RETAIL

Retail is one of the most diverse industries in the vertical industry arena. Retail enterprises face numerous challenges; not the least of which is the challenge of sustained profit margins in a market where profit margins are traditionally small. Retailers must choose the right products to sell, select appropriate suppliers and shipping options, manage customer expectations, set appropriate pricing, anticipate and forecast stock and inventory needs and manage seasonal shifts in demand.

The retail market is fickle, and market trends change rapidly. In this ever-changing environment, the retailer must have complete insight into how actual results compare to plan numbers, revenue by store, location, region, product line and other factors. The retail enterprise must carefully manage operational costs to be sure these costs are optimized. Hours of operation, resource allocation, hiring, training, facilities management and other factors impact revenue and the bottom line.

In the retail industry, Business Intelligence (BI) is a delicate balance. ISVs products must help its users to understand buying behavior, customer requirements, exact price points for products, shipping and inventory timing and changing trends. Getting the right product on the store shelves at the right time, for the right price is what retail is all about. Choosing the right location and mix of web and brick and mortar facilities is also important. If the customer cannot find your business, they cannot consider your products.

But, the gathering and analysis of business intelligence is not as easy as it may seem. The retail industry is awash in best of breed, enterprise and legacy systems to manage everything from point of sale (POS) to resource allocation, facilities management, shipping and inventory, equipment and assets, financial results, sales and marketing campaigns, pricing, coupons and discounting and more. If the retailer is to remain competitive, executives, managers and business users must have access to the most complete information with full insight into results and critical issues and the ability to quickly analyze, present and report these results to support decisions and adapt to the changing market.

By Integrating SAP BusinessObjects with ISVs applications, ISVs can empower their users to monitor & maintain below KPIs;

1. Store Operations Analysis – Store operations analysis supports and manages performance across all stores and locations, analyses the efficiency of sales management, and controls operations across different stores and locations. Integration of SAP BusinessObjects empowers managers with information-based execution, enforced accountability, and budgetary control
2. Customer Analysis – Customer analysis evaluates profitability by customer segment, demographic, region, seasonality and other factors so retailers can establish and sustain a positive customer relationship and anticipate customer needs. The enterprise can plan more effective strategic campaigns to optimize customer acquisition and retention
3. Market Research – You can perform accurately, timely market research across the enterprise and the market using information from other systems, product categorization, regional data and other meaningful factors to develop a clear, concise picture of where and how to market and sell products to achieve targets and increase revenue
4. Stock and Inventory Optimization – Gather and analyze data to determine appropriate stock and inventory levels to meet demand and avoid overstock or shortages. Consider seasonal, regional, and location variations and manage warehouse, shipment and distribution to deliver the right stock to the right place at the right time and optimize facilities and storage capacity

Partners, ISVs & SaaS providers can empower their customers to;

1. Achieve enterprise-wide access and user adoption with browser-based, simple dashboards that enable swift reporting and analysis of information integrated from numerous sources
2. Streamline and optimize merchandise management
3. Ensure appropriate inventory and stock management
4. Optimize facility and resource capacity
5. Determine and manage supplier performance
6. Analyze and adapt marketing and ecommerce strategies
7. Perform market basket analysis
8. Perform market research to support marketing, sales and targets for products, stores, and regions
9. Analyze customer buying behavior
10. Enhance category management
11. Compile and analyze brand and marketing research
12. Perform market share analysis
13. Integrate and analyze information from financial, point of sale, inventory, distributor, and customer relationship management systems with seamless integration of diverse formats and stunning reports and graphics