---
type: Article
title: "40% Taste, 60% Data: How the Best Retailers Buy"
description: "The winning retail buy is about 40% taste and 60% data. How to balance your eye with the numbers. A Weekly Retail Tidbit from AmyFay Chandler."
resource: https://amyfaychandler.com/40-taste-60-data/
tags: [40-taste-60-data]
---

[Weekly Retail Tidbits](https://amyfaychandler.com/category/friday-retail-tidbits/)

# 40% Taste, 60% Data

	By[AmyFay Chandler](https://wordpress-1600709-6279960.cloudwaysapps.com)
						June 7, 2024July 4, 2026

“It’s very easy to be different but very difficult to be better.”

— Jonathan Ive, former chief design officer, Apple

“Wow – Jenny combines 2 of the same ingredients local retailers do!”

That’s what I was thinking as I listened to young Jenny Hoyos (the next “Mr. Beast” on YouTube?) share her hard earned secrets to success to the guys on Marketing Against the Grain.

Secrets are increasingly a thing of the past. We expect to know anything in seconds. Just ask Siri, Google, Perplexity or your BFF on FaceTime.

The 2 “secret” ingredients they discussed:

- taste (subjective)

- data (objective)

Start with taste. What products do you choose? How do you display them?

Add data. Data is essential in figuring out what is working well and what is not.

Is your recipe:

- lots of taste with a dash of data?

- lots of data with a dash of taste?

The winner is likely around 40% taste and 60% data.

For retailers, it is common to get hung up on being different through taste. The biggest differentiator is more difficult – using data continuously to make good quantitative (objective) inventory decisions.

The playing field is less crowded there. It’s difficult to get better!

Just like Jenny gets better when she uses analytics to make her videos better – your business gets better when you use data to get more turns out of products.

Hoping to see you this summer – and love growing business together!

xoxo,
❤️ AmyFay

“Data is a tool for enhancing intuition.”

— Hilary Mason

		[AmyFay Chandler](https://amyfaychandler.com/author/amyfay/)

I’m AmyFay Chandler, a Knoxville-based wholesale sales rep serving independent retailers in Tennessee and Kentucky through Tango Showroom. I also represent Sweet Tree Jewelry and Caroline B Cook nationwide. Before I became a rep, I built two T-shirt lines, ran my own retail business, bought home and gift for Elder’s Ace Hardware, and worked with Werner Frank. I have been the maker, buyer, retailer, rep, and person at the register, so I evaluate every line from the store floor first.

I write the Morning Retail Tidbit and [Friday Retail Tidbits](https://amyfaychandler.com/category/friday-retail-tidbits/) to help local retailers buy smarter, merchandise with intention, and keep their stores valuable.

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