Stay ahead of Golden Quarter planning curveballs

= Summary: The Golden Quarter is a difficult and stressful time, but AI-driven retailing can ease the pressure. Ed Betts explains that through data and algorithmic analysis, retailers can drive strategic and tactical benefits which lead to bigger profits – those that don’t will be left behind

The Golden Quarter is a pressure pot of planning. The 100-day countdown to Christmas encompasses the majority of the year’s key fixed seasonal events and aligns with retail’s most critical planning window. Retailers must not only take every measure to trade out the year cleanly, but they must also ratify their strategy for the year ahead. It’s monumentally difficult, and it’s increasingly easy to argue that the Golden Quarter is more challenge than opportunity.

The past two years have brought uncertainty to late-year trading, with increased costs pressing down on suppliers, retailers, and customers alike. There has been no great reversal of financial fortunes in the past year. The new government’s ‘tough decisions’ mean trade during 2024’s Golden Quarter will certainly not be characterised by a spending free-for-all. It will be as difficult as ever, and retailers will be challenged at every turn to meet their customers’ needs and expectations while maintaining their own bottom line.

Strategy versus tactics

Even with a winning overall strategy, there are forces that retailers cannot control. It doesn’t matter if a retailer has rolled into the Golden Quarter feeling they are fully prepared. Volatility is a fact of life, and retailers must be able to roll with the punches and deal with it.

Supply and inventory hiccups, for instance, demand a quick tactical response. Tweaks frequently need to be made to future planning which has, in the course of business, not quite hit the mark. If a retailer is outplayed, surprised by a competitor with a better price or a stronger promotion, that retailer cannot simply cling to its plan defiantly. It must act fast and implement effective remedies.

Those beholden to legacy systems and siloed data are at a disadvantage. They will struggle to move quickly if they do not possess the latest information and the strongest insights. Delivering on up-to-the-minute promotions does not just happen by itself. The pace of business between a retailer and its suppliers must match the speed of the market – and today’s market moves faster than ever, particularly at this time of year.

Relieving the pressure

At such a stressful time, retailers must work hard to maintain their tactical acuity at all levels, but senior executives must also be free to make the high-level decisions which set the course for the year ahead. Under a legacy retailing model, however, execs cannot always offer overall strategy the attention it deserves. Too often they are forced to act reactively to unexpected changes and search for any way to maintain margins and hit profit targets.

But why does any retailer do this at all when a better solution is available? Data, properly analysed, plots a course away from market share dips or worrying sales figures in the long term, and can offer immediate resolution to short-term troubles. Analysis reveals the reasons and helps suggest the solutions. With the right tools, results happen in a fraction of the time. With the right data, retailers can lift sales, increase profits, and create offers that resonate.

The best of both worlds

AI-based tools offer deep insights into both a retailer’s own data and that of the markets. AI presents clear top-down predictions about strategic business performance. And although retailers cannot remove volatility, the combination of AI models and live data reveals enough intimate, immediate knowledge surrounding retail operations that executives can make tactical decisions quickly and confidently.

This is not an all-or-nothing transition. Algorithmic tools can be implemented piece-by-piece on the areas that matter the most to a business, gradually uniting different business functions and, in turn, leaving retailers more organised and prepared for whatever might happen.

A vision of the future

If this year’s Golden Quarter proves to be as difficult as some analysts expect it to be, retailers must consider their future direction very carefully. AI-driven algorithmic retailing has already helped many of the world’s largest retailers to smooth and optimise their business practices year-round.

Those seeking to grow against such overwhelming opposition cannot stick with a business plan which inherently leaves them at a disadvantage. One’s strategy cannot simply be to stay afloat, when the opportunity to thrive is there for the taking.

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