The weekly trading meetingWhat should be on a weekly trading meeting agenda?
Sales against plan and last year, best and worst sellers, stock and orders, then decisions with owners and deadlines, and a check on last week’s actions.
The weekly trading meeting
The weekly trading meeting: what to review, what to decide, and the next best moves.
The weekly trading meeting is where a retailer’s buyers, planners and merchandisers review last week’s sales, stock and margin by product, decide what to change, and check last week’s changes worked. Also called the weekly business review, the Monday meeting or the trade meeting. The best ones end every decision with an owner and a deadline, and rank products by gross profit, not just units.
The weekly next best moves, by SalesChef
What is a weekly trading meeting?
A short meeting, usually Monday morning, that turns last week’s numbers into this week’s actions. It has many names, depending on where you trade.
Trading meeting
The Australian and UK name. Buyers say they are “trading the business”.
Weekly business review
The US corporate name, often shortened to WBR.
Best-sellers meeting
The Monday recap of top and bottom sellers, ranked by sell-through.
Flash and comp sales
The daily and weekly reports that feed it: sales against budget and last year.
How to run a weekly trading meeting
Sales against plan
Last week, month to date and year to date, against budget and last year, in dollars and units. Then the reasons.
Best and worst sellers
Rank products by gross profit and sell-through, not only units. Flag slow sellers with high stock.
Stock and orders
Weeks of cover, what is on order, what to reorder and what to clear.
Why it sold, or did not
Units tell you what happened. Ask why: the page, the shelf, the season, the price, the competitor.
Decide, then assign
Every decision ends with an action, an owner, a deadline and the result you expect.
Check last week’s moves
Did the changes happen, and did they work? Keep gaps visible until they close.
How SalesChef makes the weekly trading meeting easy
Reads the week
Sales, stock and margin by product, from the systems you already use.
Knows why
Why each product sold or stalled: the page, the season, the shopper, the competitor.
Ranks the next best moves
The changes that add the most gross profit, with the work already made: new page, new ticket, new ad.
Ready every Monday
The pre-read is in your inbox before the meeting. You decide; SalesChef does the work.
Works with your trading systems
The sales, stock and accounting systems your planners already report from.
See every integration
SAP
NetSuite
Odoo
Xero
Shopify
Google Analytics 4
Power BI
Looker
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Questions about the weekly trading meeting
What KPIs do retail buyers review each week?
Sales against budget and last year, comp sales, sell-through, gross margin, stock on hand, weeks of cover, markdown mix and aged stock.
What is the difference between a trading meeting, a WBR and a range review?
The trading meeting and the WBR are weekly and decide this week’s actions. A range review is usually quarterly or yearly and decides which products to carry.
What is a flash report?
A daily or weekly report of sales against budget and last year. It is usually the first number checked each morning and feeds the trading meeting.
How do you stop the meeting becoming a report read-out?
Send the numbers before the meeting and spend the time on decisions. Every item ends with an action, an owner and a deadline.
How does SalesChef help?
Every Monday SalesChef sends the next best moves, ranked by gross profit, with the work for each already made, so the meeting is about deciding, not digging.
A wall of products already finished. Each one turns from what the supplier sent into a finished product, ready for online, in store, sales and campaigns.
Your whole catalog.
In minutes, not months.
In minutes, not months.