International Food Retail Group
A Fresh Take on Business Intelligence
Our client is an international food retail group operating both supermarkets and e-commerce businesses including more than 6,500 stores in 11 countries. Its operations include supermarkets, convenience stores, hypermarkets, online grocery, online non-food, drugstores, and wine and liquor stores.
A Need for Fresh Business Intelligence
Our client wanted to implement business intelligence tools to maximize profits and improve store operations. The company’s previous attempts had been unsuccessful and all work had been suspended, so they asked us for help.
The company was relying on manually updated spreadsheets for data analysis. Its dependency on antiquated systems led to lost inventory, poor store operations, and gaps in data that forced representatives to rely more on relationships than concrete numbers to negotiate contracts.
The company also had a hard time finding answers to questions like:
- How are core brands performing in our stores versus in competitor stores?
- Are we running successful promotions that maximize our profit and deliver the right products to our customer base?
- Are we minimizing our waste and theft?
- Do our district managers have the right tools to use on-site?
Stocking the Shelves with Better Data
We began by conducting a thorough business assessment to determine precisely which questions needed to be answered, where the supporting data was weak, and what our client’s dream scenario looked like.
Next, we built interactive dashboards that measured sales for high-volume “A-brand” vendors and compared them against overall performance in the marketplace in order to maximize profits. The “A-brands” system was implemented using MicroStrategy and Oracle. The system integrates sales and promotional funding from the client’s primary data warehouse with promotional ratings provided by a third party, and competitor sales information.
We also delivered the ability to monitor and minimize “shrink” inventory losses caused by damage, spoilage, under promotion, or theft. We created dashboards that provided a summary view and allowed users to drill down by product, geography, or time. The technical implementation was achieved using MicroStrategy.
Finally, we streamlined reporting and designed useful dashboards with quick views to give managers the right tools to supervise store operations. We created a wireframe and use cases to solicit and confirm requirements from the client. A mobile application was also deployed on iPads.
Good data, strong tools, and capable partners are the key ingredients in building a business intelligence program that works.
Results
Better Intelligence for a Healthier Business
After struggling with other vendors to provide a solution, our client now has greater insight into operational data and is able to:
- Negotiate better contracts with vendors using data insights
- Make quick decisions on when to offer special pricing, coupons, or “buy-one-get-one” deals on its merchandise
- Obtain reliable, timely reports via easy-to-read dashboards, allowing managers to spend more time in their stores instead of at their desks
