The UK overall has experienced a consistently cooler trend compared to last year, says weather analysts Planalytics.

In London, 26 out of 31 weeks this year have been cooler than 2014. Only three weeks have been warmer.

For many businesses the spring-summer period has been challenging as a result, with demand for many seasonal products and services lagging behind corresponding 2014 levels, which benefitted from warmer weather.  Rainfall has also varied considerably, proving helpful for footfall and sales some weeks and less helpful at other times.

 “There is a hidden cost to weather's never ending volatility” Planalytics says. “Retailers and other consumer-focused businesses unknowingly hurt themselves when they create their demand forecasts and business plans. That is because companies are essentially assuming conditions will be the same from one year to the next when last year's weather volatility is ignored or left unadjusted in the planning process. The weather, and ultimately its impact on consumer purchasing, rarely repeats itself from year to year.

“As a result, businesses unnecessarily build more error into their forecasts. This leads to business plans that are not aligned with demand and this misalignment leads to lost sales in some markets, excessive inventory in other markets, unnecessary costs, and operational inefficiencies.”

The good news, the company says, is that weather’s business impacts can be quantified and managed.  “Weatherised” companies are able to identify and recapture the revenues and profits weather volatility steals from the business each year. 

Retailers are invited to join a London Breakfast Seminar on 27 August to learn more.

Seminar topics include:

• The Weather “Blind Spot” and Its Bottom Line Impact:  The weather is a huge “blind spot” for most companies and it is not just the future forecasts. Last year’s weather is part of last year’s performance and a failure to recognise and effectively remove the weather-driven variability from historical sales leads to misaligned inventories and operational resources and reduced profitability.
• Measuring & Managing Weather-Driven Demand: Quantifying weather’s impact by category, by market and by time period and applying it in demand forecasting, replenishment, operations, pricing, sales analysis, etc.
• WeatherSmart Marketing & Advertising: Optimise customer engagement strategies and improve response rates by identifying favorable periods for email campaigns, digital advertising and other marketing activities.
• Client Case Study Examples: Hear how companies have benefited by “weatherising” their business and using weather-driven demand insights for planning and in-season decisions
• Weather Impact Outlook: A look at weather-driven opportunities and risks including the autumn season.

Some examples weather-driven demand Impacts:

Women's sandals  -12% (March-April-May)

Men's shorts -10% (March-April-May)

Salads  -4% (June-July)

Barbeque products  -21% (June-July)

Lawn mowers +5% (May-June-July)

Information: click here