What We Do

Simply put, we provide custom qualitative research on retail brands that answer the questions you need to manage your needs. We have a proven methodology that aligns our data gathering to the brands you follow and track how they are poised to perform in current seasons and for the long haul.

Insights and opinions are published in custom, monthly and quarterly reports. Contact us for more details. 

How We Work

We kick off the process understanding the tickers and questions that drive your decision-making. Then we deploy a team of industry-leading experts (and query key demographic members) to quantify the brands and trends that affect results. We determine report timing, frequency and depth of coverage based on client need. Past reports have detailed leading brands in the aspirational luxury space with specific reporting on handbags and watches, as well as macro trends driving results during key shopping moments such as Back-To-School or Black Friday weekend.

What Makes Us Different 

We combine observations and analysis from U.S. retail, Asian retail and digital channels—including e-commerce, social media and digital marketing—to provide a unique perspective on retail brands. We bring the expertise from decades of experience from retail executives and a merchandising perspective to understand what drives demand, who is implementing it well, and ultimately who we think will drive results. The analysis is presented in a full written report as well as a MerchScore for each brand that encapsulates our opinion.

Sector Coverage

Mary Epner Retail Analysis has expertise in the major retail sectors, including:

Expertise in the Market

Mary Epner leads a unique team of former retail executives who report on retail brands across the U.S., Asia and on digital platforms. Each team member has, on average, over 20 years of experience in retail management, merchandising or channel expertise. They hale from luxury to discount retailers, department stores, wholesale brands and have category expertise that includes men’s and women’s apparel, cosmetics, handbags and accessories, shoes, watches athletic, plus more.

• Analysis of store visits by a global team of VP-level industry experts with over 20 years average tenure
• A team of former executives that have run small ($50 million) to large ($1B or more) businesses.
• Analysis of over 100 e-commerce and digital data points
• Insights into sales-driving trends, and who’s doing it right
• Insights into macro-drivers in retail and which brands are poised to capture value
• A dedicated global team reporting on the U.S., Asia and Europe