how to improve sales, merchandising, and other multi

Information Builders

WebFOCUS iWay Software Omni

How to Improve Sales, Merchandising, and Other Multi-Channel Operations With Intelligence, Integrity, and Integration

Retail Solutions Brief

Solutions Brief: Improve Retail Performance and Success2Information Builders

“I don’t think there’s any jewelry retailer of our size doing the same kind of sophisticated data analysis that we’re now doing with WebFOCUS.”

Helzberg Diamonds

“Information Builders has been a great partner, and their tools have allowed us to streamline and standardize our reporting and BI development processes. We have enabled better accuracy and controls by standardizing how and where data is consumed.”

Associated Food Stores

“Information Builders provided everything we needed, at the right price. WebFOCUS clearly

demonstrated its ability to support our evolving information requirements,

even when new questions that require immediate answers suddenly arise.”

Sligro Food Group

What Our Customers Say

“We needed a decision-making platform that could support many thousands of users while easing development and offering robust self-service capabilities. After looking at a number of options, it was clear that WebFOCUS was the best solution for us.”

Ace Hardware

Wade JuddChief Information

Officer

Tim BryndaSoftware Engineer

Consultant

Maurice van VeghelChief Information

Officer

Greg Backhus

Director of Data Warehousing and

Business Intelligence


Today’s retailers face major challenges. They must market to a base of more diverse and fickle shoppers while overseeing complex store activities. They must also track inventory and distribution across sophisticated supply chains and closely monitor global sales operations that cover multiple channels – online, brick and mortar, catalog, kiosk, etc. – while staying on top of consumer preferences and the latest buying trends, so they can develop the most effective merchandising plans.

Information Builders helps retail companies overcome these challenges by seamlessly tying together all information assets to enhance key processes, and making strategic use of corporate data to improve decision-making. Our solutions for business intelligence (BI) and analytics, integration, and data integrity enable retailers to:

■■ Improve information access for all stakeholders – from executives and merchandising managers to warehouse and store staff, suppliers, distributors, and customers

■■ Gain instant visibility into sales and other operations across all locations and channels

■■ Track inventory and distribution in real time

■■ Assess the performance of individual stores, outlets, and channels

■■ Forecast demand, detect emerging buying trends, and predict traffic patterns so stock and staffing levels can be adjusted accordingly

■■ Evaluate the effectiveness of markdowns, advertising, and merchandising strategies

■■ Streamline and accelerate ordering and delivery processes

■■ Improve communication and collaboration with trading partners

■■ Create a solid foundation for collaborative planning, forecasting, and replenishment (CPFR); vendor-managed inventory; scan-based trading; and other strategies

Information Builders in Retail


Business Intelligence and Analytics in Retail

The first nationally offered, web-based data management and reporting service to work reliably with all types of restaurant point-of-sale (POS) systems. it was Implemented by ROS Technology Services and it being leveraged by Houlihan’s, IHOP, Applebee’s, Wendy’s, Panera Bread Co., and other popular restaurant brands.

Our WebFOCUS BI platform provides analytics across the retail enterprise to satisfy the information needs of users at all levels, in all roles. WebFOCUS is powerful enough to retrieve data from any system, regardless of its source or location, yet flexible enough to address virtually any reporting requirement – from inventory tracking and sales analysis to vendor performance monitoring and demand forecasting.

WebFOCUS for retailers includes:

■■ Data visualization, mobile BI, and other analytical tools that empower all users to interact with any data via any PC, laptop, smartphone, or tablet

■■ Location analytics to help retailers perform geographic analysis so they can better under- stand customer demographics and behavior by area, and enable more precise merchandising by region

■■ Advanced predictive analytics that enable highly accurate forecasting to enhance merchandising, demand planning, and pricing strategies

■■ A comprehensive performance management framework that promotes close monitoring of metrics related to sales, vendor performance, inventory, and other critical operations

■■ Social media analytics, allowing retailers to analyze customer sentiment from text-based formats such as e-mails, blogs, and posts on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn

■■ InfoApps™, which are highly interactive, purpose-built BI apps that enable business users to rapidly answer important questions or address critical issues


Customer Success With BI and Analytics

Ace Hardware – WebFOCUS is helping Ace, a renowned global retailer with more than 4,600 hardware, home center, and building materials stores, extend decision-making capabilities to all types of internal and external users. The company converted existing reports to WebFOCUS reports and built a universal data platform to accommodate corporate users, customers, retail partners, and suppliers. The environment helps field staff monitor vendor performance and im--prove merchandising programs, and supplies 10,000 users with accurate information – wherever and whenever they need it, in a form that facilitates decision-making.

