Sell Through Data Falls Short Without The “Why” Behind The Numbers

Your retailers see what happens when customers encounter your products, and that experience gives them valuable insight to share with your brand. Sell-through data can show which products are moving, but a conversation with the buyer can help explain what’s driving those sales and where your support could make a difference. Getting that story alongside the numbers gives your reps more to work with when helping each account succeed.

Matador Equipment’s Nellie Stephenson, Chief Operating Officer, and Chris Vonderhaar, Director of Sales, discussed the importance of that feedback on Between The Drops. Chris described how difficult it can be to know “what hooks are empty, what hooks are full.” Without hearing from retailers, the team has limited visibility into how products are performing once they reach the store.

Getting that feedback takes effort on both sides, especially when a busy buyer has little time for reporting. Brands can make it easier by asking focused questions and working with information retailers already have, then showing how sharing it leads to useful support.

The Story Is As Important As The Numbers

Your retailers spend time with the people buying your products. They hear the questions customers ask and see what helps someone feel confident enough to make a purchase. That knowledge can help your brand understand results that a sales report can’t explain on its own.

Chris connected that feedback directly to Matador’s ability to support an account:

“It’s one thing to get that opening order with a new retailer, but if we don’t get the sell-through data, we don’t get the stories of what’s working well for them, then we’re just running blind here and we can’t actually help you, right?”

Numbers don't tell the whole story, so getting the why and the how behind a product that's selling is crucial. A buyer might explain that demonstrating an accessory makes its purpose immediately clear, or that a particular bag is popular with customers preparing for a certain kind of trip. Those are useful observations your reps can bring to other accounts carrying the same products.

You can apply that same curiosity when something is selling slowly, too. Find out what happens when customers encounter the product. If people regularly ask about a feature the staff is unsure how to explain, your rep has a specific opportunity to help with product education.

Keep the conversation focused enough that the buyer knows what to share. Asking what customers say when they demo a particular product will usually give your rep more to work with than a general question about how business is going.

A Low Sales Number Can Hide a Potential Bestseller

Before deciding a product isn’t working based on low sales numbers, check whether customers could actually buy it. Something that sold out early in the month can end up looking unremarkable in a monthly sales report.

But, what if the product moved well, and the retailer didn't (or couldn't) order more? That changes the conversation about replenishment, and it's a good example of why getting the story behind the numbers is so important.

Find out when the product sold, whether customers continued asking for it, or the retailer had to pass on attach rate opportunities because there was no stock left.

Check that inventory shown in the retailer’s system is available on the floor, too. A few units in the stockroom won’t help a customer looking at an empty display. Sometimes the immediate opportunity is as simple as helping the retailer spot that gap.

A quiet reorder history deserves the same attention. The buyer may have missed the need to replenish, or may still believe your brand is out of stock. A conversation gives your rep a chance to help before assuming demand has disappeared.

Talking to your retailer is going to be the key to utilizing sell through data well, because while a low sales total suggests poor performance, ultimately the reason behind the number might point to the need for a larger order from the factory next season.

Make Sharing Fit Into the Retailer’s Day

Part of supporting your retailers success is making interactions with your brand easy for them. Remember, the person buying your products may also be helping customers and running the store’s marketing. Matador acknowledged that challenge in the conversation. Reporting has to fit around the work of keeping the business going.

When you’re analyzing sell through, start by asking what data the retailer can already provide. If their point-of-sale system exports sales and inventory for your brand, work with that report. Having your team match product names to SKUs can save the buyer from retyping information into another spreadsheet.

If an export is difficult, make the request feel smaller. A count of a few priority products and a note about anything that sold out may be enough to start a useful conversation. Or have your rep snap a photo of the display with your products on it. They can use that to identify gaps, provided someone checks the stockroom before treating an empty hook as a stockout.

Explain what the retailer will get from sharing the information. A rep could write:

“Could you send sales from the past four weeks and current stock for the accessories in your opening order? Your usual POS export is fine. If that’s difficult, a quick count of what’s left would help. Let me know if anything sold out early, too, and I’ll put together a replenishment recommendation for you to review.”

Agree on a reporting schedule that fits the account. A new assortment may need an early check-in, while a product selling quickly may warrant more frequent attention. Make sure the request reaches the person who can answer it, so the buyer doesn’t have to keep forwarding it elsewhere.

Ultimately, the goal is to make sharing sell through information easy for the retailer. And if you use that information to give actionable feedback that leads to better in-store sales, the retailer is more inclined to keep making time to share that data.

For more ideas on helping an account once you understand its needs, read our guide to supporting retail partners beyond the purchase order.

Bring What You Learn to Other Accounts

What helps one retailer can give your team something useful to explore with others. Keep a record of what the retailer shared, what your rep recommended, and what happened afterward.

Look for patterns across comparable stores. Repeated questions about the same feature may suggest your product education needs more attention. Frequent stockouts may mean your reps need to check in sooner or your brand needs to revisit the inventory available for replenishment.

Give Retailers a Reason to Keep Sharing

Your retailer has already committed money and shelf space to your brand. Understanding what happens after that opening order helps you support the decision they made and improve the next one. But it's going to take more than just numbers, you need the story behind why a product sells (or doesn't!).

And then, when a rep follows up with a recommendation that helps keep a bestseller available, or bumps performance on a previously slow mover, the buyer sees that sharing information was worth the effort. Over time, that gives retailers a reason to bring your team into the conversation sooner, with better detail on sell through data, while there’s still an opportunity to help.