This chapter contains these topics:
With Real Estate Management related to retail sales, sales analysis requires a wide range of formats in order to analyze and compare similar projects. Therefore, the sales analysis module is exclusively for analytical and reporting purposes and does not generate invoices. It is typically used by owners and their marketing experts. This chapter is an overview of the sales analysis process.
The analysis period can be one or more of the following: monthly, quarterly, and year-to-date (YTD). Projections are also made based on the YTD amounts.
The information can be shown in a specific sequence in which the detail lines are sorted with the best performers appearing first. Such reports, which are called ranking reports, have the lines sorted according to one of the following sales figures:
Analysis period for the current year
Same period in the prior year
Change from the prior year
Percentage increase or decrease
These figures can relate to either gross or per-square-foot amounts.
The level of summary (detail) can be one line at the project level or numerous lines according to the units, tenants, product codes, and so on. For example, you might want a ranking of the best performing tenants in a shopping mall, the best performing malls in a region, or the best performing products on each floor in a mall. The same level of detail can also be printed on separate reports but ranked according to different sales figures.
A line of summarized information can include the number of items included in the summary. For example, a line summarized for a shopping mall might also show how many tenants are represented by that mall or how many different products are sold in it.
Invalid comparisons for sales information result from either of the following situations:
The sales information does not extend through the entire analysis period. At the tenant level, for example, YTD sales cannot be compared to the same period from the prior year if the tenant started the business after the prior year began or if no sales were reported for any one of the months involved.
The square footage related to the sales information changed during the analysis period. Depending on the report, the system might handle such a change differently.
However, the lack of reported sales or the change in square footage at one level does not necessarily cause a higher level of comparison to be invalid. For example, a comparison between two shopping malls might not be invalid because of the lack of sales for a given tenant. This could be the case when the overall performance of the malls is being analyzed without regard to attrition and vacant space.
The sales figures that the system uses for analysis, comparison, and ranking are calculated at the levels of detail required by the user. These requirements, which are called key structures, are stored in the Sales Analysis (Summary) Control file (F1544). The system performs the calculations when the sales figures are generated and places the results in the Sales Analysis Reporting file (F1543). This logic makes the process more efficient in that the system has to create the records only once. The same records can then be viewed online or reported in an unlimited number of ways as defined by the user.
The sales analysis summary code identifies the definition and key structure that controls the generation of the sales figures.
You use the Sales Analysis Control Revisions screen to set up each level of detail required to support the analysis of sales information. The setup can include the following:
Any combination of the following key fields (flags) as the key structure:
| Field | Field |
|---|---|
| Building (Business Unit) | Project Number |
| Tenant (Address Number) | Company |
| Unit Number | Lease Number (Order Number) |
| Doing Business As (DBA) | ULI (Urban Land Industry) Code |
| Floor Number | Reporting Codes 11-15 |
| Product Code |
One or more of the key fields as an item count
Whether the sales analysis is automatically generated when you run the Post Sales to History program
Whether the square footage related to the definition is automatically maintained by the system
Whether invalid comparisons are excluded
The basis for the square footage (building total, unit total, rentable, or usable)
The information that is generated and stored in the Sales Analysis Reporting file relates to the following four categories:
System-controlled
The summary code, century, year, and reporting period are supplied by the system. The reporting period works in conjunction with the Report Year Beginning Month field in the Real Estate Management Constants file (F1510) to determine the quarterly and YTD time periods.
User-controlled
The user identifies this information with the flags for the key structure.
Sales analysis
The system calculates the sales figures as they relate to the analysis period and sequence such as the YTD gross sales, sales per square foot for the same period in prior year, the change in quarterly sales, and so on.
Miscellaneous and statistical
The system calculates the square footage, changes in square footage, number of months without sales, total sales for the prior year, rolling sales for the previous 12 months, and item count.
Before you begin the sales analysis process, set up the following information:
Real Estate Management constants
Facility, tenant, and lease information
Product codes and other user defined codes
The sales analysis process involves the following tasks:
Enter and post the sales information.
Set up the sales analysis summary codes.
Generate the square footage history.
Generate and revise the sales figures.
Analyze the sales figures.
The programs that you choose from the Sales Report Processing menu (G15221) let you enter and post the sales reports that you receive from the tenants. For more information about this process, see the related chapters in Part X, "Sales Overage" of this guide.
The Sales Analysis Control Revision screen lets you set up and work with the sales analysis summary codes. The information is stored in the Sales Analysis (Summary) Control file and controls the generation of the sales figures. Each code identifies the key structure for a level of summary (detail) in the Sales Analysis Reporting file. Each record in this file is the combined information from the Tenant Sales History file (F1541) that matches the key fields for the summary code during the sales analysis generation.
The Square Footage History Generation program generates the history of square footage for sales analysis. When the program is run, the system gathers the information related to square footage and updates the following files: Sales Analysis Reporting (F1543), Sales Analysis (Summary) Control (F1544), Square Footage History (F1545), and Square Footage Comparison Log (F1546).
This is necessary if you use square footage for the comparisons in sales analysis. The Sq Ft Control Flag field in the Sales Analysis Control file controls whether the system automatically generates the square footage history. This automatic update occurs when you run the Sales Analysis Generation program and the Sq Ft Generation Flag in the Sales Analysis Control file indicates the square footage is not current. If it is not generated in this way, note the following:
You must run Square Footage History Generation directly from the menu.
Running the history generation from the menu can be time consuming.
A processing option controls whether a report is printed for review.
This program lets you summarize the information for sales analysis. It is based on the Sales Analysis (Summary) Control file (F1544) and also uses information from the following files: Tenant/Lease Master (F1501), Tenant Sales History, and Square Footage History. The generated information is placed in the Sales Analysis Reporting file (F1543).
The Sales Analysis Flag field in the Sales Analysis Control file controls whether the sales analysis is automatically generated when you run the Post Sales to History program. If it is not generated in this way, note the following:
You must run Sales Analysis Generation directly from the menu.
When you post to history, the system still updates sales for periods in the Sales Analysis Reporting file for which sales analysis has already been generated.
The processing options control whether a report is printed for review.
This screen lets you review and revise the information in the Sales Analysis Reporting file. For example, you could review how the sales calculations are derived and the differences between the rolling sales and the year-to-date (YTD) sales. Then you could change or delete the detail lines with information that is not valid or is incomplete. A processing option controls whether the system recalculates the related information interactively according to the changes you make.
Any records that have been changed, recalculated, or deleted can be reset to the original information. To do this, you must rerun the related DREAM Writer version of the Sales Analysis Generation program.
This screen lets you display the information in the Sales Analysis Reporting file by summary code. In addition, you can compare and summarize the sales figures interactively and visually with a bar graph.
With this report, you can use different DREAM Writer versions called ranking reports to sort the sales analysis information by building, tenant, and product code. It is based on the Sales Analysis Reporting file.