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Case Study: Creating a Unique Analytics Solution

Challenge

Our client needed a dashboard solution that would allow effective measurement of over one thousand locations in order to evaluate each store’s performance through side-by-side comparison. In order to track revenue performance by channel for executive evaluation, the client required the technical expertise to obtain data, segment it, integrate it into a data solution, and then expose it via a visual solution showing measurable KPIs. In addition, the client wished to be able to grade stores by sales performance, inventory counts, product sales, and employees on staff.

All data would also need to be consolidated into a retail scorecard that would precisely measure performance and provide a detailed analysis of figures for store comparison on local, national, and global scales. This project presented a challenge as most of the client’s data was warehoused though a wide variety of sources including multiple third party platforms.

Solution

INSPYR Solutions was brought on as a trusted technology solution partner to provide a team of seven highly qualified individuals consisting of data architects, developers, and analysts. This team set out to capture all data sources and integrate them into a customized interactive data solution in IBM Cognos. The INSPYR Solutions team created a data lineage map and reverse engineered the client’s systems to provide a concise and easy to manage data solution built to the client’s specifications. This required cataloging over one thousand stores as well as data sources from dozens of third party vendors.

The data solution was then used to produce the requested scorecard in order to provide the client with invaluable information to make more calculated business decisions. The data included in the scorecard showed store performance results and third party demographic data by market on each store, as well as a host of other key pieces of information all in one convenient location.

As part of the business consultation, INSPYR Solutions also worked with executive leaders to put together best practices for data visualization. INSPYR Solutions provided a concrete plan for mining and displaying information along with written processes on how to extract, transform, and load important data for the client.

Outcome

INSPYR Solutions completed the project in nine months by understanding the specific needs of the client and quickly moving forward with a solution to provide the client’s leaders with a fully operational data gathering system and retail scorecard for store performance analysis.

With an expert team of individuals and the IBM Cognos interactive data management software, client leaders were able to view demographic data from internal and third party sources in a more concise and organized manner. In addition, revenue generated by each store could be viewed for accurate comparisons by region with data automatically imported on a daily basis. The retail scorecard provided the ability to see demographic data and revenue figures by each region and enabled the client’s leadership to make strategic business decisions. On an individual store level, the client leadership could also make cost effective decisions on staff, inventory levels, and overall store performance.

With such powerful data in hand, the client was now able to view all store performance, enabling executives to make adjustments to processes, staff, and much more based on the data obtained through the scorecard. To date, the retail scorecard is the single most used report for high level decision making. Furthermore, through use of the scorecard, the client bases decisions for action on all retail stores, showing a high return on investment and the value of the technology solutions provided by INSPYR Solutions.

Client Profile

The client is a global supplier of products and services for the everyday workplace. It promotes productivity by offering the latest technology products and merchandise catered to meet the needs of consumers worldwide. As a company with an ever growing online presence, the client provides customers with an award-winning e-commerce website specifically catered to meet the demands of its growing online client base. The client’s annual sales are in the billions and with over a thousand stores across many countries, this Fortune 500 company continues to be one of the leading suppliers in its industry.