Most retailers will wait many months to hear from their accountant before they know where they stand in 2025. Here's a quick and simple way to assess your 2025 performance using your POS System. Raw sales numbers alone don't reveal much, but compared to historical data, they tell a strong story about your business's health and trajectory.
A Four-Year View
Looking at just last year gives you a snapshot. Looking at three to five years gives you a trend. Three, I doubt, is enough, and the problem is that 2020 was COVID, which rules out five years, so most are using four years. They are using this historical perspective to assess their business in the long term.
Step-by-Step: Running Your Analysis
Most modern POS systems make this process simple. Here is how you do it in our POS system.
First, pull total sales reports for the past few years. For example:
Go to register reports.
Now select the item marked "Sales Comparison for a Given period".
Note, you can do it by a supplier, but that can be done later when you have more time for detailed analysis. What we are doing here is getting a quick idea.
Step 1: The Recent Comparison (2024 vs 2025)
First, pull your total sales reports for the last two full calendar years.
Action
Go to your Register Reports and select the item marked "Sales Comparison for a Given Period."
Input Dates:
01/01/2024 to 31/12/2024 AND 01/01/2025 to 31/12/2025
The system will generate a detailed breakdown of your performance. It will show you exactly how your 2025 figures stack up against 2024. Write down these key totals.
Step 2: The Historical Context (2022 vs 2023)
Now, we are going to dig deeper
Action
Rerun the same report with older dates.
Input Dates
01/01/2022 to 31/12/2022 AND 01/01/2023 to 31/12/2023
Write down these key totals.
Step 3: Organise Your Data
Now you have your figures clearly in a table. A table makes it much easier to scan for trends than a list of numbers.
For example, you may have
| Year | Total Sales | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $810,000 | - |
| 2023 | $860,000 | 6.2% |
| 2024 | $885,000 | 2.9% |
| 2025 | $965,000 | 9.0% |
Interpreting Your Results
Now that you have the numbers, what do they actually mean? We want to dig deeper.
Here, sales have grown every year. That is good.
1. Benchmark Against Inflation
Sales growth doesn't always equal profit growth. In 2025, Australia saw inflation hover around 3.5% to 3.8% for much of the year.
If sales grew by only 3%, you would have gone financially backward. In this example, growth from 2024 ($885,000) to 2025 ($965,000) was 9.1%. Since it's well above inflation, you've achieved real growth.
2. Compare to Industry Standards
It also helps to know how you compare with other retailers. As a rule, you are expected to grow by 2% a year. That is the long-term growth rate based on very old figures going back 100s of years. Today, industry forecasts for 2025 predict retail sales growth of around 3.3%. If your growth is significantly lower than this, you are losing market share to other retailers.
3. Identify the Trend Line
Look at the trajectory in the table.
Steady Growth
Consistent increases suggest your strategies work. Something went wrong in 2024 but was fixed in 2025. After patting yourself on the back, ask yourself, "What did I do right, or what happened?"
Decline
A drop in raw numbers is a red flag. You need to investigate immediately: was it a stock issue, a staffing problem, or a new competitor?
Taking Action
Suppose your numbers are looking healthy, well done. Double down on the marketing and product ranges that worked in 2025.
If you spot a downward trend or stagnation, don't panic but act.
Check Inventory
Use your POS System to see if you were out of stock on best-sellers.
Review with others
Start by asking your staff
Analyse Customers
Are you losing repeat customers?
Note: This is an amended post from last year updated
Written by:
Bernard Zimmermann is the founding director of POS Solutions, a leading point-of-sale system company with 45 years of industry experience, now retired and seeking new opportunities. He consults with various organisations, from small businesses to large retailers and government institutions. Bernard is passionate about helping companies optimise their operations through innovative POS technology and enabling seamless customer experiences through effective software solutions.
