Why Top Sellers Store Insights Matter: A Comprehensive Guide for Shopkeepers

Why Top Sellers Store Insights Matter: A Comprehensive Guide for Shopkeepers #

Hello, shopkeeper! Running a successful retail store isn’t just about stocking products—it’s about understanding which items truly drive your business forward and why. That’s where the Top Sellers insight comes in. With the right data, tools like Ficos can help you identify your most valuable products across different timeframes, analyze their performance, optimize inventory based on actual sales data, and enhance customer satisfaction. Let’s explore why this insight is crucial and how to use it effectively.

What is the Top Sellers Insight? #

The Top Sellers insight provides a data-driven analysis of your most popular and profitable products. You can choose to view performance over the Last 7 Days, Last 30 Days, Last 60 Days, or Last 90 Days. This flexibility allows you to spot short-term spikes or long-term trends.

This insight helps you:

• Identify Best-Selling Products: See which items sold the most units in your chosen timeframe.
• Analyze Product Performance: Understand the Revenue, Profit, and Gross Margin generated by each top seller during the period.
• Monitor Stock Levels: Check current inventory for your popular items.
• Get Reorder Suggestions: Receive calculated recommendations for how much to reorder for stockable items, based on their 60-day average sales rate.
• Understand Inventory Efficiency: Analyze the Inventory Turnover rate for products to see how quickly they sell relative to your stock.
• See Sales Trends: Visualize weekly sales performance for your very top products over the last 90 days.
• Identify Top Buyers: Discover which customers purchased the most units of a specific product in the last 60 days.
• Analyze Return Reasons: See the most common reasons items were returned in the last 60 days and how often.

Tools like Ficos make it easy to access and interpret this detailed information, offering a dynamic view of what’s succeeding in your store.

Why Tracking Top Sellers Is Critical #

Keeping tabs on your top sellers isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s essential for smart decision-making and staying competitive. Here’s why:

• Prevent Stockouts: Use the reorder quantity suggestions to ensure you always have high-demand items available, avoiding missed sales opportunities.
• Avoid Over-Stocking: Understand inventory turnover rates to free up storage space and cash flow by aligning stock levels with actual demand, especially for slower-moving top sellers.
• Improve Marketing Effectiveness: Highlight your most profitable and popular items (based on units, profit, or trends) in campaigns for better return on investment.
• Engage Key Customers: Identify top buyers for specific products and use these insights to tailor promotions or communications, fostering loyalty.

How to Access the Top Sellers Insight #

Getting to the Top Sellers insight in Ficos is straightforward. Follow these steps:

Step 1: On the home screen, tap the ‘View Analytics’ link below the ‘Today’ dashboard summary.

Step 2: This will take you to the Store Analytics page.

Step 3: On the Store Analytics screen, look through the list of available insights and tap on ‘Top Sellers Store Insights’.

Using this insight, you can make informed decisions to keep your best-selling products performing well, manage stock effectively, and maintain customer satisfaction.

Understanding Key Metrics #

To fully leverage the Top Sellers insight, focus on these key metrics presented within the tool:

1. Selectable Time Periods: Choose between 7, 30, 60, or 90 days at the top to analyze performance over different durations.
2. Units Sold: Measures product popularity within the selected period. View this in the list and see trends on the chart.
3. Revenue & Profit: See the financial contribution of each product during the selected period. Explore this in the details and the Profit Analysis chart.
4. Gross Margin (%): Understand the profitability percentage for each item in the selected period.
5. Current Stock Levels: Real-time inventory count for stockable items. Visible in the expanded product details.
6. Recommended Reorder Quantity: A calculated suggestion (based on the last 60 days’ average sales rate) to help maintain stock for approximately 30 days. (Hover over the icon in the app for details on the calculation).
7. Inventory Turnover Rate: Indicates how quickly stock is sold relative to average inventory during the selected period. Higher is generally better. Found in details and the Turnover Rate chart. (Hover over the icon for calculation details).
8. Top Buyers (Last 60d): Shows the top 3 customers purchasing a specific item in the past 60 days, regardless of the main period selected. Found in expanded details.
9. Return Data (Last 60d): Lists common return reasons and their frequency for an item over the past 60 days. Found in expanded details.
10. Weekly Sales Trends (Last 90d): A line chart visualizing sales patterns week-by-week for your top 5 sellers (from the selected period) over the previous 90 days.

