Does Quorso take into account external factors affecting some stores but not others, like a weather event or local holiday?
Yes, for items where Quorso is comparing your performance relative to peer median, Quorso’s calculation takes into account external factors that may impact your performance.
Here is an example, using a normalizing factor of the item’s parent category sales.
My store (Store A) sells $20 of Strawberries for every $100 Soft Fruit (20%). On average, Stores B-K sell $25 Strawberries for every $100 Soft Fruit (25%). In this example, I’m underperforming vs my peers by $5 (5%).
Let’s look at 3 different scenarios to show how Quorso accounts for impact of exceptional events on missions:
- My store is near a college campus and the students have gone home for vacation: Let’s say footfall in my store drops and, as a result, Soft Fruit sales decline by 50% and Strawberry sales also decline. However, on inspection I can see that Strawberries still make up 10% of Soft Fruit sales. If all things stayed the same with my peer group, (e.g., their Strawberry sales stayed at 15% of Soft Fruit sales) then although I have seen a physical reduction in sales and traffic, my proportion of item sales, relative to the normalizing factor, when compared to my peers, would remain the same.
- A public holiday is driving up traffic in all Stores: Let’s say Stores B-K experience increased customer traffic and Soft Fruit sales and similarly, my Strawberry sales also increase. However, provided that Strawberry sales in those stores still only account for 15% of Soft Fruit sales, and if all things stayed the same with my store (i.e., my Strawberry sales stay at 10% of Soft Fruit sales) then although stores B-K have seen a physical increase in sales, my proportion of item sales, relative to the category parent, compared to my peers is still the same.
- I run a local promotion on strawberries, while others do not: Let’s say my store doubles its share of Strawberry sales to 20% of Soft Fruit sales. If all things remained equal with my peer group, then relative to peers, I am now outperforming them by 5% which in this case equates to a sales uplift of $10. This is a successful mission.