The basic idea behind the analysis of fast selling is to maintain that fast-selling pace without running out of merchandisein the store. This analysis is most often used during the introduction of new articles, seasonal articles, or article exceptionanalysis. If fast-selling articles are not monitored closely, they can quickly become a marginal or slow-selling article because ofout-of-stock conditions. Actions to take for fast-selling articles include purchasing more inventory, canceling promotional pricechanges, or increasing the price of the product. Therefore, if you are building an enterprise data warehouse, the ability toprovide these functions may need to be integrated from the beginning.

If the retailer is using only averages and monthly or weekly information, it could falsely appear tothe merchant that the article has an average selling pattern.

It is important to differentiate this analysis from the top 25 analysis. Fast-selling articles may not be the most frequentlysold article in the company, nor the most profitable, nor the one with the largest gross sales. The fast-selling article is anarticle that has unexpectedly sold more than planned. In a typical retail operation, these fast-selling articles may never make thetop 25 because of out-of-stock conditions. If the retailer is using only averages and monthly or weekly information, it couldfalsely appear to the merchant that the article has an average selling pattern. For example, if the article was received in a storeon Monday and sold out by Thursday, then the weekly selling average would appear about 50% lower than what could...