Turning Insights into Action #

Here’s how to use your insights effectively using the different tabs and data points:

• Optimize Inventory: Use the Product List tab. Expand rows to check Current Stock and Reorder Qty for your top items. Use the Stock Analysis chart to quickly see items needing replenishment and the Turnover Rate chart to identify potentially slow-moving stock among your sellers.
• Focus Marketing: Identify your most popular (Units Sold) and profitable (Profit, Margin) products from the Product List and Profit Analysis chart. Check the Top Sales Trend chart to see if momentum is growing or slowing. Promote high-performers.
• Engage Top Customers: In the Product List, expand product rows to find the Top Buyers (Last 60d) list. Consider targeted offers or thank-you messages for these valuable customers.
• Analyze Profitability: Use the Profit and Margin columns in the Product List and the visualization in the Profit Analysis chart to understand which top sellers contribute most to your bottom line.
• Improve Product/Listing Quality: Expand product rows in the Product List to examine the Recent Returns (Last 60d) data. Address recurring issues (like sizing, description accuracy, or quality) to reduce returns and improve satisfaction.
• Monitor Performance Over Time: Switch between the 7d, 30d, 60d, and 90d tabs to see how product performance changes. Use the Top Sales Trend chart for a visual history of weekly sales.

Real-World Example #

Imagine you run a clothing store, and you’re reviewing the Last 60 Days tab in the Top Sellers insight. Your top-selling item is a premium hoodie.

The data shows:

• Units Sold (60d): 150
• Total Profit (60d): $1,200
• Current Stock: 40 units
• Reorder Qty: 35 units (Calculated based on the 150 units sold over 60 days, suggesting you need ~75 for the next 30 days, minus the 40 you have)
• Top Buyers (Last 60d): Jane Doe (10 units), John Smith (8 units)
• Recent Returns (Last 60d): Sizing Issue (5 returns), Wrong Color (2 returns)

Here’s how you can act:

• Reorder Stock: Order the recommended 35 hoodies (or adjust based on your judgment) to meet expected demand and avoid stockouts.
• Update Product Information: Add a more detailed size chart and double-check color representations on your product page to potentially reduce returns.
• Engage Customers: Consider sending a special offer on a related product (like matching joggers) to Jane Doe and John Smith.
• Monitor Trends: Check the Top Sales Trend chart for this hoodie to see if its popularity is increasing or decreasing over the past 90 days.

Making the Most of Your Insights #

Avoid these pitfalls to maximize the value of the Top Sellers insight:

• Not Exploring All Periods: Don’t just look at one timeframe (like 30d). Use the 7d, 60d, and 90d tabs to understand both short-term fluctuations and longer-term performance.
• Ignoring Specific Details: Remember to click or tap on product rows in the list to expand them. This reveals crucial data like Reorder Qty, Turnover, Top Buyers, and Return reasons.
• Overlooking Trends & Charts: Don’t just focus on the list. The Pie, Bar, and Line charts under the different tabs (Profit, Stock, Turnover, Trend) provide quick visual summaries and context.
• Focusing Only on Sales Units: High units sold doesn’t always mean high profit. Pay attention to Profit, Margin, and even Turnover Rate for a complete picture of a product’s value.
• Not Acting on Actionable Data: Use the Reorder Quantity suggestions as a starting point for restocking. Investigate common return reasons found in the details section.

Conclusion #

The Top Sellers insight empowers you to make smarter, data-driven decisions about your products. By understanding performance across different timeframes, analyzing profitability, managing stock efficiently using reorder suggestions and turnover rates, and identifying key customer and return patterns, you can improve your store’s performance and keep customers happy. Focus on what truly drives your business—serving your customers effectively and growing your profits. Get started today by exploring the Ficos documentation or diving into the Top Sellers insight within the app.

What our clients say #

I have managed to track my expenses better and been able to budget and plan better

Nayebare Jenuario #

★★★★★

Business has never been managed better on an app than with Ficos! No hardware costs, no implementation costs, the LOWEST cost of ownership and business intelligence at your finger tips! Thx Ficos team

Fort High #

★★★★★

Excellent app Very useful for business

Christian TABARO #

★★★★★