There is a substantial opportunity for UK retailers to exploit and improve their ability to mitigate and benefit from the effects of the weather. This means more than just understanding how weather can affect the sales of items such as soft drinks and ice cream but having robust systems and processes in place to adapt supply chains, stock levels, shop displays and marketing promotions to maximise the return on this information.
The business community must acknowledge that managing the weather and business success go hand in hand and that specific weather information can be used as a business tool. Businesses cannot change the weather but with location specific weather forecasting and modern communications, they can work with the weather and profit from it. If this is possible, there can be no excuse for blaming poor business results on the weather.