Retail Sales and Inventory Reporting Blog
Retail Blog
Need to Know’s, How-To’s, the latest, and more Information from the experts at ERS.
By Rosario Buitrago, Business Analyst Intern at Enhanced Retail Solutions Introduction Running a successful business requires a deep understanding of the competitive landscape. By closely examining the strategies used by your competitors, you can identify your […]
By Jack Lovely, Business Analyst Intern at Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC What is Drop Shipping? Drop shipping is a term that describes a business model that was enabled by technology and virtual marketplaces. It became incredibly […]
By Lennon Barrow, Business Analyst Intern at Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC How can I effectively plan inventory? Checking sales trends is crucial for effective inventory planning. Monitoring sales trends enables manufacturers and retailers to make data-driven […]
By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC In a recent meeting with a retailer, we debated what the appropriate period of time is enough to call something a bonafide trend. The short answer is it […]
By Jim Lewis, CEO, Enhanced Retail Solutions As the retail industry continues to evolve, inventory planners are on the move. Sinking ships are having a hard time keeping people, and sound retailers and wholesalers are having […]
By Lennon Barrow, Business Analyst Intern A few weeks ago, we asked ChatGPT about ourselves and inventory management. The responses were fascinating—our new AI friend had a lot to say. Consequently, I was inspired to tackle […]
New York, NY: Enhanced Retail Solutions (ERS) has been chosen as a top Retail AI Solutions Provider by Retail Tech Insights. ERS is a service-oriented business with the goal of helping retailers, suppliers and brands turn […]
Written by a smart server somewhere… There is a lot of buzz around artificial intelligence and ChatGPT. We decided to ask it some questions about ourselves and inventory management. These are questions we asked and the […]
By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC It’s always been challenging for suppliers to determine demand- and predicting what orders retailers will write. It’s even more complex determining demand across multiple channels. The forecasting logic […]
By Lennon Barrow, Business Analyst Intern at Enhanced Retail Solutions Today’s forecast: cloudy and a chance of stockouts. When inventory is out of stock, it means disappointed customers and leaving money on the table. Stockouts translate […]
By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC Disclaimer: I am not a digital marketing expert, nor do I play one on Disney+. However, our clients know we can visualize and make great use of any […]
By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC The New Year is a perfect time to take stock of your strategic and tactical business plans. For many of our clients, 2022 was a year of playing […]
By Lennon Barrow, ERS Intern What are the kids into these days? Even as a member of Gen Z, it can be difficult to keep up the latest trends. To keep it simple, I am […]
By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC Overview Estimating future sales is increasingly difficult with so many factors to be taken into consideration. The economy, inconsistencies in stock levels, changes in assortments and consumer shopping […]
By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC “When we ship new products, we want to know right away what opportunities exist- good or bad”. That was the answer given when I asked a client this […]
By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC I recently had the honor of lecturing at my alma mater, the University of Florida. We discussed the basics of retail analytics, the tools and roles of retail […]
By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC Last week we talked about the benefit of creating dashboards that provide actionable insights. In Part 2, we are going to show that action in real world use. […]
By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC People love dashboards. But unless it is actionable or telling them something they don’t know, they get boring quick. A good dashboard should provide insights that would otherwise […]
By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC Over 20 years ago when I was a buyer, my department was in a real pickle. I inherited some inventory problems and then I made some bad bets […]
By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC Tis the season for VMI. We are seeing an increase in inquiries from suppliers asking for help to understand how to successfully manage these programs. It requires a […]
By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC More and more of the suppliers in our client base are growing their drop ship assortment. That means they are carrying more inventory. And because their retailer partners […]
By Jim Lewis, CEO Please join me in celebrating ERS’ 20th Anniversary! It’s because of our incredible team, partners and especially our engaged clients that we have been able to grow and innovate over the last […]
ERS Internship: The First 3 Days By Jim Lewis, Wenxin (Helen) Qie and Lauren Cohen Every summer at ERS we welcome interns into our organization. They play the role of a Business Analyst and learn multiple […]
Diagnosis: Retail Planning Anxiety By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC Disclaimer: I am not a psychiatrist, and I don’t play one on TV. Nor am I a rocket scientist, but it doesn’t take one […]
Retail Is About Community By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC Retail is about community. Always has been and always will be. It just looks and feels different as we move through time. It probably […]
The Key to Key Items By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC The concept of key items comes up with just about every interaction we have with a retailer or supplier. They may have different […]
By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC I was an assistant buyer at JCPenney when they made the move from de-centralized to centralized buying. The buying team knew it would make things so much easier […]