Arcadia – When this leading UK-based clothing retailer wanted to gain an edge in a very competitive market and combat decreasing customer loyalty, it deployed WebFOCUS. An enterprise-wide BI environment gives thousands of users across the company and all its brands the ability to access and analyze information about finance, purchasing, marketing, merchandising, and more. As a result, Arcadia has significantly enhanced market basket analysis, reduced costs, lowered total cost of ownership, improved productivity, and increased sales in its retail stores. It will see a projected cumulative, five-year net benefit of £7,699,330, with a return on investment of 609 percent and a payback period of five months.

Arata – Through Information Builders partner KK Ashisuto, Arata purchased and deployed WebFOCUS to serve as the foundation of a new sales performance reporting system known as GENESIS. This new environment has increased the efficiency of sales activities, and empowered users to rapidly create professionally-styled sales reports, regardless of their skill set. GENESIS has been so successful that Arata plans to expand the use of WebFOCUS across the organization, making it the company’s standard web reporting solution.

Autozone – The top retailer and distributor of automotive replacement parts and accessories in the U.S. chose WebFOCUS as the foundation of a flexible BI environment that has been rolled out to thousands of stores. The reporting system works seamlessly with existing computers, databases, and information systems, and is so intuitive that even non-technical users can quickly adopt it. Stakeholders across the enterprise now have access to a wealth of information – from HR training and annual reviews to store operations, wholesale sales support, and customer satisfaction reporting.

Bunzl – Australia-based Bunzl, a leading specialist distribution group that provides outsourcing solutions and a broad range of non-food consumable products and services, created a BI portal for consolidating data from multiple systems and making it easy to view reports and analytics online. Bunzl now continuously reviews its customers’ purchases and looks for greater efficiencies to offset high transaction volumes with low margins. Being able to move goods more rapidly and cost effectively not only improves the bottom line for Bunzl, but also improves productivity for Bunzl’s customers.

Enclara Pharmacia – Hospice executives have access to real-time data on medication costs, prescription patterns, and utilization trends through Enclarity™, an interactive dashboard and reporting environment built using WebFOCUS. Palliative care organizations can now budget more appropriately, run their businesses more efficiently, and ensure greater regulatory accountability in their business practices – all with an eye to better, more knowledgeable patient care.


Helzberg Diamonds – By empowering managers to analyze point of sale (POS) and other data, WebFOCUS is enabling Helzberg Diamonds to better anticipate market trends and boost revenue. Users at 230 stores can examine product sales and campaign performance, and track store-specific information, such as individual associate performance, credit sales, and extended care plan performance. Insight derived from the BI environment helps the company up-sell and provides additional value to customers and partners, while also increasing the average sale.

Neimann Foods – With the help of WebFOCUS, this regional retail store operator is improving decision making and optimizing the profitability of stores and regions. Executives, store managers, and other members of the business community have quick and easy access to information about sales activity, gross profits, the movement of products, and more. This helps the company to move faster and work smarter than competing national and regional retail operators.

Paradies Lagardère Shops – An enterprise BI platform running in the cloud, complete with dashboards, scorecards, and geographical representations of data, streamlines business operations for this airport concessionaire. The company can monitor progress and plan for the future, using timely insight into corporate performance. Mangers and other non-technical users create more accurate forecasts, and maximize the effectiveness of promotional and merchandising strategies.

ReaderLink – Data stored in disparate legacy systems presented a huge challenge for ReaderLink, the nation’s premier distributor of paperback and hardcover books. When the company wanted to build a powerful reporting system without creating and maintaining a data warehouse, it chose WebFOCUS as the foundation. Today, employees in the company’s sales, marketing, and ware-house groups, as well as more than 300 publishing partners, can create self-service reports to gain instant visibility into sales and inventory information.

Scherer Brothers – This company’s lean principles are supported by better analysis of activities across the value chain – from design, purchasing, and planning, through order entry, delivery, and customer service. WebFOCUS makes it easier to determine customer purchase patterns, maximize sales opportunities, and improve product offerings, while enhancing customer service and minimizing human error in information entries.

Sligro – Holland-based Sligro Food Group needed to better leverage information contained in a homegrown enterprise resource planning (ERP) system by bringing cohesion and consistency to a fragmented reporting strategy consisting of 700 Brio reports focused on store sales. The company deployed a BI portal, built using WebFOCUS, to centralize information retrieval and analysis, and provide greater insight into store operations. This centralized reporting strategy has significantly improved information accessibility and consistency, and provided better insight into store performance. In the near future, WebFOCUS will support other aspects of the company’s operations, including finance, logistics, and marketing.


Integration and Data Integrity in Retail

Powerful iWay integration and data integrity technologies from Information Builders can help retail firms realize the full potential of their existing information assets. With iWay, they can achieve complete visibility into all activities, optimize data quality, automate vital processes, and facilitate fast, accurate electronic data interchange (EDI) with key trading partners. As a result, they can increase operational efficiency, reduce overhead costs, enhance supply-chain management, exploit new revenue opportunities, and more.

iWay Software solutions empower retailers to bring together systems located throughout the entire enterprise – without the time, cost, and risk typically associated with complex integration projects.

