Analysis of sales allows you to understand the trends characterizing the activities of the enterprise at a certain stage, to determine the level of sales (their growth or decline). The analysis is necessary to identify groups of goods that should be given extra attention to promote them in the market, or vice versa to identify the most promising types of products. Such work is needed to make the right decisions from the point of view of the management of the enterprise as a whole.
To conduct a comprehensive analysis of sales, it is necessary to collect an exhaustive database for this. The best way to do this is to conduct a retail audit, collect data from internal (enterprise) and official (state) statistics, and determine the expert assessment of all market players involved in this area.
Analysis data is necessary for making strategic and tactical management decisions. The study of sales volume allows you to competently segment customers of the company, and the dynamics - to develop the right sales policy.
As a rule, sales analysis is carried out in four stages.
At the first stage, the dynamics and structure of sales of goods of the enterprise are determined. Tracking trends of growth / decline in sales, its stability; determines the share of sales on credit. The main indicators defined at this stage of the analysis are the following.
Revenue growth rate (TrH = 1 / N0, where 1 is the revenue of the reporting period, 0 is the previous (base) period) and for sales carried out on credit (Ukr = Nkr / N, here Nkr is the share of sales on credit).
The second stage is the determination of the indicator of uniformity of sales. For this, the coefficient of variation is determined, then conclusions are drawn about the causes of unevenness (internal, external).
The coefficient of variation is calculated as kV = {√ ∑ (x1 - xsr) 2 / n} / xsr, while x1 is the percentage of sales for the 1st period relative to the total, 1 is the period number, xsr is the average value of sales (in percent ), n is the number of periods. The higher the ratio, the more unstable (uneven) the sales.
At the third stage, the critical sales volume is determined (NB = Zpost / Umd, here Zpost is the fixed costs for the production and sale of goods, Umd is the marginal income) and safety margin (ZP = N-NOT).
At the fourth stage, sales profitability (profitability) is revealed.
Profitability is defined as follows: kRpr = PP / N, while PP - profit from sales, and N - revenue from them. It is calculated as a percentage.
The analysis of sales requires research not only the dynamics of all processes, but also a comparison of all the analyzed indicators with industry average competitors. This allows you to determine the effectiveness and business activity of certain types of activities of the enterprise, to understand the degree of its competitiveness.
If negative dynamics of revenue is revealed, further work is required to determine the causes of the decline in sales. These are often the approach of the life cycle of a product to recession, increased competition or a glut of the market.
A complete sales analysis is not possible without evaluating their uniformity. With a decrease in rhythm or its low level, it is necessary to carry out work to neutralize the factors that affected this situation. If you see a decrease in return on sales, then you should review the pricing policy of the enterprise and the distribution of costs.
Analysis of sales of goods is necessary to identify compliance with the desired results of the enterprise. Therefore, on its basis it is easier to plan sales in the present and future periods. Today, not all managers accept planning, believing that in the face of changing market realities, this is ineffective. Nevertheless, planning helps to more clearly follow the goal (sales) and minimizes inappropriate loss of resources.