How to run a weekly retail trading meeting from decisions, not spreadsheets
Run the weekly trading meeting from a short list of decisions, not from the spreadsheets behind them.
Agree one set of numbers before the meeting, rank the issues by commercial impact, and leave with an owner and a decision for each. Record what was decided and why, and open the next meeting by reviewing last week's decisions.
Steps / 01
Step by step
Agree one set of numbers before the meeting
Share one pack before the meeting, built from the same sources every week: sales and sell-through, margin, stock cover (weeks of cover, or work it out with the weeks of cover calculator), price position and the results of last week's promotions. When everyone has read the same figures beforehand, the meeting spends its time on what to do rather than on whose spreadsheet is right.
Rank the issues by commercial impact
List what moved, then put it in order of what it is worth: the margin at risk, the sales a stock gap is losing, the stock that will need marking down. A short list ranked by money keeps the meeting on the few issues that change the week and leaves the rest in the pack.
Give every issue an owner and a decision
Each issue leaves the meeting with one person who owns it and a decision: act, hold, or look again on a named date. Ownership is quickest to settle when it follows remit, the part of the range each buyer or category manager already decides for.
Record what was decided and why
Write down the decision, the figures it rested on and the reason, when it is made. A decision record lets the team check later whether the call was right, and shows a new team member how the team decides.
Review last week's decisions first
Open each meeting with the decisions from the week before: was each one done, and did it work? Did the price move close the gap, and did the promotion add sales or only move them? Promotional incrementality is the share of promoted sales that would not have happened without it. Reviewing outcomes first turns a weekly report into a feedback loop.
Examples / 02
Illustrative examples
The business and figures are illustrative. None of it is customer data.
Agreeing the numbers: stock cover
| Item | Cover now | Cover after moving 10 units | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Store A (12 on hand, sells 8 a week) | 1.5 wks | 2.8 wks | Gap closed |
| Store B (30 on hand, sells 3 a week) | 10 wks | 6.7 wks | Still covered |
Ten units moved, no new stock bought, and both stores have more than two weeks.
Read the example as text
A kettle sells 8 a week in Store A, which holds 12: 1.5 weeks of cover. Store B sells 3 a week and holds 30: 10 weeks. Moving 10 units from B to A gives A 22 units, about 2.8 weeks, and leaves B with 20, about 6.7 weeks. Store A avoids a gap before its next delivery, and the business holds no more stock than before.
Weeks of cover in the glossary → · Work it through in the weeks of cover calculator →
The business and figures are illustrative. None of it is customer data.
Ranking the issues: price position
| Inside the band | 34 |
|---|---|
| More than 3% above both | 4 |
| Cheaper competitor out of stock | 2 |
| Result | 4 lines to review |
Six lines sit outside the band, and only four of those gaps are real.
Read the example as text
A category manager's policy is to sit within 3% of two named competitors on 40 key lines. A weekly read shows 34 lines inside the band, four lines more than 3% above both competitors, and two lines where one competitor is cheaper but has been out of stock all week. The four lines go to review; the team notes the two out-of-stock comparisons and leaves those prices alone.
The business and figures are illustrative. None of it is customer data.
Deciding, with the reason kept: a range review
| Item | Average weekly units, 12 weeks | Weekly units when in stock | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sticky date pudding (in stock 7 of 12 weeks) | 45 | 77 | Keep |
| Lemon tart (in stock 12 of 12 weeks) | 41 | 41 | Delist |
| Tiramisu, 500 g (in stock 12 of 12 weeks) | 38 | 38 | Delist |
| Reference line | Review line: 60 a week | ||
The weakest line on average sells above the line whenever it is in stock.
Read the example as text
Before a spring review of chilled desserts, a category manager lists every line averaging under 60 units a week over the last 12 weeks. Sticky date pudding averages 45 and looks like the clear delist, but it was out of stock for 5 of the 12 weeks after a supplier issue. In the 7 weeks it was available it sold 77 a week. It stays, with availability watched. Lemon tart (41 a week) and a 500 g tiramisu (38 a week) were in stock every week, and they are delisted instead.
The business and figures are illustrative. None of it is customer data.
Reviewing last week: a promotion's real effect
| Pulled forward from next week | 400 |
|---|---|
| Switched from a rival sauce | 500 |
| Incremental | 1,100 |
Just over half the extra volume is new, and all of it sold at half price.
Read the example as text
A pasta sauce normally sells 1,000 units a week. During a half-price week it sells 3,000. The following week it sells 600 as shoppers use up their stock, and a rival sauce the retailer stocks drops by 500 units during the promotion. Of the 2,000 extra units, about 400 were pulled forward and 500 switched from the rival, leaving 1,100 incremental units, all sold at half price.
Questions / 03
Common questions
What should a weekly retail trading meeting cover?
Sales and sell-through, margin, stock cover, price position and promotion results, read from one agreed set of numbers, then the short list of issues those numbers raise, each with an owner and a decision.
How do you get a trading meeting out of spreadsheets?
Move the reading out of the meeting. Share one pack beforehand, bring a list of issues ranked by commercial impact, and spend the time deciding. The spreadsheets stay as the evidence behind each issue, not the agenda.
Why review last week's decisions first?
It checks that agreed actions happened and shows whether they worked, which sharpens the next week's calls. Without it, the same issues come back each week with no record of what was tried.
In twelfth / 04
Where twelfth fits
twelfth is a commercial workspace for retail and category teams that joins pricing, range, promotion, inventory and supplier signals into ranked, owned decisions. For category managers it starts with a morning briefing, separates decisions from noise, and gives each decision an owner.