■■ A comprehensive integration infrastructure links disparate point-of-sale, inventory, customer relationship (CRM), and other systems, and enables globalization by tying together geographically dispersed infrastructures

■■ Robust B2B solutions replace paper-based transactions and expensive value-added network EDI connections with low-cost, secure Internet-based EDI infrastructures, to automate critical interactions and simplify set up of new vendor and buyer relationships

■■ Data quality management optimizes information integrity across all systems. iWay’s end-to-end solutions not only locate and cleanse corrupt or invalid information that already exists, but also proactively prevent bad data from entering the environment in the first place

■■ Master data management delivers a single 360-degree view of key entities – such as products, employees, customers, and suppliers – that can be created and shared among all data sources

■■ Data governance empowers retailers to maintain full control over the way data is generated, stored, maintained, shared, and used. Our tools provide comprehensive support for identifying and cleansing corrupt, invalid, or incomplete data, and deliver a complete, unhindered view of data quality issues at all times


Customer Success With Integration and Data Integrity

AcuSport – This top distributor of outdoor and shooting sport products needed to integrate disparate order formats over disparate channels with its own order entry processes to effectively meet customer requirements. A B2B solution from iWay Software replaced an expensive, error-prone EDI system that required substantial hand coding. iWay seamlessly integrated the company’s product information management (PIM) system with other legacy applications, eliminating manual scripting and minimizing B2B costs.

Associated Food Stores – Haphazard, inaccurate one-off reports were burdening IT staff and increasing the costs of providing relevant data to users. WebFOCUS and InfoAssist+ were used to create a flexible, company-wide analytic environment that delivers insights about sales, time and attendance, wages, and more to everyone. Managers have a current, company-wide view of critical metrics, the IT department is free to develop new programs, and the business community is more self-sufficient.

Mark Anthony Group – In an effort to automate key warehouse transactions, this leading alcoholic beverage company built a new B2B integration architecture, with iWay Software as the foundation. This new environment streamlines the flow of order, shipping/receiving, billing, and warehouse data. As a result, orders are now processed 75 percent faster, data quality has improved, and hours of labor have been saved each week.

Murphy-Hoffman Company – As one of the country’s largest dealers of Kenworth trucks, Murphy-Hoffman used iWay Software to help improve the speed and accuracy of its B2B processes by automating the exchange of purchase orders, parts catalogues, and other documents. With iWay, Murphy-Hoffman built a B2B solution, based on industry standards, to streamline and automate workflows between the organization and its partners – in just 10 days. In addition to improving efficiency and effectiveness by eliminating manual processes, the company has also effectively met stringent vendor guidelines.

Winston Brands – As a major gift catalog company experiencing explosive growth, Winston Brands wanted to automate business processes across its infrastructure. iWay Software has empowered developers to link its order entry system to its warehouse management system, automating the flow of sales, marketing, and inventory data, as well as invoices, order fulfillments, purchase orders, and other transactions and messages. With iWay, a Business Process Automation (BPA) solution is now in place that gives Winston a significant competitive advantage.

Solutions Brief: Improve Retail Performance and Success9

IntelligenceThe WebFOCUS BI and analytics platform delivers rich, consumable, interactive information to the widest range of users.

IntegrityThe Omni-Gen Data Quality and Master Data Management Editions align business users and IT to profile, analyze, cleanse, match, merge, and manage data from every source – providing a clear, integrated view of a business from any angle.

IntegrationOmni-Gen Integration Edition and its related components are the most flexible and agile integration foundation available, providing interoperability between disparate systems and data for faster time to market on IT and business initiatives.

About UsInformation Builders provides the industry’s most scalable software solutions for data management and analytics. With one smart platform for integration, data quality, and analytics, we help companies manage their data, generate insights, take action, and deliver impact. We take pride in our dedicated employees and culture of customer service.

Intelligence, integrity, and

integration solutions help

our customers seamlessly

navigate the full spectrum

of information management

for sharper insights and fact-

based decision-making.

Worldwide Offices

Corporate HeadquartersTwo Penn Plaza New York, NY 10121-2898 (212) 736-4433 (800) 969-4636

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InternationalAustralia* Melbourne 61-3-9631-7900 Sydney 61-2-8223-0600

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* Training facilities are located at these offices.

Solutions Brief

Find Out MoreWe can help you succeed. Talk to your local Information Builders representative to learn how. Visit us at informationbuilders.com, e-mail [email protected], or call (800) 969-4636 in the U.S. and Canada. To improve your skills, visit education.ibi.com.

Corporate Headquarters Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121-2898 (212) 736-4433; Fax (212) 967-6406

Copyright © 2019 by Information Builders. All rights reserved. [154] All products and product names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. DN7507922.0319

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