Using Sales Summary to Report on Poor Selling Items
Table Of Contents
Overview
The Monthly Sales report provides a detailed view of how your stock items have performed over a 12-month period.
Available within Sales Summary, this report helps you identify:
- Best-selling products.
- Slow-moving and non-selling items.
- Seasonal sales trends.
- Lost demand across your product range.
- Stock lines that may need to be expanded or discontinued.
The report is based on sales orders, not invoices, and displays performance information across a rolling 12-month period from the selected order date.
What Information Is Included?
The Monthly Sales report displays all active stock items, including Run to Zero items, but excluding discontinued products.
For each stock item, the report includes:
Stock Information
- Stock code and description.
- Current stock value.
- Current buy price.
- Current sell price.
- Current stock levels.
- Available stock levels.
Supplier Information
The report displays information for the preferred supplier, including:
- Supplier code.
- Supplier currency.
- Supplier buy price.
Note: The preferred supplier shown may not necessarily be the supplier from whom the stock was originally purchased.
Sales Performance Data
For both the whole year and each individual month, the report displays:
- Sales
- Credits
- Lost Demand
Important Notes
- The report is based on sales orders, not invoices.
- Items highlighted with a red background are Run to Zero products.
- On Order and Available quantities reflect the current site only.
- Sales, Credits and Lost Demand figures are calculated across all sites.
Why Use the Monthly Sales Report?
The Monthly Sales report helps you make informed stock management decisions.
You can use it to:
- Identify products that are no longer selling.
- Review underperforming stock lines.
- Spot fast-selling products that may require increased stock levels.
- Analyse seasonal demand trends.
- Measure lost demand opportunities.
- Review product performance by supplier or stock category.
Results can be:
- Printed directly.
- Sent to Notepad.
- Exported to Excel as a CSV file for further analysis.
Opening the Monthly Sales Report
To open the report:
- Open Sales Summary using one of the following methods:
- Type SS into the command window.
- Select Sales Summary from the Window List.
- Open it from the menu system.
- Select the Management Reports tab.
- The Monthly Sales report is displayed automatically.
Finding Slow-Moving and Non-Selling Products
Use the Monthly Sales report to identify products that have generated little or no sales during the selected period.
Generate the Report
- Open Sales Summary.
- Select Management Reports | Monthly Sales.
- Set the Start From Order Date to the beginning of the period you want to analyse.For example, choosing 1 May will display a full 12-month period beginning in May.
- If required, enable:
- Show Value (Not Qty) to report sales values rather than quantities.
- Hide Discontinued to exclude discontinued stock lines.
Apply Optional Filters
You can narrow the results by:
- Publish to Web
- Publish to Catalogue
- Level 2 Stock Type
- Supplier
To include matching items, set the relevant traffic light filter to Green.
- Click Go to generate the report.
Sort by Lowest Sales
To display the slowest-selling products first:
- Click in the Whole Year - Sales column.
- Sort the column in ascending order using one of the following methods:
- Click the column header.
- Select Sort Ascending (Ctrl+D) from the grid menu.
- Press Ctrl+D.
Items with the lowest sales figures will appear at the top of the report.
Finding Best-Selling Products
The same report can be used to identify your highest-performing products.
Generate the Report
- Open Sales Summary.
- Select Management Reports | Monthly Sales.
- Set the required date range.
- Apply any optional filters.
- Click Go.
Sort by Highest Sales
To display top-performing products first:
- Click in the Whole Year - Sales column.
- Sort the column in descending order using one of the following methods:
- Right-click the column header.
- Select Sort Descending (Ctrl+U) from the grid menu.
- Press Ctrl+U.
The best-selling items will appear at the top of the report.
Filtering the Results
The Monthly Sales report supports several optional filters.
| Filter | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Publish to Web | Show products published to your website. |
| Publish to Catalogue | Show products published in catalogues. |
| Level 2 Stock Type | Limit results to a specific stock category. |
| Supplier | Show items from a specific supplier. |
| Hide Discontinued | Exclude discontinued items. |
| Show Value (Not Qty) | Display values instead of quantities sold. |
To include matching items, select the filter and set the traffic light indicator to Green.
Exporting and Printing Results
Once the report has been generated, you can print or export the information for further analysis.
Send to Notepad
Send to Notepad allows you to:
- Export all data or selected rows.
- Save results to a text file.
- Print the results.
- Export data for use in spreadsheet applications.
Tip: Saving the output as a .CSV file allows it to be opened directly in Microsoft Excel.
Print Grid
Print Grid creates a printed version of the report using the information currently displayed in the grid.
Tips
- Use Whole Year - Sales to quickly identify your strongest and weakest products.
- Combine supplier and stock type filters to analyse specific product ranges.
- Use Show Value (Not Qty) when reviewing profit opportunities rather than sales volume.
- Regularly review slow-moving stock to identify products that may be suitable for clearance or discontinuation.
- Export results to Excel for advanced reporting and trend analysis.