Deep Dive: How to Maximize Summer Sales with Lightspeed

The retailers that stand out and do best are the ones that pay attention to those small details and not just those major movements, but really the smaller shifts in customer behavior and stock that's moving. Making sure that as a retailer you're consistently reviewing performance can really help save time and help retailers react faster throughout the season. Like, for example, when inventory slows down. The instinct is often, hey, let me start to discount, right?

But if you think about the times we're in right now and the tight margins already, discounting aggressively can erode your margins. We're in the heart of the mid-summer season and it's a tricky moment for retailers. There's pressure to sell through seasonal inventory before fall arrives and demand can shift with the weather. So how can retailers make smarter decisions now while also setting themselves up for the next buying cycle?

Hi, and welcome to Retail Remix. I'm your host, Kate Robertson, Editor-in-Chief at Retail Touchpoints. Today's episode is all about maximizing summer selling and finding success in the next buying cycle. This episode is brought to you by Lightspeed, the commerce platform built for modern retailers.

From point of sale and payments to inventory and wholesale purchasing, Lightspeed helps retailers streamline operations, manage stock, and deliver better customer experiences. With wholesale built right into the platform, retailers can manage buying and selling in one connected system. See how Lightspeed helps retailers thrive at lightspeed.com slash POS slash retail.

That's lightspeed.com slash POS slash retail. Marie, welcome to Retail Remix. Let's start with the big picture.

Why is midsummer such an important moment for retailers? Kate, it's so nice to be here today. Thank you so much for having me. You're absolutely right.

Midsummer is a really critical period for retailers. So first, they're under pressure to clear inventory before fall arrives, right? But also, they're managing unpredictable demand driven by changing weather patterns. Plus, you've got increased staff vacation time, which can add further pressure on store operations and sales for coverage.

That being said, it's also such a critical moment to look ahead to next planning cycles and really prep for that fall and holiday shopping cycle. Retailers have more data than ever, but many are still struggling to know what to act on. What are the most important metrics they should be watching for right now to make smarter in-season decisions. That's so true.

I think the first thing that I think of is that instead of sifting through hundreds of data points, it's really important for retailers to understand what matters most and where they should be focusing right now. Retailers that stay competitive, they're the ones that leverage the right data and they leverage them at the right time. So you don't need very complex forecasting models to improve reorder timing, right? It's really actually simple metrics that can make a meaningful impact.

So think things like average weekly sales, how much current inventory do you have on hand, estimated supplier lead times, or like recent sales trends. When done right, looking at these simple things can have a huge impact. So for example, retailers who use Lightspeed Insights see 26% fewer days out of stock for their top selling items. And if you think about top selling items, those usually translate into higher gross profits.

And what we see is that on average, that's almost $4,500 in higher gross profits for retailers that start looking at these reports or use features like Lightspeed Insights. Ultimately, what this means for you is that lots of retailers see a higher gross margin return on investment. And when you talk to retailers in our network that utilize features like this, like Woodstack, for example, based in the New York area, They started to use Lightspeed to actually even improve their communication between teams so that they could give staff access to the data that they needed to make smarter buying decisions.

And the story that they tell is that they used to miss out on buys because of a lack of information and especially a lack of information between the back office teams and the buying teams. And so using technology like Lightspeed, they can have everyone access that same information at the same and at the right time to make those better buying decisions. There is also a ton of interest in AI, along with plenty of hesitation. Where do you see AI adding practical value for retailers today, especially when it comes to saving time and simplifying decision making?

We all know that there's a massive hype around AI right now. But what's interesting looking at the data is that what we see is that a lot of retailers are still quite hesitant to adopt AI, either because one, they're not really familiar with it or two, because they don't really trust it yet. And we ran recently a survey at Lightspeed and we actually found that almost 40 percent of retailers are concerned about AI's accuracy. and up to 30% said that they didn't really yet feel comfortable using it for pricing suggestions or discount suggestions or like insights or marketing.

And so we're seeing quite a disconnect between that hype that we hear in the news every day and then actual usage on the floor. And I think that really reflects the reality of retailers that have so much on their plates, right? And where AI can, though, really help and give them back time so that they can spend time focusing on growing the business. An example here is we know that retailers are buried in spreadsheets, right?

