Better Point of Sale Reports with Variance Analysis (update)

I've just revised and updated one of the most popular posts on this blog adding more detailed descriptions,  a graphical view to the output and more clearly showing path to action based on these reports.  Follow the link below to the updated post.

Better Point of Sale Reports with "Variance Analysis": Velocity, Distribution and Pricing.. oh my !

Routine, weekly point-of-sale reports tend to look very similar.  For various time buckets (Last week, last 4 weeks, year to date) we total sales in both currency and units then compare to prior year.  Add in a few more measures to look at retail pricing, inventory,  or service level metrics and you may struggle to make it fit on a page.   And from a CPG standpoint, POS  reporting is only half of the story: a CPG's sales targets are not based on POS, they are based on shipments to the retailer.  How can you get a good overview of POS and reconcile that with Shipments all in one report?

Better Business Analytics - Christmas list

It's that time of year again: my kids have written, re-written and re-re-written their Christmas lists now so we all hope Santa will read them carefully and take notice.

With just a few days left before the holiday season hits I wanted to do something a little more fun, so I've pulled together a list of things that I think every Business Analyst should want.  Some are free to acquire, just costing your time to learn, others you may wish to ask Santa (or your CFO) to provide.