Retail Analytics Firm ERS Adds Weather Data

In the US, retail analytics specialist Enhanced Retail Solutions (ERS) has added twenty years of historical US weather data to its platform, to enable users to correlate sales performance with weather trends.

New York-based ERS offers software tools and consulting services for retail analysis and demand planning, and also has offices in Dallas, TX; Cork, Ireland; and Delhi, India. The firm has now added weather data derived from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service (NWS), to help those clients whose businesses are vulnerable to weather trends.

Through the new service, clients can study how temperature and weather conditions may have increased or decreased rates of sales; optimize product distribution and shipment timing to a retail chain; and pinpoint opportunities to optimize sell-through or inventory productivity. For those clients wanting both a past and future view of weather-driven demand, ERS has partnered with business weather intelligence specialist Planalytics, to offer a numerical representation of consumer need for a product or service caused by perceived changes in the weather at a given time or location.

ERS founder and CEO Jim Lewis comments: 'Manufacturers are being held accountable for understanding retail dynamics more than ever before. Adding weather data to each location can enable the vendor to recommend even more optimal - and ultimately profitable - solutions to their buyers'.

Web site: www.enhancedretailsolutions.com .