Catalog Merchandising: Five Steps for Easy Square Inch Analysis, part 1 of 2

3. Place the sales for each product into another column.

4. To find sales per square inch, divide each product’s sales by the space it takes on the page. For a complete picture of each product, include columns for units sold, profit per item, profit per inch, item number and product description.

5. Finally, include an index column. In this column, divide the sales per inch of each product by the average sales per inch for the entire catalog. An index of 1.00 indicates the item is performing equal to the average; whereas, results greater than or less than 1.00 indicate the item is performing better than or less than average, respectively. This provides an instant gauge of the relative strength of each product.