Measuring Inventory Opportunity and Liability By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC Our superpower is studying sales and inventory at store level by SKU. Our goal is determining the optimal inventory required to generate the […]
The Shared Inventory Conundrum By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC For many years we have worked with clients and brands that sell the same SKUs to multiple retail outlets. They share a common inventory […]
Retail Analytics Taking Action By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC At a recent lecture at the University of Florida I provided a very brief introduction to retail analytics. The advancement of technology over the […]
Price Elasticity and the Impact from Inflation By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC There is constant chatter right now about inflation and price increases at every level of retail and wholesale. What inventory planners […]
Optimize Your POS Reports for Wholesale Business By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC One of the key reasons wholesalers come to us is because they want to get more actionable information from their POS […]
The Four Pillars of Success – Part 4 By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC Welcome to the final part in our “Pillars of Success” blog series. Data science is a hot topic and its […]
The Four Pillars of Success – Part 3 By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC Welcome to part 3 in our “Pillars of Success” blog series. Financial planning is essential not only to determine the […]
The Four Pillars of Success – Part 2 By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC What is fundamentally required to be successful at retail today? The great merchants of yesteryear would tell you all you […]
Four Pillars of Successful Retailing – Part 1 By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC As I mentioned in my last blog, I really enjoy watching the numbers this time of year. The last 2 […]
Its a Covid Christmas After All By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC While lines for covid tests may be longer than lines at cash registers right now, there is still a lot to be […]
The Importance of Tracking Stock Outs By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC I really enjoy tracking sales this time of year. Besides all the numbers getting larger, there’s always an item or two that […]
The Comparison Game By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC During the holiday season, the conversations of how business will be this year versus last year are plentiful. One camp says compare this year to […]
The Importance of Inventory Management in Driving Sales By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC At a recent webinar I attended, several retail investment researchers talked about their predictions for holiday 2021. Overall, they were […]
Inventory: Its the Product, Stupid By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC In this retail environment, many consumers have become retailer-agnostic. They don’t really care what the outlet is- they just want whatever it is […]
Sign Me Up! Celebrity Retail TV Host By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC Why A Career In Retailing? At a recent trip to the University of Florida, my alma mater, a student asked me […]
Why do my Forecasts still stink? By Josh Coughlin, CTO Enhanced Retail Solutions We all spend an extraordinary amount of time talking, thinking, dreaming, etc. about inventory. Every business that sells a physical product must think […]
Smart Amazon, Very Smart By Jim Lewis, CEO By Invitation Only We all know they are smart. And they just keep getting smarter. Don’t know what demand will be for an item? Just make it “invitation only” […]
BBIN – Better Buy It Now By Jim Lewis, CEO Empty Shelves Everyone is so concerned about the emptiness of their shelves right now that they may be forgetting that lead times are getting longer and […]
Reflecting on my Virtual Intern Experience By Olivia Drexler Working From Home For the past 17 months, my college routine at the University of Florida has consisted of online lectures, masks, and an empty campus. While […]
The Buyer is really a Curator By Jim Lewis, CEO Recently we have received an uptick in inquiries regarding assortment planning. That usually happens when an inventory problem arises, not because someone is looking for fresh […]
Stepping Up Your Retail Analytics By Olivia Drexler, ERS Intern Where Current Analytics Fall Short Navigating the performance of a retail business can be difficult when there are so many data sources to keep track of […]
Dissecting Inventory to Turn Slow Moving Items By Olivia Drexler, ERS Intern Inventory is an Investment The most productive retail businesses understand that inventory is an investment. Inventory is money, but only when it is generating […]
How Receipt (Ladder) Planning can Help By Jim Lewis, CEO Receipt (ladder) planning is more relevant than ever before. It is a weekly plan for sales, inventory and profitability. Based on actual trends, the original plans […]
By Olivia Drexler, ERS Intern The Importance of Competitive Shopping As the world begins to move out of the pandemic, competitive shopping is critical for retailers, brands, and suppliers to maintain successful businesses. As storefronts reopen, […]
Enhanced Retail Solutions Celebrates 19 years of Success! By James Lewis, CEO 19 years ago, I left a very fulfilling career with JC Penney and embarked into the great unknown of starting up a new business. […]
Inventory: Where to Position It – Part 3 By Josh Coughlin, CTO Welcome to part 3 of this series in which I share episodes from my days working at a manufacturer. In the last blog I […]
How to Integrate 3rd Party Data in your Forecasts By Jim Lewis, CEO Enhanced Retail Solutions One of the most common project requests we get is integrating 3rd party information or research with a client’s POS […]
Inventory: Never the Right Amount – Part 2 By Josh Coughlin, CTO, Enhanced Retail Solutions LLC As I share episodes from my career in this blog, this post takes us back to my time working at […]