And we know that that's not why they actually got into business. From a Lightspeed perspective we really investing in AI to help retailers spend less time managing the data cleaning the data sifting through the data and more time curating the right products creating those memorable customer experiences We know that retailers care so much about what they do especially our independent boutiques our smaller stores right AI and tools like this can really help them refocus on that passion versus being buried in back office work.

Let's talk about sell-through. When summer inventory starts to lag, what are some of the fastest and most effective ways retailers can improve performance without jumping straight to markdowns? Yeah, this is a great question. And we talk about this a lot with our customer base.

So I think the first thing to note is that improving sell-through doesn't always require major changes, right? Think about small adjustments to things like merchandising, positioning, or product visibility. Those can all make a massive impact on sell-through right away. One of the fastest ways we've seen to improve sell-through is to really just rethink how your products are appearing in store.

We know that customers respond really strongly to visual cues. So a product that's sitting really quietly on a back shelf, right, may suddenly start to sell more once it's moved to that high traffic display area. Or importantly, like if you're actually styling it alongside stronger performing items, you'll see that sell through rise. The other thing to note is customers, they really buy based on context, emotion and relevance, right?

So think about a new pair of running shoes on its own, right? Those might just not stand out. That's not what I'm looking for today as a customer. But if you give me the right story, you can bring those running shoes to life.

So suddenly they become the shoes that help someone train for their first marathon. That's definitely not going to be me, but I could be one of your customers out there. It could be the perfect trail companion for like weekend adventures, right? As our weather's getting better as we're moving into summertime, or it could be that go-to pick for staying comfortable during like long shifts on someone's feet over the weekend, right?

It really depends on how you frame the story behind a product, how you take that time to speak with your customers and make sure that they're feeling heard. And that will reflect in your cell through numbers. Tell me more about storytelling and store associate knowledge. How are they helping work together to make products feel more relevant and desirable to shoppers?

Yeah, that's a great question. I think no one, especially if you're a customer in store really underestimates how important sales associates are to the customer experience. And they are really essential to bringing a product story to life, right? But in order to do that, they have to have the right knowledge and they have to have the right expertise.

So to give you an example from one of our customers, CBS Sport, when you get product into store, it's really important to make sure that your team is trained to understand the product and how that can translate into a story. One of the best ways to do that, and CBS Sports does this, is to actually team up with your suppliers and to host staff training sessions, right? So the supplier team knows their products best. They know how it pairs.

They know the best uses for it. They know where that breaks down. And CBS pairs with their suppliers to really train the team to have that deeper understanding of the products and to be able to sell and serve those customers with personalized advice, right? Those sales reps might come in once or twice a year.

They explain the different shoes or the changes that they've made to it, innovation around it so that your sales associates can focus on the customer, pair them with the right products, and really create that story for them. I think what it comes down to is that a knowledgeable employee who can really confidently recommend a product, they can completely change how a customer perceives it, especially for inventory that, you know, a customer might otherwise overlook. And for a retailer, especially looking into the upcoming holiday season, it's really important that your tech stack actually supports this behavior, right?

As we look forward to the holiday season, we know that a lot of our retailers hire seasonal staff, right? And so thinking ahead, you shouldn't have to spend six months training a store associate to be an expert on your products or on your customers, Right. You just we know we don't have that time. Right.

And so this is where as a retailer, you might want to look into technology to actually help give that staff superpowers. Right. Or ramp them more quickly. So for example, thinking of your point of sale, you want to enable a brand new hire to look at the point of sale and see, hey, this customer that just walked into the store, they bought X or Y brand last month, right?

And then the POS prompts them to suggest a new arrival, right? What we've seen in our survey is that 84% of shoppers love it when a store remembers them and their service history. That's important, right? That's why they're coming into a store And empowering that day one employee to look like a veteran in front of your customers really shows people that they know their stuff, but it also ultimately helps your margins.

It builds a more loyal customer base and it differentiates you from an online shopping experience that everyone has access to through their phone at their fingertips. This episode is brought to you by Lightspeed, the commerce platform built for modern retailers. From point of sale and payments to inventory and wholesale purchasing, Lightspeed helps retailers streamline operations, manage stock, and deliver better customer experiences. With wholesale built right into the platform, retailers can manage buying and selling in one connected system.

See how Lightspeed helps retailers thrive at lightspeedhq.com slash POS slash retail. That's lightspeedhq.com slash POS slash retail.

