Using Daily Retail Data to Navigate Tariff Turbulence in 2025

In 2025, trade policy has returned to the center stage of strategic planning for consumer goods companies.

With new tariff increases—notably a staggering 145% hike on Chinese imports—retailers and consumer goods manufacturers and suppliers face a cascade of challenges, from rising costs to inventory uncertainties and supply chain disruptions. In this complex environment, one of the most powerful tools at a company’s disposal is daily retail data, most notably retailer point-of-sale (POS) and inventory data. For senior leaders, understanding how to harness this valuable data is critical to navigating volatility, minimizing risk, and capitalizing on emerging sales and revenue opportunities.

The New Tariff Landscape

Recent geopolitical tensions and economic realignments have ushered in a new era of protectionism. The most impactful shift has been the dramatic tariff increase targeting goods imported from China, affecting key product categories such as electronics, apparel, home goods, and automotive components. These tariffs are not isolated. Other regions have responded with countermeasures, creating a dynamic and unpredictable trade environment.

For consumer goods companies and brands, this means sudden cost increases, margin compression, and the need to reassess global sourcing strategies. Traditional approaches to procurement, inventory planning, and pricing are no longer sufficient. Agility, speed, and precision are paramount.

Why daily Retail Data Matters More Than Ever

Real-time retail data serves as an early warning system and a strategic compass for consumer brands of all sizes. From POS data to inventory turnover, pricing elasticity, and demand forecasting, these insights can be harnessed to:

1. Identify Shifting Consumer Behavior: Daily sales data from retailers—at the SKU and store levels—helps companies detect changes in purchasing patterns as tariffs impact pricing. For example, consumers may shift from premium brands to value options, delay large-ticket purchases, or migrate to domestically produced alternatives.
   
   
2. Inform Pricing Strategy: Tariffs force pricing decisions that can alienate consumers or damage profit margins. Daily POS data can guide dynamic pricing strategies, enabling companies to adjust prices intelligently based on demand signals and competitor movements.
   
   
3. Improve Inventory Planning: With lead times and landed costs in flux, accurate inventory planning is crucial. Retail data allows for granular tracking of SKU-level performance across retailers and geographies, informing smarter retail replenishment and reducing overstocks or stockouts.
   
   
4. Optimize Promotional Campaigns: Tariff-related cost pressures may tempt brands to increase promotional frequency. However, data-driven insights can help brands and retailers target promotions more effectively and assess ROI in real-time.
   
   
5. Guide Sourcing and Merchandising Decisions: By analyzing performance trends, companies can decide which products to phase out, which to localize, and where to double down. This supports decisions like reshoring manufacturing or diversifying supplier networks.

Case Example: Electronics Retailer Adapts Using POS Intelligence

Consider the scenario of a U.S.-based electronics retailer hit by the new import tariffs. Within weeks, their landed costs on select components rose 20%. Instead of reacting broadly, the company used daily POS data to isolate which products had the greatest price sensitivity and which segments remained resilient.

Using this intelligence, they:

• Raised prices selectively on lower-volume SKUs with inelastic demand
• Increased marketing efforts around mid-range products with strong unit economics
• Accelerated the transition of certain private-label goods to alternate suppliers in Southeast Asia

The result: A net-neutral impact on profitability and minimal customer attrition—despite substantial cost pressure.

Building a Data-Responsive Organization

To leverage daily retail data effectively, consumer goods leaders must foster a culture and infrastructure that supports rapid, data-informed decision-making. Key steps include:

1. Consolidate and Centralize Data Streams: Integrate data across channels (e-commerce, brick-and-mortar, wholesale) and retailers into a single platform, like Retail Velocity’s VELOCITY^® retail data platform, to establish a unified and reliable source of truth.
   
   
2. Invest in Real-Time Analytics Tools: Equip teams with interactive dashboards and visualization tools that highlight anomalies and opportunities in real-time.
   
   
3. Upskill Teams: Train cross-functional teams—from merchandising to finance—to accurately interpret data and make data-backed decisions quickly and confidently.
   
   
4. Create Feedback Loops: Establish routines to assess what strategies are working and refine them continuously.
   
   
5. Embed Scenario Planning: Use historical and real-time data to model different tariff scenarios and their operational impacts.

Beyond Risk Mitigation: Finding Opportunity

While tariffs present undeniable challenges, they also catalyze innovation. Companies that lean into daily retail data and analytics are often the first to identify new consumer trends, test alternate product strategies, and tap into overlooked markets.

Imagine a home goods company that analyzes daily POS data and discovers that demand for bamboo-based furniture could surge following tariff-related price hikes on hardwood imports. If the company were to pivot its product development toward this category, it might gain a first-mover advantage and successfully expand its market share.

Conclusion: Turning Disruption into Competitive Advantage

In a world of volatile trade policy, consumer goods leaders cannot afford to operate on instinct or stale data. Daily retail data transforms uncertainty into clarity. It empowers leaders to respond—not react—with precision, resilience, and agility.

By embedding real-time retail data and insights into core decision-making processes across the enterprise, companies can not only weather the tariff storm but emerge stronger, more focused, and better aligned with the consumers they serve.

Looking to deepen your team’s data capabilities and enhance your decision-making? Contact us to learn how our retail data analytics solutions can support your global strategy.