It's the Weather: Quantifying the Impact of Weather on Retail Sales

Rose, Natalie ORCID: 0000-0003-0129-7160 and Dolega, Les ORCID: 0000-0002-1340-6507 (2022) It's the Weather: Quantifying the Impact of Weather on Retail Sales. APPLIED SPATIAL ANALYSIS AND POLICY, 15 (1). pp. 189-214.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12061-021-09397-0

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The weather is considered as an influential factor on consumer purchasing behaviours and plays a significant role in many aspects of retail sector decision making. As a result, better understanding of the magnitude and nature of the influence of variable UK weather conditions can be beneficial to many retailers and other stakeholders. This study addresses the dearth of research in this area by quantifying the relationship between different weather conditions and trading outcomes. By employing comprehensive daily sales data for a major high street retailer with over 2000 stores across England and adopting a random forest methodology, the study quantifies the influence of various weather conditions on daily retail sales. Results indicate that weather impact is greatest in the summer and spring months and that wind is consistently found to be the most influential weather condition. The top five most weather-dependent categories cover a range of different product types, with health foods emerging as the most susceptible to the weather. Also, sales from out-of-town stores show a far more complex relationship with the weather than those from traditional high street stores with the regions London and the South East experiencing the greatest levels of influence. Various implications of these findings for retail stakeholders are discussed and the scope for further research outlined.</jats:p>

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Retail, UK weather, High street retailers, Machine learning
Divisions:	Faculty of Science and Engineering > School of Environmental Sciences
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	06 Sep 2021 10:20
Last Modified:	08 Mar 2023 12:00
DOI:	10.1007/s12061-021-09397-0
Open Access URL:	https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12061-0...
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3136082