On the Omnichannel side, how can a stronger connection between e-commerce, wholesale data, and the in-store POS help retailers move product more efficiently and serve customers better? So we kind of got into this a little bit before the ad break, but we know that shoppers are drawn to online retail for the convenience and selection, right? That's why everyone loves Amazon. It's available to us immediately at our fingertips right And what we hear in the media sometimes is that online is pitched against that in experience right But I really think that we have to reframe the way we look at that as retailers, right?

So think about how online and in-store can be complementary. So think about how you could implement a system where your online store and your physical POS are working in unison. They're being synced in real time. And you can increase your potential customer base and therefore reduce your need to discount.

What we've seen in our Lightspeed survey is that lots of customers are interested in understanding what brands are carried and what inventory might be in stock before they go into store. Actually touching, feeling, and understanding, really trying on a product is still very, very important. That's why not everyone shops online exclusively, right? And so Paris Cartier is a great boutique example here on the Lightspeed side.

They used Lightspeed to create an online presence that directly supports their physical boutique. So because wholesale was built right into the POS, they can automatically pull images, descriptions, pricing info and more directly for their wholesale buys without having to re-enter that information. This really transformed their business because they have all of this available for their online presence. And online brought more people into store to actually touch, feel, try on their products, right?

As a result for Paris Cartier, their sales grew about 20% months over months because they encouraged their shoppers to explore online through this increased digital presence with these amazing images, descriptions, etc. syncing automatically. but then actually come into the shop to experience the products and ultimately buy them. Wholesale buying has become so much more fluid than it used to be.

What does a strong in-season buying strategy look like today? And why are flexibility and visibility so important? Yeah, this is a great question, Kate, because I think we're all aware that wholesale is changing, right? So retailers can't just place a summer assortment order and leave it untouched for the rest of the season, right?

in-season buying is becoming so much more important. And today, retailers need a really fast way to move from an insight or a trend into reordering and receiving very quickly, and especially at this time of year. We've heard about microtrends and how those surface, and so we need to be able to act quickly. As we think about this and figuring out how to operationalize acting quickly, I think the first thing that comes to mind is data visibility.

And having that across your wholesale operations is a game changer. And this is where platforms like Lightspeed Wholesale become essential. So Lightspeed Wholesale, for example, is a B2B commerce network that connects over 4,000 of the world's leading brands, some of the biggest brands out there, with independent retailers on Lightspeed Point of Sale. For retailers, what that means is they can seamlessly connect with brands, source their products, and get them onto the shelf faster, thanks to data syncing, with wholesale built right into the point of sale.

They don't have to log into a second system, leave, move to a different screen. It's all right within the point of sale. And that ultimately helps retailers make more informed buying decisions by being able to combine the point of sale sales insights with their wholesale ordering workflows. So as an example, our order trends highlight to retailers what products are gaining traction, right?

What are those micro trends or those macro trends that we're chasing right now or that might appear mid-season? While Lightspeed Insights helps them decide, is that trend actually right for you, for your store, based on your actual sales performance and your actual inventory performance? And ultimately, what that allows retailers to do is that instead of them relying entirely on instinct or on some basic reports, retailers can use sales trends and that reorder data to respond much more confidently as the season evolves and get their products from an order onto the shelf as quickly as possible.

Can we dig into that process a little bit more? Can you explain how Lightspeed Wholesale and New Order help retailers move from Insight to reorder faster while reducing manual work and improving access to supplier inventory? Yeah, absolutely. And that's a great question.

So the first thing that I think about is the reason none of our retailers got into business, which is data entry, right? So the first thing that Lightspeed does is save retailers that data entry time. And that ultimately allows you as a retailer and your team, your humans, to get back to that true art of retail, right? Why did you get into the business in the first place?

Curation, community, connecting with your customers, right? Connected flows between wholesale and your point of sale mean better data for you, right? You as a retailer can connect insights you're having into your buying decisions, inventory decisions, and into your point of sale workflows so that you're not making reorder decisions in a silo or making those reorder decisions too late. For example, we can surface that, hey, you're going to be running out of this incredibly well-selling white shirt or black blazer in 10 days.

Your POS can surface that ahead of you running out of stock, can alert you and say, hey Marie, you should be reordering and here's the specific quantities alongside the size curve that you should be ordering to make sure your product is not out of stock, to make sure that your customers when they come into store have that trending product to continue to buy. We even factor in things like seasonality to make sure We're not telling you to restock gloves when winter is almost over, right?

