One of the highlights of the year for many retailers is behind us again: the summer sales season. The month par excellence that determines whether or not the season was successful.
Fashion Union and business association Unizo on summer solstice 2025
Now that calm has somewhat returned to the stores, the time has come for many to look back on the past period. But how do you approach such an analysis? What do you pay attention to? And what exactly do all these shifts mean?
Not to worry: here is a quick guide to the most important dimensions, metrics and strategy to sharply analyze your results and take concrete steps towards the coming period.
For many, the sales mark the end of a 6-month cycle. Starting in August, people start up again and work towards the next season of sales. Any action that can be taken now to already be as strong as possible in the coming months is crucial to running a good season.
With analyses that cover the entire period - not just the sales period - you can only really find out what went on.
Small changes in strategy or in your customers' behavior often don't really show up until something longer term.
Book your seasonal analysis with Stratics now and find out exactly where you are missing out on sales and how to make up for it in the coming months.
The basis of your analysis is the strategic choices you made in the past period. Have they had the desired effect? Or do future adjustments need to be made?
A strong strategic analysis begins by testing your results against the four core segments of each strategy: Get, Keep, Grow and Winback.
Growth is not just about numbers, but also about sustainability. Are you attracting the right profile, and are these customers bringing sufficient long-term value?
Your current customers are your most valuable asset. Retention is important, but also watch for shifts between segments. Identify customers in danger of slipping and intervene with targeted triggers, relevant communications and smart incentives.
Growth is not just in new customers. Often you get more value from existing customers. Analyze who is spending more and what products they are buying. Use these insights to further refine your strategy.
Often forgotten, but essential. Look at what you do to prevent customers from dropping out, and test to see if it works. Remember: it's usually cheaper to win back a customer than to acquire a new one.
When your data are in order, you often have an abundance of numbers. To avoid getting lost in details, it is crucial to provide structure.
Our tip: work with a KPI tree.
Start at the top with sales - the ultimate goal of every retailer. Important, but it is only the end result of everything that precedes it.
By following this tree structure, you quickly get to the heart of the change. You see not only that sales are going up or down, but also why that is happening and what knobs you can turn to improve.
In addition to strategic insights and metrics, it is important to enrich your analysis with the right dimensions. The importance of each dimension may vary, but you need to look at them all. If you miss one, you run the risk of an incomplete picture and half-truths.
Our seven dimensions together answer the who, what, where and when. The why you discover when you put them together.
Are your top customers weakening? Are your less valuable customers performing better? Each quality requires its own approach.
Are there differences in activation based on age, gender or income? Know who your customers are and what they do.
Where do your best customers live, and are there regional differences in sales per customer? The larger your market, the more important this dimension becomes.
Do your customers operate exclusively online, or do they combine purchases in multiple stores? Find out what draws them to a sales location and what they do there.
Product (what)
What are your new customers buying? What products are unexpectedly staying put? Products are often volatile, but that's precisely why it's so valuable to detect subtle shifts early.
Was the season start strong? When did we see spikes in purchases? Trends over time are usually stable, but remain crucial to frame results.
No seasonal analysis is complete without a benchmark. Know what you could influence and what was determined by broader sector trends.
Good analysis doesn't stop at numbers and insights. The real value is in what you do with them afterwards. Critically reviewing your strategy, following the right metrics and looking at all relevant dimensions will give you a complete picture of where you stand.
Turn this knowledge into concrete actions: adjust where necessary, strengthen what works and test new ideas where opportunities exist.
The next few months will help determine how strong you appear at the start of the next sales period. Take the first step today - because those who steer sharply now will reap the rewards later.
Book your seasonal analysis with Stratics now and find out exactly where you are missing out on sales and how to make up for it in the coming months.
