caused the shift in sales among your categories. Wherever you see "Other" in a pie chart, representing the sun smaller categories, you can click on that slice to expand the view of these smaller categories - use the "Back" button to return to the original view.

Focused Metrics

There are sections of mini data tables on the dashboard. The focus areas display data for weekday, hourly and category distribution of your activity. Note that on the weekday table, your selected date range might include, for example, more Mondays than Tuesdays - you will want to choose a date range (calendar is the best date option here) that includes an equal number of each weekday for the weekday table to be effective.  The weekday and hourly tables can be useful in budgeting labor, and also for marketing purposes where you can see incentive opportunities to increase business during the slower days or hours.  Ask yourself questions about the days and times when certain categories, specials, promotions tend to sell - is this similar in each location? Are your locations staffed appropriately during the busiest times? Are you offering incentives to shoppers to visit on the slowest day of the week?

If you hover to the right of the field names, you will see an arrow that allows an ascending/descending sort.  You'll also notice when you right-click on the weekdays, hours or category names, you have the option to Select, or Drill to the next level of granularity.  If you choose Select, the other areas of the dashboard will respond to the selection - for example, right-clicking on Monday and choosing Select will filter the dashboard to Monday data; this will add a filter to the right of the dashboard, you can clear the filter here, or by hovering to the top right of the weekday widget and clicking on Clear Selection.  If you choose to Drill deeper, the dashboard will not filter, however you will see the next level of data granularity in the data table.  You can export the data in these tables, to work with it outside of the dashboard.  Do this by clicking on the 3 dots at the top right corner of the widget, choose Download and export an image or file.  The recommended file type for a spreadsheet is CSV.

Graphic Displays

There are sections of graphic displays on the dashboard.  The graphics display trends for key metrics such as category sales vs. average transactions, sales by category & type, manufacturer distribution and top / bottom manufacturer sales.

Your category sales might show, for example, a low dollar amount for a category with a high average transaction when that category is included in the sale - or your best selling category in terms of dollars might have an average transaction that can be increased with merchandising efforts.

The allocation of sales among your categories, and types within each category are displayed with the section size proportionate to total sales.  Here you can quickly see which categories and types within, dominate your sales; combining this view with the power of the filters gives you a window into what is driving the sales in a variety of slices. Compare the results here with your assumptions and expectations.  Roll over each section to see the related metrics, including percentage of category of sales. Ask your self questions about the merchandising at each location, the efforts of the team in promoting initiatives, and how a special event impacted your performance.

Manufacturer distribution of sales offers a look at how your sales scale in comparison.  On the left of this chart you will see your top sellers on a scale of running total of sales - this shows how quickly the sales of the top groups reach the bulk of your overall sales.  As the curve begins to level, sales among those manufacturers are closer in amounts and the curve finished on the right with the lowest sellers.  In the example below, the manufacturers at the beginning of the curve rise sharply, indicating that their total sales are the greatest of those represented in the graphic.  Generally your expectations of largest to smallest in terms of sales will be what you see in this graphic - the insights you can gain are how many (or few) of your manufacturers make up the majority & minority of your sales; this can lead you to culling if appropriate, initiatives that support or challenge this allocation, and prioritization of efforts around your marketing, merchandising and incentives.  The curve chart is followed by indicators of the numbers included in the curve, and top / bottom chart; the top / bottom charts are most effective when your filters are focused on specific segments - challenge your assumptions when using these.

As with the data tables, you can right-click and left-click on data points in the graphics to narrow the selection or to filter the entire dashboard.  Graphics will often tell a story about your business or operations that is not obvious when looking only at metrics.  Look for trends in the data, where the different metrics intersect, and which metrics seem to impact the others.  You can make more informed decisions about your business when you combine what your data is telling you with the knowledge you have about influencing factors such as promotions and initiatives.