The Hidden Power of Your Product Portfolio
Knowing your product portfolio is at the core of running a successful business. Customers will keep returning if you’re offering consistently high quality products that are in demand to people who are interested in them. That’s why tracking your products is of great importance and can’t be underestimated.
“Your products are the core of your business.”
What To Track?
1. Revenue
Revenue — the total amount of money you received for goods you sold or services you provided during a certain time period.
It’s important to track your revenue daily and have a clear overview of your performance, including where you generate the most money, where you’re losing money, and how this number relates to your product portfolio.
To increase your profits you need to know which products generate the highest revenue and are worth giving priority promotion.
2. Number of Orders and Item Quantity
In order to stay on top, tracking what goods are in demand should go without saying. That means knowing the number and quantity of orders per particular product, and with the combination of product revenue you are able to distinguish between products that are of the highest importance (in terms of selling, popularity, etc.) and which products aren’t selling and bringing you down.
A good strategy for maximizing sales is to recommend your best selling products alongside another specific product that isn’t doing well. This works well to encourage your customers to buy outside their comfort zone and also gives you the opportunity unload stock that hasn’t been as popular.
You should also track orders by day and hour. This will tell you your “rush hours” and “rush days”, and can alert you to when you need to prepare your stock and have your staff ready so that you don’t end up keeping your customers waiting. It’s also great for planning your marketing activities precisely.
3. Shipping and Payment Methods
Another key element is favorite shipping and payment options. You can check which payment options are the most frequently used and make decisions about deleting or adding more to accommodate your customers’ preferences (note: If your shop runs international sales, make sure that your international clients can pay in their own currency — or at the very least, that they’re provided with clear currency conversion information).
You can also track the ratio of successful orders according to a particular shipping option, and this tool is useful in tackling glitches related to payment services which may crop up from time to time.
4. Best and Worst Selling Products
By understanding your top selling products you can ensure adequate inventory and optimize strategies to sell more. Having your stock full of items nobody wants and neglecting to promote the products that are in demand can all hurt your online store and weaken effectiveness as a business.
How To Do It?
Numbers and metrics are very valuable when it comes to improving your online store and helping you grow. However, anyone who’s been stuck on inventory duty knows how boring it can be. Do you find it difficult to keep up with all the associated metrics? If so, this may indicate that you need to consider a suitable solution that will be appropriate to your business size. The most suitable of these ‘quick fixes’ for small and medium-sized businesses is called “plug and analyze” — you simply choose the source you want to analyze and connect it to the service by using a simple login.
Combine your data to find the most important correlations.
For example, in the MonkeyData app exists a special function called Store Lab that is exactly tailored for combining your data to find the most important correlations. It allows you to filter metrics you are interested in, combine multiple views, and gather more accurate information. Just pick which insights you want to get, choose up to three segments (product, customer’s email, shipping & payment method and many more), and export the results.
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