So that's number one. It's really about data and making sure you're proactively utilizing that. But the second part here is time savings, right? How much time do you or how much time does your team spend keying in product information once you've already ordered it and once those boxes now land in store, right?

You're inputting product descriptions. You inputting MSRP and every single manual keystroke is an opportunity for error right And so with features like our purchase order sync your wholesale orders and your product details can sync directly into Lightspeed Point of Sale, reducing for you that time on manual data entry, the opportunities for errors. But also if you think about it, you're receiving those products into your store and you can get them onto the shelf so much faster as sellable stock because all of that information already lives within your point of sale.

So as an example, one of our women's wear boutiques saves about 80% of their time per purchase order on manual data entry now that her POs seamlessly sync between new order and her POS. It's really a game changer for our retailers. On the flip side, when inventory isn't moving, what are some smart ways to manage excess stock while still protecting margins and customer loyalty? Yeah, so retailers really need to constantly monitor what's selling, right?

So the retailers that stand out and do best are the ones that pay attention to those small details and not just those major movements, but really the smaller shifts in customer behavior and stock that's moving. Making sure that as a retailer, you're consistently reviewing performance can really help save time and help retailers react faster throughout the season. Like, for example, when inventory slows down, the instinct is often, hey, let me start to discount, right? But if you think about the times we're in right now and the tight margins already, discounting aggressively can erode your margins, right?

It can shrink your profits. And also, think about the consumer behavior. It can actually train your customers to wait for sales instead of buying at full price. So our recent survey was very interesting looking at the results.

It showed that while price influenced about 60% of shoppers to buy non-essentials, a staggering 70% said that personalized service would influence them to shop more in-store. So it wasn't as much about the discounting. It was about that personalized service that we talked about earlier, remembering a shopper's history, being able to suggest complementary items that really move the needle. So instead of always relying on discounts or going to those straight away, retailers can create that perceived value to customers through things like bundling.

So start pairing a slower moving product with a top performing item so that your customers are encouraged to make that larger purchase while you as a retailer are protecting your margins, right? Retailers also don't always need to mark down just to drive urgency. Think about messaging strategies. So look at things like summer favorites or only available this season, limited inventory, right?

All of those can encourage customers to act with urgency and act sooner while you as a retailer are maintaining profitability. And it's also important to recognize that products might perform differently across different channels. Most of our retailers today are omni-channel. And so thinking about items, an item that struggles in-store might still gain traction online through things like strong photography, styling content, or even social promotions, while products that are overlooked online might actually perform much better in-person where customers can experience that tactile look and feel of something in-store.

Those are some great tips. Before we wrap up, what are five key takeaways you hope retailers remember from this conversation as they think about the rest of summer and the next buying cycle? Five things. Let me have a quick think here.

But I think we've covered it mostly during our episode, right? Number one is data and making sure that you as a retailer are focusing on the data that matters most, right? Retailers need clear insights that may help them make faster and smarter decisions around inventory, reordering, and also customer demand. So that's my number one is data.

Number two, I'd say AI. We heard that retailers are still a little bit hesitant right now, but think about it as a tool to help you save time and actually get back to your passion, right? So let AI help you cut through that manual work, reduce your time spent in spreadsheets in the back, and actually focus more on making your retailer passion come to life, right? Speaking with customers, talking about the products and scaling your business.

Number three, I would have to say are kind of merchandising changes, right? Small changes that can drive big sell through results. So thinking about product placement, styling, storytelling, all of those influence buying behaviors, right? So thinking about sometimes just like moving a product or reframing how it's presented can be enough to increase sales.

Getting to the end here, but number four would have to be just really that wholesale buying needs to stay flexible, right? we're in the middle of summer, monitoring sales and reordering early will really help you avoid missed opportunities, especially during peak demand periods. And finally, it's all about protecting margins, right? Get creative with slower inventory.

Deep discounting is not always the answer. Instead, look at strategies like bundling, urgency-based messaging, stronger cross-channel merchandising, and also make sure that your store associates are empowered and knowledgeable to help move inventory through that storytelling. Marie, thank you so much for joining us. And thanks again to Lightspeed and New Order by Lightspeed for sponsoring this episode.

If you'd like to learn more about the tools and strategies we discussed today, visit Lightspeed's website. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next time. Thanks for joining us for another episode of Retail Remix. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss a future episode.

You can find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcast app. Until next time, keep mixing it up.