Merchandise Dimensions: The 5th Dimension of Ice Cream Cones

My family makes a yearly trip to western NY, where my wife’s extended family resides. It’s beautiful, really - fields of grapes, apples, cherries, corn, and multiple roadside Ice Cream stalls.

You wouldn't think that ordering an ice cream cone could be complex. In fact, it reminds me of the Mitch Hedberg doughnut joke:

“I bought a doughnut and they gave me a receipt for the doughnut. I don't need a receipt for the doughnut. I'll just give you money and you give me the doughnut. End of transaction. We don't need to bring ink and paper into this.” 

But it was complex. Soft serve or scooped? Flavor? Size? Cone type? Dipped? By the end of the transaction, I had ordered a specific cone, customized to my taste buds. And then it occurred to me, even simple things (or things you would perceive to be simple), can have complex traits that need to be defined.

In Altru, we use Dimensions to track the nuances of merchandise items. It may just be a book we are selling, but you might want to track the author, the format (soft cover, hard cover, books on tape), publisher, topic, fiction/non-fiction, etc.

But why go to this level? Using dimensions allows for some really great reporting via Query.

Would you like to see which author is bringing in the most sales for the month? That’s an easy query:



By adding this level of detail to merchandise items, you can get a better idea of exactly what your patrons are buying and adjust marketing strategies, and inventory ordering to match the buying trends.